An unsettling encounter with criminal activity

Both my daughter and myself live on streets directly bordering our beloved Beacon Hill Park. The other day, my daughter was a victim of criminal activity, and this morning I went out to my car to find items had been stolen out of it.

In my daughter’s (and son-in-law’s) situation, they reside in a Park Boulevard ground-floor Airbnb, and went across the street to greet my other daughter and her grandson, who had just arrived for a visit.

They left the street-facing front door open as they were only 10 metres away away. Passing by was a shirtless drugaddled “tweaker” who walked onto the property, and immediately intensely looked in their windows and was about to enter the suite when my son-in-law, only a few feet away, looked up, and then in defence walked immediately over.

The tweaker immediately fled up the street, hiding his face, got to the street corner and started running away.

I am a lifelong resident of Victoria. I grew up at a time when our house doors were left unlocked, and as a young child went to kindergarten on the bus by myself.

As managers of this city, I feel most, but not all, members of this current council are complicit in the tragedy that has befallen this city. Sadly, I don’t think, and nor do many, many of my friends, that the council members are, in the least bit, qualified to lead this city.

I don’t question their good intentions, but they are simply not experienced and are unequipped to be on council. I make this statement not out of malice, but based on a lifetime of involvement and observation on what works, and what has failed. I could go on with many more observations, but see no point.

Brian Siddall Victoria