[ A local senior citizen—Mr. J.B. Clark--wanted the following letter to the editor to be published in the “Wasaga Sun.” It was too long so they did not publish it. Someone suggested he give the letter to someone to give to me to share in Wasaga Beach News and Commentary. J.B. Clark is not on Facebook but did want it shared. I agreed to do so. I don’t agree with 100% of it but I certainly agree with the majority of it ] : “ Letter to the editor, After 71 years, I feel compelled to publically voice my opinion for the first time. I will contain my opinions to the political campaigns concerning the race for Mayor of Wasaga Beach although much of my thinking would apply also to the other campaigns for council as well. I have been privileged to attend meetings of two of the Mayoralty candidates, namely Brian Smith and Cal Patterson. I’m not leaving out David Foster for any other reason than I haven’t had the opportunity to hear his thoughts and policies and vision for the town at any similar ‘meet and greet’ function where there is a much broader opportunity to express these things than at an all candidates meeting where each speaker has only a few minutes to get their point across. Firstly, the meet and greet function for candidate Brian Smith was well attended by many of his supporters as well as undecided ‘I am here to listen’ folks. He was well spoken and respectful. Of course we heard the full story of poor kid makes good and Mr. Smith deserves full marks for his well-deserved financial success. However, I have many friends who have worked as hard and after similar setbacks, became financially independent as well. We all have been very blessed in this world and many have experienced their success from their business and careers right here in Wasaga Beach. Mr. Smith’s claim that, if elected, he will donate his salary to charity is quite noble but he will have to go a long way to match the Patterson family’s $700,000 raised by Carly’s Angels via their daughter’s Memorial golf tournament over the past years, all to support various charities here in Wasaga Beach. Brian Smith is very critical of our current Council for not taking issues concerning the deteriorated state of the ‘beach’ more strongly to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). When the MNR considers themselves to be above the considerations of local citizens, it is very difficult to begin any communications with a stone wall. The town has been told it’s not of their business how the provincial parks are managed and they have been ignored by silence, to the town’s offer to hook up the ‘public’ washrooms to the town’s sewer system. Although they are a disgusting mess at times, the Ministry claims their reduced funding leaves them no choice. Cal Patterson has concluded that a different venue must be sought to bring some common sense to this problem. Perhaps the Premier herself or even the Ministry of Health must get involved. The loss of pristine beach (like 40 years ago) is another issue. Mr. Smith is blaming Council for lack of taking strong stands with the MNR. Does he not know that the levels in Georgian Bay have been reduced by as much as 41 inches since 1998? That the beach front has widened by many hundreds of feet in that time period? Even the MNR is not at fault here since Mother Nature has its own agenda and the only fault of the MNR is trying to control the resulting grasses with a political time table and not a scientific one . . . again, none of the town’s business . . . stay out of it. Mayor Patterson can only obviously conclude that the only solution to restoring the beach to its former glory is to ‘take back the beach!’ I think that is a valid strategy if only for negotiating purposes but then again, if the MNR is cash strapped, be careful what you wish for? Tourism is going down year by year. According to Mr. Smith, the problem is Council’s lack of strategy. As I see it, tourism dollars started to fall when the provincial park came to town. People come to the beach loaded with every cooler and picnic basket they can possibly carry and pay dearly to ‘get through the gate.’ After that admission fee and the cost of gas to get home, many don’t have the money for an average meal while they are here. I’m not a poor man but I sometimes cringe at the cost of even a snack at the Main Street. Earlier in the summer, we had a 50th Anniversary party with many out of town friends and family attending. I inquired about rooms at an upscale motel here in the beach. The rate was $245.00 per night . . . minimum three nights. Sorry, if that’s what it costs to stay at a decent motel in Wasaga Beach. I’m not going to stay either. These businesses are doing OK I think but are not going to increase the tourism numbers. AT the same time many older cottage courts and hotels aren’t enthusiastic about upgrading their accommodations for a wild weekend and charge by the head, multiple heads per room. Not the kind of place I would stay in either. In the last 10 years, many Bed and Breakfasts (B&B’s) have opened counter to wishes of these more mature tourist inns. More B&B’s are the tip of the iceberg. Anyone with eyes that can see would not recognize this town if they hadn’t been here for ten years. Four-lane streets (and more to come), Superstore, Mark’s Work Warehouse, Canadian Tire, four banks, four drug stores, two LCBO’s, Stonebridge and their 25 stores, Parkplace, Wasaga Meadows, Country Life, new fire hall, expanded library, Communities in Bloom, public transit with links to Collingwood, youth centre, multiple soccer pitches, playgrounds and a dog park, a medical centre including a medical lab, and our beloved RecPlex … now a landmark in our community. Mr. Smith claims that town council had nothing to do with bringing these folks to town. That most if not all these entities did their due diligence and would have come to Wasaga Beach on their own anyway. I don’t thinks so!! Hopefully Mr. Smith doesn’t plan on future growth as organic as he claims past growth has been. I’m running out of ink, but I think by now you must get the feeling that I have appreciated the leadership and vision Cal Patterson has given this town. He and all of us should be very proud of the way this town has progressed so far. Many things to do still but quite frankly, a ‘change starting at the top’ scares the hell out of me. Best wishes to all candidates and thank-you for letting your names stand for office. Respectfully, JB Clark, Wasaga Beach. “
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 16:07:51 +0000
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