EAST SIDE TIRED OF THE BAD RAP

Crime Worries Area Citizens

Living in Forest Lawn is a choice for Robin Reister.

A mother of four children under 10, Reister is concerned about drugs,
prostitution and crime in Ward 10.

However, she said Forest Lawn and other neighbourhoods on the east side are
getting a bad rap.

"The typical Calgarian looks at Forest Lawn as the Bronx or East Hastings
- -- this really horrible area," said Reister. "If it was that bad, I
wouldn't stay here with my kids."

She said there are parts of the area that are affected by prostitution and
the crime that comes with it -- drugs, break-ins and robberies.

Both she and Diane Danielson, who served as the Ward 10 alderman for six
years before being defeated last fall, said crime in the ward is average.

"Statistically it is," said Danielson, who is running for re-election in
Monday's vote. "There are some challenges we face and statistically there
are certain crimes that are a little higher here, but that is balanced off
by certain crimes that are lower."

Crimes related to prostitution and drugs have emerged as the biggest
concern for area residents, who have been fighting for years to improve the
reputation of the area by organizing petitions and holding awareness marches.

There are about 62,000 residents living in Ward 10, made up of eight
communities including Abbeydale, Applewood, Forest Heights, Forest Lawn,
Marlborough and Penbrooke Meadows.

Based on doorstep chats in the area, candidate Dale Galbraith said crime is
the No. 1 issue.

"There is some discussion from the past alderman that our crime is not any
different than the rest of the city," he said. "That is not entirely true."

Problems with prostitution and drugs are well known, Galbraith said, and
there is also higher incidents of house break-ins and car thefts in Ward 10
than in any other area of the city.

"I would add resources to that part of the city that would allow us to make
a concerted effort to clean up some of those areas," he said.

Challenger Barry Lindemann said he wants to work with residents to improve
community pride by helping residents take their community back.

"You can't be proud of your community when it's infested with drug dealers
and prostitutes," he said.

Lindemann said the election fiasco in Ward 10 last fall has also tarred the
community.

At the centre of last fall's voting controversy were 1,266 mail-in ballots
requested by the Margot Aftergood's campaign team and sent to a mailbox
rented by her husband, David.

Aftergood, who resigned her seat, has maintained her volunteers did nothing
wrong and were only facilitating the vote. She's not running in Monday's
byelection.

The other candidates vying to take her seat on council are Manfred Baum,
Brad Berard, Andre Chabot, Allan Foster, Antoni Grochowski and Doug Service.

Grochowski said traffic is the biggest issue for Ward 10 residents.

"We have the LRT going north, south and west but not east," he said, noting
he would put more emphasis on improving transit service to the area by
extending the C-Train tracks east on Memorial Drive.

Traffic, road maintenance and taxes have also been raised as concerns.

Some residents have mentioned the unfinished work on 68th Street N.E. while
others were concerned about maintenance of existing roadways.

Chabot, a longtime resident of the area, said it's about time Ward 10 got
its fair share from the city.

"We pay taxes here and what we get in return is incremental," he said at a
recent forum. "We have needs here and its time we start getting our fair
share."

For her part, Reister said she is more concerned about improving the area
than paying more taxes.

"I would pay 10 per cent more in taxes if I knew my child could go to a
school without a crack house on either side," she said.