I am responding to a letter written by Barb Jackson in the Aug. 2 edition of The Leader (“What happened to my North Delta?”).
I could not agree with her more, except I look at the issue of Delta as “what has not happened in Delta.”
In the 22 years I have lived here, I have seen most of the people I grew up with move away to other municipalities. I have stayed not because I have not had the option to move, but because I felt there was hope that things would change.
Things have deteriorated in relation to the way people keep their home and their yards. This has happened because those rental homes Jackson mentioned are people who own homes waiting to come back to Delta when things change.
People like myself and others have tried to point out things that will bring about this change, but to no avail. We have a mayor who has been in council since the ’70s and has been a mayor for a decade. We have no post-secondary school system in place and a declining population. While every other municipality grows by leaps and bounds, we stay stagnant while our population grows old waiting for that change. (Speaking of of aging, when was the last time anything was done for seniors?).
We have members that have been on council for more than four terms. What have they brought about that has influenced innovative growth in this community? No building means no growth.
The mayor and council are public servants and are accountable to us. They insist they are leaving a better Delta behind for our children. What children? The ones who have already moved elsewhere?
Municipal government is not leaving a legacy of open dialogue, innovation or growth but one of stagnation, control and pleasing their friends. I would love to have well-kept homes and lawns with children playing, but that will not happen with this mayor or councillors who have been around way too long to see what is really happening around them.
Amardeep Singh, Delta
Communication breakdown
Letter writer Barb Jackson expresses shock at the “state of North Delta.” Recent expenditures to plant trees on Lyon Road, an area with an abundance of greenery already, would be better spent by city hall on cleaning up homes, yards and gardens – as noted by Ms. Jackson.
Take a trip west of Scott Road on 64 Avenue and you will see plastic bags full of rotting yard waste, plus branches, which I would guess have been outside a house for six to eight weeks. Continue west on 64 Avenue and you will again see a large deposit of yard waste and, further along still, two neglected houses with uncut grass, wrecks of vehicles, rusting structures, and carports full of junk.
I see old toilets, treated wood and Styrofoam all placed by the curbside for collection. These items are not even acceptable during “spring clean-up.”
If residents are unable to understand instruction literature on waste collection, it is high time someone at city hall makes sure they do.
P. Cooper, Delta
Take pride in your location
It is not only North Delta going downhill. I moved to Alberta in 1985, but have visited my family in Surrey yearly since.
Are the homeowners not responsible for the space behind their homes as well as in front? You walk down a back alley and it looks like a slum. Why not advertise online when you have a household item you want to get rid of, instead of putting your mattresses, old stoves and lawnmowers in front of your beautiful homes, hoping that someone will take them? Do you have any idea what that looks like to a visitor/tourist?
How about the fences surrounding these big, beautiful homes? Surely if you can afford to own this home, then you can afford a tin of paint to repaint your fences every few years.
Does anyone know what a garbage can is for? Instead of throwing it on your roads and sidewalks, use a garbage can.
Have some pride and make the Lower Mainland a place you can be proud to reside in or at least a place that people will enjoy visiting.
Angela Krilow, Edmonton, Alberta