Letter: We Cannot Turn a Blind Eye to Downtown Owen Sound

Business owner shares a few of the challenges they're currently facing and asks City to take action

Two people lay unconscious on an 8th St E sidewalk mid-afternoon on August 2, 2024. Photo submitted by a reader (not the author of this letter) who says they have encountered this same scene several times in recent weeks while walking to work.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

We can’t be this blind. I wish I didn’t have to write this, but I have to share my frustration with downtown Owen Sound, an area now heavily populated with addicts and the unhoused.

Our mayor suggests it isn’t the city’s responsibility, but I question his interpretation of his role as mayor. The city's well-being should be front and centre.

Let me recount a recent day as a downtown business owner – not an exceptional day, but just another day.

I started my morning watching a police officer deal with a woman who had thrown her garbage all over the Circle K parking lot. I walked on a few blocks and found another man throwing things around on the main street, while swinging a stick.

There was a lot of yelling, and a collection of addicts smoked meth in the doorway of a closed store throughout the day. They will likely have more options as stores continue to close.

Later on, I came out of my business to find a woman lying on the sidewalk engaged in a lewd act. While she was being spoken to later by the police, a man walked past them and a group of others with an open knife. I called 911 and followed at a safe distance. He walked down the alley, past Caseros, across the parking lot, back to the laundry mat, and through the alley to the intersection. He crossed and ended up at Circle K – A MAN OPENLY DISPLAYING A KNIFE. No police came.

(They did phone me later to say they couldn’t find him. No kidding.)

To end that night, I watched at least 6 individuals who were so high that they couldn’t sit still for more than a few seconds wandering in the middle of the street. Finally, a blue car showed up, and they all congregated together… then went their separate ways, as they had a new batch of drugs to smoke.

I’ve seen people smoking meth in the open on the streets. Fights and arguments routinely occur, and of course, there are constant ambulances for those who have OD’d.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I do wish there was help for those who want it and options for those who are struggling to find a place within themselves to get help. Especially for those who have a mental health issue and are unable to express that they need it.

The fact is that there isn’t help available. More and more need it, and are arriving here to find it.

We once had options for those in need. Owen Sound has had different shelters. Now, people come seeking those options and find there is no room or the services aren’t what they were led to believe.

None of this means we must accept criminal behaviour as the norm. Our downtown streets are empty during what used to be a tourist season. Locals would rather shop anywhere but the downtown core. It isn’t safe, and it isn’t comfortable and welcoming like a downtown street should be.

When businesses are closing or struggling due to the behaviour of addicts or the unhoused, it would seem that that is a city responsibility, and our mayor should be doing more than just deflecting and avoiding the situation.

A start might be to address the criminal behaviour that stands out for anyone driving by. Respond to calls for people smoking meth in a doorway – but instead of shooing them on, detain them. Search them since there is reasonable cause. Charge them for offences.

Sure, they may get out the next day but after enough times in front of a judge, maybe they will be forced to get the help they need.

Utilize what is available in the city and meet with those agencies to unite them and work out a way to tackle the issues. We have several agencies in Owen Sound, and even if our mayor doesn’t believe City Council is a place to share this knowledge, those agencies are part of this community. We have SOS, YMCA, Salvation Army, United Way, Safe N’ Sound, and many others.

Our downtown core is in shambles, and those who need help are being completely ignored. Many businesses are struggling to survive because their former customers will no longer go downtown. These businesses put everything they had into their shops, their savings and often their every waking moment, not to mention the higher tax rates they pay the city to ignore their struggles.

As a resident of Owen Sound, I am ashamed that the city I live in does very little to tackle a very large problem. It’s not only a policing problem; it is a service issue. It is a community issue that will only get worse if the city continues to play ostrich and hide their heads in the sand.

K.H.

Editor’s Note: It is the policy of The Owen Sound Current to publish the names of those who submit letters to the editor, except in limited circumstances. In this case, we verified the identity of the contributor as a downtown Owen Sound business owner and operator, who fears reprisal should their name be published as the source of this letter.

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Letters to the Editor do not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs of The Owen Sound Current and its editor or publisher.