Letters to the Editor: June 22, 2024

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Time to clean house

Regarding the article Union rips board brass’s hikes (June 18).

I agree with Craig Smith’s assessment of the board being tone deaf and students not being resourced appropriately.

Perhaps the Minister of Education should intervene, including firing the board of trustees amid growing dissatisfaction with how the board has been run. I believe the Minister of Education also needs to cut executive ranks and redeploy that money on front-line staff.

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Carol Payne, London

Get ready for seven

Regarding the article Union rips board brass’s hikes (June 18).

In the mid-1970s, I worked at the London Board of Education’s IT department, supporting the in-house payroll application.

One March, we got a call from the director of education’s secretary, saying there was a big error on the director’s T4 slip. His reported income was only $7,000.

Quickly determining the program only provided for a maximum of five digits of income, the space was expanded to properly report the (approximately) $107,000 salary.

I suggest the TVDSB IT wizards review their payroll and expense account procedures, since at the current skyrocketing wages, it won’t be long before seven-figure (i.e. more than $1 million) annual incomes become a reality.

Garry Robbins, London

Kids don’t count

Regarding the article Union rips board brass’s hikes (June 18).

Craig Smith calls the board’s executive pay hikes a “confusing signal.” The optics seem clear to me: The board is taking care of executive wants before the needs of the students for whom they are responsible.

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Ken Drudge, Komoka

No accountability

I read with interest how the Thames Valley District school board executives saw their compensation increase by as much as 30 per cent in 2023 while just last week the board announced the proposed elimination of 124 staff due to a budget deficit.

Is there no accountability here whatsoever from this group which should be putting the interests of students first.

We, as taxpayers and parents, should be outraged.

Greg Denstedt, London

Housing best value

Regarding the letter to the editor Seeking clarity (June 19) from R.J. Webb.

While Webb finds the $37,000 annual per-person cost to operate a supportive housing facility high, I would suggest the opposite. According to Statistics Canada, the annual cost to incarcerate an individual is $120,000 and, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the annual cost to hospitalize an individual is at least $1.1 million.

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For people with complex health and social needs, supportive housing is a much more affordable approach than constant cycles through incarceration, hospitalization, and other taxpayer supported systems.

Housing as a solution to chronic homelessness is more humane and better use of public dollars.

Abe Oudshoorn, London

Roundabout habits

We recently spent 10 days touring France and encountered many roundabouts.

When entering a roundabout, the French put on their turn signal. If exiting at the first exit, it’s the right signal. If they are continuing, it’s the left one until they approach their exit. Then, they activate the right one.

This lets everyone know what the driver intends to do and speeds up entry to the roundabout.

Tom Pint, London

Response excessive

On Monday, June 3, I went to 241 Simcoe St. to help my friend arrange his apartment after a move-in.

I was riding my bicycle and when I turned the corner from Clarence Street onto Simcoe, I saw a barricade of police cruisers, blocking the street with the yellow caution tape strung across the street. So, I went on to the north side sidewalk figuring if they don’t want me to proceed they will tell me. I made my way to the front entrance sidewalk. I stopped, got off of my bike and started counting the cruisers. I got to about 30 cruisers and an unmarked SUV.

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I found my friend sitting out front on a bench with others, all with a nonchalant demeanor. My friend said there was someone running around on the two top floors, screaming at the world. “That’s it?” I asked. I told him I’d counted around 30 police vehicles; he told me there’s more around the other side and “the swat team is here.”

We were allowed to walk past a couple of constables at the entrance and went to his fourth floor apartment. Sure enough, I saw another five cruisers blocking the Grey Street entrance. All of this for a punk yelling and screaming, maybe yielding a knife? From my friend’s apartment we heard the force crash into an apartment followed by smashing, crashing and lots of yelling: “Stop it; you are hurting me.” Then, it was quiet. We saw officers bring out a young man, maybe all of 25 years, old.

Now, city council voted for a substantial police budget increase.

To justify the increase, police Chief Thai Troung said “spending is the best way to modernize the London Police Force and get it up to speed with other services.”

I should hope council requests a reimbursement for the 35 constables for 3 1/2 hours, most of them hanging around.

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Do the math.

James Wallace, London

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Great opportunity

Regarding the article Dundas and Richmond pushed as location for new city hall (June 18).

What a fantastic idea.

Let’s put our mayor and city council smack in the middle of the mess they created.

Michael Mercer, London

Give public a say

Regarding the article City politicians push ahead with plan for new city hall, in the same spot (June 20).

The timing of Farhi Holding Corp.’s (FHC) proposal is unfortunate, however it is not “too late.”

As taxpayers, we have invested more than $100 million on the revitalization of downtown: Dundas Place, Convent Garden Market, Fanshawe College and Western University’s downtown campuses, Central Library and Budweiser Gardens.

The use of downtown office space is a forever changed landscape in a post-pandemic world. The land which FHC has offered to redevelop (on very generous terms) is a vital block that would be saved by this kind of investment, and it would bolster the massive investments we, as taxpayers, already have made in the adjoining areas.

The block of land which FHC has suggested to redevelop (on very generous terms), is a vital block that would be saved by this kind of investment, and it would bolster the massive investments we, as tax payers, have already made in the adjoining areas.

At the very least, hold off and let the public have input before spending $125 million of our money.

Peter Markvoort, London

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