Here's What a Real Plan of Action for Downtown Improvement Can Look Like

As the Mayor of Windsor openly addresses the impacts of poverty and addiction in his city and shares a plan of action, we question where Owen Sound Mayor's action plan ended up.

Photo: Left to right, Commissioner of Human and Health Services Andrew Daher and Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens. Photo: City of Windsor

EDITORIAL

Sharif Rahman’s assault and death last August shook Owen Sound to its core. Years-long discussions around public safety in the “River District,” where the City is spending millions of dollars on beautification projects, suddenly became a hot-button issue again.

No one seems to be arguing that homelessness, poverty, or drug addiction played a direct role in Sharif’s assault. There is no indication that downtown residents had anything to do with it. And yet three people assaulted a man to the extent he died of his injuries, and they were able to simply vanish down near-empty streets.

Related:

What Happened to Sharif Rahman?

One has to wonder if the incident would have occurred – if they could have so easily slipped away – were downtown Owen Sound the sort of vibrant, lively place we read about in the City’s marketing campaigns.

But it’s not that place, and it hasn’t been for several years. Those who spend a lot of time downtown, the people who live and work there, will tell you it’s declined even more rapidly over the last 12 months.

Downtown Owen Sound has become a powder keg, with frustrated business owners and the unhoused feeling abandoned and sometimes in direct conflict with one another. People lie crumpled on the sidewalk in broad daylight. Some admit to carrying weapons to protect themselves. Property crimes, including vandalism and theft, are rampant.

Owen Sound Police reported over 300 calls for service over the August long weekend alone.

What happened to our plan of action for downtown safety?

In late August 2023, after Sharif’s death, Mayor Ian Boddy promised a plan to enhance safety for those working, living, and shopping in the River District.

I asked Mayor Boddy for an update on July 2, 2024, and submitted to him by email:

“The first step in that plan was surveillance cameras. Can you provide an update on that program and additional steps taken since August 2023 as part of this plan of action? How are you measuring results?”

Boddy replied that he had raised this anniversary (of Sharif Rahman’s death) and the frustrating lack of information for the public at the Police Board meeting that very morning. 

“You need to contact Chief Ambrose with questions,” he said.

I reiterated to Mayor Boddy that my question was specifically for him, as it was his plan of action promised nearly one year ago, and repeated, “Can you provide an update on that program and additional steps taken since August 2023 as part of this plan of action? How are you measuring results?”

Mayor Boddy did not respond.

I also wrote to all of Council via the council@owensound.ca email, which we are told is the way to reach our elected representatives, and invited them to participate in this conversation.

“People are feeling pretty bleak amidst the business closures, overdoses, assaults, and thefts,” I submitted on behalf of the Owen Sound Current. “If any elected official has spent time downtown recently and can share tangible ways safety is improving, we welcome those comments.”

One person responded.

Councilor Carol Merton wrote,

“Thank you for reaching out as we approach the anniversary of one year after the death of Sharif Rahman. The concerns of the public that have been expressed individually and in the Chamber of Commerce Town Hall meeting continue.

The public requested that a police foot patrol be visible downtown and feedback has been that the public feels that a more visible police presence is important and appreciated.

The public, City staff and officials want more public presence and activities in our downtown area. As a result, there has been a variety of events and activities scheduled to increase the volume of people downtown.

The Shop Local messaging continues to be promoted in support our local businesses.  There is still more that needs to be done in our community.”

Merton is correct that part of the solution is getting more people downtown. It’s a nice goal, but there’s nothing actionable about a desire for more people to go downtown. We’ve had events in the downtown core as long as I can remember, since I was a kid selling muffins at the Farmer’s Market in the ‘80s (and I’m sure for a lot longer before that).

People come downtown and have a good time – and then they leave.

Those who are downtown outside of parades and street sales are having a night-and-day different experience than the one councilors and staff have when they (with few exceptions) drive downtown in their cars, go to work for the day, get back in their cars, and leave.

Surveillance cameras are a good first step (and are the ones we’ve been talking about for a year even installed yet?). They may be useful tools in solving crimes where video footage is needed to identify an offender, and cameras can instill a bit of confidence in visitors, but they are one very small piece of a much larger puzzle.

Where is the rest of the Mayor’s plan of action to clean up our streets and make it safe to go downtown?

In August 2023, a 14-year-old Owen Sound resident wrote a letter to Mayor Boddy that was later shared in the Owen Sound Hub. The letter was titled, “Please help our city.”

Boddy responded to the teen that these issues are affecting all of North America. “While frustrating in OS, we aren't nearly as bad in comparison to most other places. Vancouver, Edmonton, Sudbury, Sault Ste Marie, and London downtowns are devastated,” he wrote.

Boddy added, “Main streets are ghost towns with closed, boarded-up stores. Ottawa, Barrie, Toronto downtowns and many others are worse than here.”

Yes, the opioid epidemic and housing crisis are impacting Canadians across the board. I’d argue that several of the aforementioned cities are not, in fact, “devastated” or any worse off than Owen Sound – particularly those I’ve personally spent time walking around in during the past 18 months. If you think walking around downtown Owen Sound is any safer or more aesthetically pleasing than walking around London, Toronto, Ottawa, or Edmonton, let’s go for a road trip – first stop, downtown Owen Sound.

While the violent crime index for Ontario fell in 2023, ours rose two-thirds higher in Owen Sound.

Our police chief, Craig Ambrose, told The Sun Times in an interview that “Owen Sound is not the small-town quiet location that everybody may think.” People are moving here from larger centres, as enforcement efforts increase in those areas, he said. “And as a result, we see some of the violence that comes along with that.” 

While homicides and incidents involving drugs contributed, Ambrose said other types of violent crimes also drove Owen Sound’s index higher:

• Charges for sexual assault with a weapon numbered three in 2023, compared to zero the year before.

• Sexual assaults without a weapon or other aggravating factor grew 28% in Owen Sound last year, and sexual interference was up 113%.

• Aggravated assaults and forceable confinement/kidnappings tripled in number, and pointing and discharge of firearms generated four charges in 2023 versus none in 2022.

• Indecent/harassing communications grew 138%.

The level and the use of violence in Owen Sound is “certainly concerning,” Ambrose told The Sun Times.

Pointing fingers at the perceived worst of the worst and saying, “At least we’re not those guys!” does nothing to reassure residents and certainly doesn’t change our situation.

Owen Sound can do a lot better than bottom-of-the-barrel worst place to be.

Let’s set our aspirations a little higher, shall we? Not for 2050, which is so far outside the average Owen Sounder’s realm of understanding that it’s little more than an abstract concept at this point.

As I wrote to Owen Sound’s Vision 2050 campaign organizers in mid-June when it launched, many people in this town don't know how they're going to survive the next month or two. The year 2050 is so far off to people battling food insecurity, poverty, precarious housing, depression, and addictions, etc. that it means nothing to them.

And who knows how economic, societal, technological and environmental conditions will have shifted or even transformed by then?

The City has its work cut out for it to rebuild broken relationships with the community and show understanding and empathy now.

Yet in their last regular meeting before the August break, on July 22, Owen Sound Council wasted an opportunity for much-needed meaningful discussion on housing, addictions, mental health and poverty issues plaguing the City.

Councilor Marion Koepke stated that talking about what she perceives as social issues is a “rip-off” for taxpayers.

Mayor Boddy, meanwhile, scolded Councilor Merton, “…you just said that homelessness is part of our responsibility. I don't know how that fits into anything we do.”

Related:

Owen Sound's Mayor Really Doesn't Want to Talk About Homelessness [Video]

We are being asked to measure the success of this Mayor and council on the conversations they want to have, and those alone: on isotope businesses that might one day come here, or how the budget is “trending,” or improvement plans that may be realized 26 years from now.

If our current leadership cannot stomach a conversation about the current state, what can they possibly contribute that might benefit us in 2050?

The City of Windsor is not running away from the conversation.

Windsor announced its ‘Strengthen the Core’ action plan in April. More than vague promises and generic desires, it outlines concrete actions the city will take to address safety concerns, clean up its downtown, and encourage new investments in the city’s downtown core.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said in the announcement:

“We are not blind to the issues facing our downtown. Make no mistake, we want to help people battling mental-health and addiction issues.

At the same time, we are not going to allow the behaviours often associated with people suffering these conditions to take over our city.”

Windsor’s 7-point action plan for strengthening its core begins with Safe Streets, which includes:

• A dedicated command for city centre police patrols, with additional auxiliary officers

• Assignment of a crime analyst to fuel data-driven decision-making and prioritization of resources

• Live cameras in problem areas with real-time monitoring and intervention, with a mobile lighting and camera unit for night-time patrols

• Physical deterrents such as additional security lighting and relocating benches away from abandoned businesses

The second point of action in Windsor’s plan is a call for Higher Standards by increasing enforcement of property standards and filling vacant buildings. They plan to achieve this by increasing bylaw enforcement, changing bylaws to encourage building maintenance, increasing financial penalties for unkempt buildings, increasing the amount of garbage receptables available, making grant application processes easier, and more.

Take a walk downtown Owen Sound and imagine all of the plywood window coverings coming down. Imagine sanitation services that prioritize getting rid of the garbage over punishing those who have nowhere to put it. Imagine property standards bylaws being enforced based on the good of the community rather than the current complaints-based system.

Windsor’s third initial action item, Healthy Spaces, extended the hours of the City’s Homelessness and Housing Help Hub (yes, cities can and DO provide these supports!) to ensure people who are unhoused have a facility they can access prior to the opening of overnight shelters, and to better support people experiencing mental health and/or addiction crises. The City partners with a dozen or so local support agencies to make this possible.

Can we afford to take action?

Given the current state, a better question might be, can we afford not to? But let’s look at what all of these proposed changes may cost and how Owen Sound could fund them.

Windsor’s City Council unanimously approved $3.2 million in additional annual operating budget in May for its 'Strengthen the Core' plan. According to Windsor Star coverage, most of that money will pay for 12 new police officers dedicated to the downtown core and expanding service hours at the Homelessness and Housing Help Hub.

The City of Windsor’s total operating budget for 2023 is about 20x Owen Sound’s at $997,770,729.

Windsor pays $117,868,133 annually for policing - less than 12% of its operating budget – while Owen Sound will pay $9.39 million (after grants and other revenue) or 19.5% of its $47 million budget for policing in 2024.

If Owen Sound applied even a third of Windsor’s funding to a real action plan for improving community safety and the downtown core, it would require a $1.06 million investment.

To give that figure some context:

• $676,000 in tax-supported funding was allocated for Phase 2 of the River District project, the 900 Block of 1st Avenue East

• $1.3 million - allocated for 16th St. E. Pedestrian Tunnel Rehabilitation in 2026

• $5.4 million - allocated for 4th Ave W - 15th St W to 17th St W - Reconstruction in 2026

• $1 million - allocated for Software Transformation (IT Needs Assessment) over 5 years

• $500,000 - allocated and already funded for the Tom Thomson Art Gallery facility expansion – you know, the one they keep telling us not to worry about because it isn’t a for-sure thing yet – in 2026

Owen Sound is not destitute. We have choices to make.

Yet in our budget discussions and surveys, taxpayers are given only two options: accept service cuts and cost reductions, or higher taxes to cover increased services.

There are other things that can be done. Let’s get more creative than “Increase service, add more staff.”

The City had a net year-end surplus of $330,935 in 2023 and applied $122,000 of it to the Tom Thomson Art Gallery’s debt replayment plan to the City. Perhaps the $600,000 in “repayments” made from 2018-2024 could be reevaluated, and if the gallery needs to keep a debt on its books, it could free up funding for community safety, a far more pressing concern right now.

Further, the City collects $260,208 by way of an additional 2024 tax levy downtown properties pay for what used to be the DIA. $87,284 of the DIA/River District board’s budget is earmarked for Marketing, which includes the cost of an employee transferred over from the City to the River District Board. One might argue that Marketing is secondary to actually creating a marketable experience in the downtown core.

Another $96,000 is paid right back to the City for “free parking,” and the City then hires out parking enforcement. In any case, a budget of $260,000 already exists for the sole purpose of improving the downtown.

The City has set aside $100,000 in the Capital Plan for wayfinding signage for downtown over two years, 2024/25. Perhaps the signage can wait until people actually want to be downtown.

The City could consider reducing operating expenses by relinquishing land use planning to the County, which would also streamline much-needed social housing planning.

Residents—and their elected representatives on Council—must challenge the City Manager and his staff to do things differently. We do not need more or less of the way we’ve done things for the last 50 years. We cannot wait for next year’s budget cycle or the next decade’s capital plan to discuss important issues.

Getting us into a better state for 2050 means having a plan of action now, with tangible steps to take in the next 12 months and defined ways of measuring results.

Mayor Boddy told that 14-year-old community member who wrote him that “We consult with other municipalities and attend lectures and sessions at conferences. No one has a better solution.”

And yet, here we see better solutions in action.

We don’t have to copy Windsor’s approach to the letter, but we need to start looking around at who’s making positive progress and see what we can learn from them. It’s time for local decision-makers to stop pointing fingers around at who should be doing this or that. There’s no more room for complaining that we’re helpless, or waiting for some other level of government to step in.

No one expects a cure-all for everything that ails us, but we need leadership to acknowledge the issues and begin taking steps in a better direction. We need leadership to be willing to have the conversation.

In short, we need leadership.

The very least that could be done to improve community safety for Owen Sounders right now is anything at all. Let’s stop dreaming about what we might become and start taking steps to get there.