'NO MAGIC BULLET' FOR CLEANING UP CITY CENTRE

A downtown merchant who works across the street from the bar which had its
liquor licence yanked for suspected drug sales feels the community is
turning a blind eye to illicit activities in the core. Gord Thompson says
he can look out his window at G. W. Thompson Jeweller and Pawnbroker and
see a parade of illegal activity along King Street.

"It's almost like an ongoing theatre production. You see all the drugs
being peddled, and the prostitutes doing their thing and the fights on the
street," he said. "It's been more active in the last 10 to 15 years than it
ever has been. It's almost as if to some degree it's been accepted in our
community."

He said he was relieved the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario
suspended the licence at Big Lisa's, a bar in which an undercover police
officer said he easily purchased crack cocaine. The commission yanked the
licence after ruling the bar showed "a clear pattern of illegal activity."

On Monday, a mother of five was found murdered in an apartment near the bar
where police say crack cocaine users go to smoke drugs.

Det. Gary Heron, the officer in charge of Project Rex, an undercover
project which resulted in 48 charges -- 39 related to customers or
employees at Big Lisa's -- said the core's drug problem isn't restricted to
one place.

"You close one place and they (crack dealers) are going to move along,"
Heron said.

City politicians have said that downtown revitalization is a priority, but
the latest incidents reveal the extent of the problems that still exist.

Councillor Andrea Horwath of Ward 2, which includes downtown, said
councillors are doing what they can within their budget.

"There's never enough. Within the resources that we have, we're trying to
attack the problem," said the councillor who goes on regular walks through
the core with police and people in the business community to identify
problems and come up with solutions.

She said it would help if downtown was a priority for all city councillors.

Ward 4 Councillor Sam Merulla agrees. "The major obstacle with respect to
downtown truly becoming a major priority for all is the collective will of
the bureaucracy and council," he said. "What's good for the downtown is
good for the entire city."

Mayor Bob Wade could not be reached for comment yesterday, but has said in
the past there is no need for a specific policy to save downtown.

The councillors agree there's no easy answer to fixing what ails the core.

"There's no magic bullet," said Ward 1 Councillor Marvin Caplan. "We've got
to keep it clean, we've got to ensure there's adequate policing, we have to
deal with the tax issue ... we have to ensure we support the remaining
merchants ... we are doing those things."

Mary Pocius, executive director of the International Village Business
Improvement Area, knows the drug problem will not go away, but said that
doesn't mean we should give up the fight.

"They're never going to get rid of drugs in the urban centre," she said.
"This type of illegal transaction is not going to move to the boonies. But
the minute the citizenry gives up, we deserve whatever we get."