Main’s 100 block waste of money

Dear Editor:

The Ontario government has pledged $120,000 of the $200,000 cost to have a huge rubber duck in the harbour for one week to commemorate Canada’s 150th birthday.

Locals are somewhat irate at the “pennywise and pound foolish attitude.” The justification for the huge duck is that it’s fun and quirky. Such logic! It seems that Toronto City Council has loose purse strings like another council that we might know.

It seems that there is a parallel here, although not for the same reason to celebrate Canada’s 150th.

I am referring to the sand block update of the 100 block of Main Street. How convenient! We now can drive on sand bricks for about a block or so. Taxpayers really don’t know why this “highway block of dreams” is there, but it is!

Does it make us feel better when we drive down Main towards Lakeshore? I know that there is nothing aesthetic about the “brick road” that tickles my fancy. I just see the dollar signs wafting into the air as I drive through and think as to how much more effectively that the money for this “council beautification folly” could have benefitted the upkeep of the Main Street pavement in other parts of town.

The question here might be: “How beneficial will this wanton, willy-nilly waste of money be to add to the total picture of the city?” Not one iota, I suspect.

I suspect that the few businesses that are located in said area have not noticed a marked increase in business dealings. Nor has there been a dramatic increase in locals and tourists alike to visit the area and “ooh and aah,” saying “Wow, what a phenomenon!”

Again, in both instances, here and in Toronto, the “Peter Principle” seems to be the order of the day. Maybe it’s time for a change in direction by bringing in “a new bus driver” in our situation. What do you think?

Ron Barillaro Penticton