BAR OWNER HAS DONE HIS BIT

To the editor:

Re: Music to fight crime by, Feb. 9.

I was absolutely flabbergasted by this article.

Let me get this straight. The owner of this establishment, the Corner
Pocket, has done the right thing by barring drug users and pushers,
yet he is expected to pay $15,000 to have an outdoor camera
installed? Hello! Isn't there such a thing as a police force? Isn't
this one of the things they're supposed to do?

One of the things I found most ironic was that five pages before this
article was another story aimed at attracting tourists to Durham
Region. Corner Pocket owner Joseph Saraco has hit the nail on the head.

Who would want to be anywhere near downtown Oshawa when what you find
there are methadone clinics, soup kitchens and beggars? No amount of
funding spent on advertising tourism could change those facts.

Instead of Councillor Louise Parkes being so smug with her responses,
perhaps she should concentrate on changing the face of the downtown
area and helping out tax-paying, law-abiding small business owners
instead of brushing them off.

It was obvious to me Mr. Saraco has already shown a "zero tolerance
for drugs and drug activity." Seems to me the only violins playing
here should be for the political sob stories.

Barbara Guscott

Courtice