Bigger issues to deal with

Foolish to come down hard on lessfortunate

City of Penticton bylaw must have too much time on its hands if the greatest concern is Paul Braun sitting near a downtown breezeway located between Smart Shopper Discount and The Book Shop. Everyone in the downtown knows Paul. He’s often there with a small sign and cap asking for loose change. He doesn’t verbally ask for money and he’s never aggressive. Many people find he’s willing to engage is thoughtful conversation.

He’s accused of blocking a breezeway between the two stores. The Herald’s offices are downtown and we see Paul daily. He doesn’t own a dog, a tent or a shopping cart lifted from Walmart. His sign and cap take very little room.

City council should know this — Paul sits directly across the street from The Grooveyard, a business co-owned by Mayor Andrew Jakubeit.

Paul has received eight tickets — which he’s ignored — so he’s now been subpoenaed for a Dec. 2 court date. Really? It’s tough to find a bylaw officer when we need one for something important.

The city has a poor track record of going to court. Last time the city launched legal action it was against their own firefighters... and the city lost.

We understand a lawyer has offered to take Paul’s case. Be prepared for an embarrassing three-ring circus. This is a waste of valuable court time.

Bylaw is unwilling to go after the aggressive street people. To be blunt, some of the new generation of street people are mean. Paul Braun is not mean. Police seem reluctant to shut down major crack houses in the area. A white-collar theft of $40,000 from the Downtown Penticton Association still hasn’t resulted in any criminal charges... and it’s been a year. We’ve had two homicides, too

“I guess it’s against the law to be hungry in Penticton,” Paul said in an interview with Okanagan Weekend.

The downtown has issues with street people, just like every other city in British Columbia. We agree, many people don’t like panhandlers and it’s a challenge for downtown merchants.

City of Penticton CAO Peter Weeber said staff and council are working on several new projects to help find housing for street people, which is great.

In the case of Paul, we could draw a comparison to speeding tickets. Someone might wonder why they’ve been ticketed for driving 120 km/h on Highway 97 when others zoom by at 140 km/h and are not ticketed. It still doesn’t mean you didn’t speed.

Reviewing all factors, it’s foolish to come down hard on a less-fortunate member of our community who isn’t hurting anyone.

—James Miller, Valley Editor