Looking through the letters pages of the Western News and the Herald can sometimes be a rather boring experience as it appears that certain writers appear more than once in a while and I am sure that letters get repeated.
Penticton appears to be filled with “anti-prison” tourism advocates. Why is a prison fought against so violently? Yes, the prisons are unattractive but perhaps the new one will be different? Yes, the Parole Board appears to be filled with incompetent and unintelligent decision makers but still, the prison has to be somewhere and the fact is that Penticton is dying as a city, if it depends solely on tourism (especially summer tourism).
Why is it dying? Have you not noticed that CD Plus moved out of the local mall and there is no replacement yet? There are vacant lots (due to land renewal/cleansing?), there are businesses that people are still mourning (the water slides) and there are “white elephants” as the events centre appears to be referred to.
Will a prison solve the problem? Of course not, regardless of how much local business it helps to rejuvenate. Council and business and the public need to work together to make Penticton more than a “one-dimensional” tourism/retirement city.
Can we depend only on water skiers, boaters, the Ironman competitors and hockey teams as well as the odd country or rock headliner concert? No, most assuredly.
All of you complainers (whether you’re seniors or middle-aged or youth): how about zipping your mouth, putting down your pen or stepping away from your computer and doing something about the situation? Or are all of you talkers and not “doers”?
Penticton does need more variety (more than just restaurants or shops) but if the seniors and other residents continue to complain and oppose, how will the city ever get better?
Finally, did all the bad drivers from the Lower Mainland (or Alberta and elsewhere) move to Penticton en masse? People seem to drive so stupidly on Eastside Road by tail-gating, speeding, passing other cars illegally (over the solid line). I know of one person who almost died because of someone else’s idiotic speeding along the lakeside road.
Come on people, if you have a licence you do know how you are supposed to drive, so start driving more safely and stop harassing those who obey the speed limit.
Patrick Longworth
Okanagan Falls