Gravenhurst Parking Fuzz, Vandals Need To Be Caught and We're Already A 365 Day A Year Community

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GRAVENHURST PARKING ENFORCEMENT CREATIVE, WHEN IT COMES TO MARKING TIRES OF POTENTIAL OVER-TIME OFFENDERS

     Wouldn't it be great, and I mean really outstanding, almost heroic, and an example of foresight gainfully employed, if a Gravenhurst Councillor, decided to take the issue of parking enforcement inconsistencies, to the council table, in order to generate some meaningful dialogue about a bylaw protocol, that is only enforced for a small portion of the year. How can parking enforcement in a 365 day a year community (just to repeat a statement made by an economic development official recently), be selectively enforced only on certain days of the week, and only during what is known as "the tourist season." Wouldn't it be prudent, and logical, as well as just plain interesting to know, in advance, how this inconsistency of enforcement would be treated, if there was a court challenge, from a motorist issued a ticket? It's going to happen sooner or later. Now, parking bylaw officers, are trying a new approach to catch motorists off guard. Thinking you haven't been chocked, but guess what. Look closer!
     If you happen to be parking in Gravenhurst, uptown, or along its side-streets, beware of the new chalking protocol! Yup, we're ahead of the curve here in Gravenhurst. Ah, the folks at Town Hall are thinking big time. No fooling them. Now the chalking of tires occurs on the top of the rubber, parallel to the lines of the tread, presumably because they (bylaw officers) don't want it to be noticed. Why else would they mark it on top, under the fender, deep in the shadow; instead of where it is highly visible, in the light of day, such as the outside, visible wall of the tire, or on the bottom, clearly placed, as was done previously. And keep in mind, that once you have the handiwork done, the long white mark clearly in place, you have two hours of free parking. If a motorist has just pulled into the parking spot, a few steps ahead of the bylaw enforcement officer, then having the chalk administered, and visibly so, means the owner has two hours of free parking. If on the other hand, a car has been parked there for an hour, before the parking fuzz comes by, then you get that earlier hour as a bonus from our kindly council. You're not likely to get much of a bonus from town hall, ever, so take whatever you can when it's offered. The issue here, is that by hiding the chalk mark, because in most cases on cars I looked at today, it was necessary to bend down, to look under the fender, and study the barely visible white line, which didn't appear initially as an applied mark. More like something the tire picked up off the road, blending in with the actual lines of the tread. It needs to appear obvious to the car owner. But this is what we've let our town get away with, because most of us don't want to get involved in protesting the matter in front of local councillors. Well I got a ticket this year for being five minutes over time. At the time, earlier this spring, there were very few cars parked along three blocks of what is considered now to be Uptown Gravenhurst. There was a regular event this morning at the Opera House, but we were able to warn some of our friends, attending the program, that the bylaw folks were up to their old tricks. It's a counter productive way to make twenty bucks, but then they're not trying to win a popularity contest, are they? I do think it's time to muster a group to challenge this parking authority, that by the way, is only an issue for a few months each year. That's right. Tourist season. Nothing says welcome to Gravenhurst like a twenty dollar fine for shopping and dining on the main street.
   


VANDALISM AT GULL LAKE PARK? AND IN A LOT OF OTHER PLACES

VIDEO SURVEILLANCE AND THE CONSTITUENT WILL TO PROTECT OUR PROPERTY, THE SOLUTION

     Two years ago, after a vandal (or numerous) wrote and inscribed with a sharp object, many nasty comments about our town's governance, and their quality of performance, on just about anything from bench tops to woodwork on the bridging to the Barge, I suggested to a local councillor, via email, that it might be time to employ a surveillance camera on-site, to nail the perpetrator once and for all. I had made contact with the councillor because, while at a Sunday evening Barge concert, we had found some previously undetected messages, marked onto a picnic bench top, that we all found particularly offensive. It was a personal and clearly pointed attack on individual councillors, by printing their phone numbers, side by side offensive comments. More so than what we already knew of the other inscriptions, that marked-up many of the benches spaced out in the park. I remember one in particular, penned onto the wood bracing, beneath the bridging over to The Barge, that was only clearly visible when you sat down in the lower area of the paved ramp. Geez, on that night, there had to be forty people, mostly visitors to our town, hunkered down there, at the bottom of the hill, staring at this hugely offensive reference. It was hard to miss. It should have been a hurtful message to all Gravenhurst citizens, proud of their community. We have an obligation to defend our town council in a threatening situation like this, and we tried to figure a quick solution to cover over the offensive message. So here, on a night when Gravenhurst should have been showing its best, as many of the folks in attendance for the concert were tourists, these folks couldn't look up, without seeing this nasty overview of alleged town council deficiencies. It's possible it was missed by the parks crew when they were trying to erase the other graffiti, that was pretty darn hateful. And yes, it was done by someone with anger and determination, because this kind of essay writing in the public domain, out in the open of the parkside, took a lot of time and probably was executed in the daylight. Someone had to have seen the individual, or group of vandals, but decided not to make trouble by reporting it to police.
    I did suggest, to the councillor I had emailed about the new cases of vandalism, that seeing as the criminal acts had been going on for some time, and may have been the work of a serial vandal, it was time to employ technology to once and for all, bag the perpetrator and companions on video. From what our family read, on numerous pieces of woodwork that we own as taxpayers, it would seem that the perpetrator's mission, to promote this kind of hatred, had a more profound purpose. Two years ago, it was clear, the vandal wanted recognition. As it has been continuing, and getting more aggressive, I would like to suggest then, that the parking fines collected, be used to finance some surveillance cameras at Gull Lake Park. I'd almost feel my twenty bucks, that I paid as a fine, would at least be put to good use.
     I have a lot of beefs with this town, and I'm not satisfied with our council representation. I haven't been happy with our council for the past eight years. There are a lot of constituents in this town who are unhappy with the way council is handling our business. Most remain grumpy, and save their diatribes for coffee time debates with mates. As one of these malcontents, it's not like I've suddenly morphed into the municipality's biggest single critic. But I'll tell you what. I detest vandals, and that includes the folks who like to tag community property, 'cause it makes them feel good; I guess they feel like they've put "the man" in his place, when they finish their painted message. We've been tagged twice in the past year, by someone expressing, if anything other than stupidity, their dislike for folks who have the audacity to work hard, trying to make a living. If we caught them, in the act, you know, I'm not sure what I'd say to them, because honestly, it's an awfully sad enterprise on their part; finding contentment, destroying property just because it belongs to someone else. They undoubtedly think it's a huge "win" for them, and in their mindset, it's all that matters in their shallow outlook on life; obviously unhappy about the success of others, miserable about their own shortfalls. I guess I would like an explanation from them, as to why they felt it necessary to hurt someone's business, people they don't even know, costing time and money for paint removal. Is the "rush" that big? Is it such a major societal spanking, that it make a vandal feel as if they've overthrown, and cancelled-out all the rules they despise? I don't understand why they would risk being caught and fined; on the judicial stage, where "the man" gets to impose judgement? Most of us are fed up with these jerks and eventually, well, there will be surveillance cameras all over the place, necessary to protect private and public property. Big city stuff, here in a small town in rural Ontario. As far as privacy concerns, taken away by surveillance eyes? I will gladly surrender in this regard, in order to take a bite out of the crime that really is threatening our privacy, our safety, and our general well being.
    Admittedly, I have very little patience for local council these days, (they know this, and accept me for the pain-in-the-ass I am), and I know for fact, there is a lot of concealed impatience out there, amongst constituents, who have had many more unpleasant interactions with town hall, than I have; making my objections seem acutely minor, and of no real significance on the larger scale. Why, for example, would anyone of right mind, chose to corrupt, or negate full democratic privilege, at the root of the whole freaking argument, open to one and all, to instead, strike out with ill intent, and damage public property, (owned by all of us) as an alternative act of government protest? If they have a grievance with local governance, and really want to make a point for the record, (in front of the local media), for gosh sakes, they should take the matter right to the council chambers, in the form of a proper, well thought out, sensibly proportioned presentation, or personal protest, whatever affords them their moment of satisfaction; that they have let their feelings be known in a public forum. It's so much better than gouging names and nasty comments on picnic table tops, which are never taken as anything more than vandalism, fitting of a criminal charge for the perpetrator.
     I do understand how some folks come to feel downhearted about their economic circumstances, and perceived poor chances of recovery, to change and and improve their futures; how they have come to feel disenfranchised, by government agencies in general. They interpret the alleged indifference, by local councillors, and Town Council, to the prevailing social welfare issues, as a smack-down to their democratic right to have a good and prosperous life. Some take their frustration to the extreme. I don't care how bad you think you've been treated, vandalism isn't the solution. It hurts all of us who can ill afford another tax increase, to pay for their act of obscured, misaligned rebellion.
    As a minor player, in protest, more like getting something irritating in your eye, I'm just a guy who complains a lot, but one who instead, puts his tantrum into story-form for public consumption, without any need for a pen knife to inscribe personal insults on park property. I'll tell you one thing for certain. Seeing as our family, pays high taxes, to maintain the public property in this municipality, the last thing on our minds, as mad as we can get, would be to damage what we happen to own. As I am notoriously cheap, and I get chills when the twice yearly tax notice arrives, I don't like when I hear, or see vandalism, that means the town will have to spend money, our money, to repair or replace what has been destroyed. I have never once, via this blog, or any editorial I've ever written, suggested that angry constituents, should visit the nearest public attraction, and destroy it as a means of protest. Or making a point! I don't believe that inscribing nasty messages on picnic tables, or park benches, or damaging The Barge, one of our most prominent attractions, is the way to take issue with the municipality over a parking violation, or a higher than expected tax bill. It's an act of cowardice, to commit these acts of vandalism, that is pretty much the same as shooting a hole in the bottom of the vessel we are all traveling aboard; or hacking away the the support beams of the bridge we're all standing on at the time, without appreciating that they're going to be effected in the same way as everyone else when it collapses. The vandals should be able to figure out, that the money they are costing the municipality, comes out of all our pockets; now isn't that a funny end result. They might not think they're impacted by higher taxes to offset damage repairs, but that's exactly what happens; even if it's a case where services have to be curtailed, or withdrawn entirely, and park upgrades have to be deferred, because the budget took a big hit as a result of their actions.      Maybe these folks never had a parent or guardian explain to them, as young folks, why pissing in the wind, has some big negatives attached. Wet collateral damage.
     One afternoon, Suzanne and I were sitting down along the shore of Gull Lake, enjoying the sun, cool breeze, and all the lakeland recreations afforded us, in this most amazing setting, only a couple of blocks from the main street of town. There were lots of kids at the beach, and having a great time splashing about, and playing water-tag. It was nice hearing this, because it meant to us, that these young folks, with a mix of adult supervision and elder bathers, were celebrating what our tax dollars help finance. Damn right I want my tax dollars spent in this fashion, and it was like we were getting a nice return on our investment, knowing that it was being utilized and appreciated; for the tourists in the mix, they were being shown just how accommodating our municipality is, and how worthwhile their investment of time had been, to pay us a visit.
     We heard a group of teenagers yelling and running behind us, but that was okay, as long as they respected our picnic hamper and didn't try to leap over us, on the way to the lake. Instead, they made a bee-line to the ramp leading over to The Barge. The gate was locked, and there was a clear sign that indicated, trespassing was prohibited. They weren't thwarted by either the locked gate, the sign, or that there were plenty of witnesses at that moment. We hate this sort of thing, because we feel compelled to react, and defend the rights of the taxpayers, to preserve public assets. We could hear the group rummaging around backstage, and it didn't sound as if they were just browsing, or sightseeing. When they emerged like gangbusters onto the open stage, and climbing up the stairs to the top platform, we looked at each other, put our sandwiches back in the hamper, and walked down the path to the ramp in order to address the teens more intimately. No need to shout at them, when a simple wagging of the finger would achieve the same result. This might have worked fifty percent of the time, but not on this day.
     There were five in the group, and one young lady who took great offense that two elders would dare to interfere with teenagers' right to express themselves. Well, the stage surface they were pounding down on, and the platform they all wanted to stand upon, for a better look at the rest of us fun-seekers trying to enjoy the park, were both badly decayed, and there was a good chance with their follying about, that they were going to find a short-cut into the lake through broken boards. This was just prior to the Barge being restored, and rotten boards being replaced. Suzanne and I both asked them repeatedly, and as politely as we could, to please vacate the structure. This generated a loud, and considerably long, profanity-engorged response from the young lady, who told us where we could stuff it, shove it, swallow it, and well, you get the message. We hadn't expected this kind of retort, to our mild-mannered request, to leave the Barge in peace. It just so happened, that our sons, who both worked as volunteer technicians on The Barge, for Sunday concerts, were in the park getting something to eat from the snackbar. They had two friends with them, and while it wasn't exactly the cavalry, it worked just as good. As soon as our number reached six constituents strong, the group of teenagers started to disassemble as a unit. Get this! While the girl stood in the centre of the stage cursing us, and gesturing angrily, her male companions climbed out around the closed iron gate, and quickly along the ramp back to shore. When the girl finally stopped long enough to look back at her gang of four, they were already on the hillside, yelling for her to get off the platform. We gave her lots of room, so she didn't have to pass through a gauntlet of Barge protectors, to surrender with whatever dignity was left. She did give us all the finger several times on the fly-by, and she continued the cussing all the way up to the parking lot. I did hear one of the lads yell back at her to "Shut the hell up." In this case, it was admirable peer pressure, and it worked.
     I don't know what percentage of park-goers, with vested interest in our town, would have done the same as us. I don't consider that it was an act of bravery, to challenge five teenagers, when we were only two strong. Suzanne was a teacher at the local high school, and she knew how to deal with teenage rebellion. You hear and read stories about good samaratains perishing all the time, for sticking their respective oars where it is perceived they don't belong. I'd like to think a hundred percent of constituents, just like us, would have done the same thing in a similar circumstance, and defended public property from senseless destruction. I'm pretty sure however, the number would be a lot lower, and maybe even less than ten percent.
     Our town needs some extra eyes. It needs constituents to get involved. While it's not a good or safe practice, to challenge perpetrators of vandalism, or trespassing, on your own, it is potential that, from a safe distance, you can snap a photograph on your phone, and at the very least, make a call to police to let them know what you have witnessed, and offer a description of the suspect. It does take some courage, and the will to follow through with a police investigation if it goes this far. Vandals are destroying public property, and that means "our" property. Help the town bring the vandals to justice. It's what hometowners and good neighbors do in times of crisis. It may not seem as if vandalism at Gull Lake Park has reached a crisis stage yet; but there is a clear escalation of occurrences, and facing facts, if it's not stopped the acts could become far more serious, with a greater toll of damage inflicted.      If you see something that seems particularly suspicious, and trespassing, for example, on The Barge, with the gate still being closed and locked, consider making a phone call to authorities. Take a photo if you can, from a safe distance. Best not to intervene personally. The courageous thing to do, is to report it, to increase the likelihood, the vandal(s) will be apprehended. Caught in the act would be very good! It would be damn good!
     Stick up for your hometown. It's the right thing to do! While we may have differences of opinion with town council, and feel our councillors are letting us down, in some way, there are better channels to address these concerns. It's no reason whatsoever, to disrespect the town itself, and disadvantage all constituents, by adopting the faulty logic, vandalism is a sort of appropriate, proportional "just desert," for a host of past frustrations. We can't afford vandalism. Really! So we have to do something about it! Make a call! Stop this madness in its tracks!


JUST A NOTE ABOUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND THE AGE OLD BATTLE, TO BOOST TOURISM, AND THE ECONOMY, TO 365 DAY A YEAR STATUS

     The Town of Gravenhurst, I read in the local press, just received a pretty sizeable grant of money, from the federal government, to assist the promotion of our municipality, as a 365 day community. Stupid me. I thought it was a 365 day a year community. In fact, in 1862, when it got its first post office, and the name Gravenhurst, courtesy Postal Authority, William Dawson LeSueur, it was a 365 day a year community. It was a tad difficult to get to, but our hamlet then, wasn't abandoned for half the year, as it may have seemed happened, when one refers to achieving 365 day a year status, here now, in 2015. Apparently, and in the minds of some at town hall, we haven't quite hit that mark yet. As I noted the other day, on this blog site, it's too bad town officials and council representatives don't consult with regional historians more often. Honestly, it would help them refine their public statements, so as not to reflect their really poor appreciation of our heritage here in South Muskoka.
     I've often wondered, how many billions of dollars, have been invested in Muskoka, for the very same enterprise, of making our region a year-round, widely appreciated, vacation area. How about the possibility of our community becoming an economic engine for all those days of the year? Wouldn't that be swell? But that would be nothing more than wishful thinking, because it's not going to happen, at least in our lifetimes. And to figure out why not, all we really have to do is understand the realities of our district, that in many ways, aren't all that different, in proportion, to the way it was in the late 1800's. The tourism industry is one of the most misunderstood entities in our region, and yet, it is the one engine, that even when it sputters, keeps most of us afloat economically. Very few, even in positions to know this stuff, don't get it; primarily because they refuse to study it from its roots. If they weren't adverse to sitting down with a regional historian now and again, they would appreciate that Muskoka's number one industry prefers the summer season. Since tourism began as an economic reality, it has preferred the summer season, to the fall, the winter, or the spring. No matter what is attempted, there are only pockets of ongoing success, but nothing that could be consider summer status shifting to the off-season. Instead of dealing with this, money is thrown at the issue, that has no possibility of shifting for a hundred thousand bucks; considering all the money that has been lost trying to make the impossible less so.
     In the early 1970's, the three major towns of Muskoka, decided to work with the province, amongst other agencies and sponsors, to prove a point. The founders and enablers thereafter, believed a winter attired otter, could with an appropriate festival attached, and a lot of money to work with, make Muskoka a winter escape like going skiing in Banff. The Muskoka Winter Carnival was designed as an economic missile, to strike the emotions of city slickers, who were restless in the winter months, and who had a proven love for Muskoka during the summer season. They believed, as positivists, God love them, that they could inspire a whole Winter Carnival spin-off that might change the whole complexion of tourism in the region. It was worth a shot. It's not like locals were against the idea of improving the local economy. It was a thrilling concept, and many local businesses poured out resources and sponsorships to give Skokie, the winter otter, a fighting chance to change what had been historical fact since pioneer days. Local volunteers turned out in droves to assist make the carnival a three town success. Why wouldn't they have tried their best, to improve their community's chance to inspire more opportunities; more investment and of course, more people visiting the region? Win, win!
     It was a good run. A good show. As a teenager, I loved that Skokie time of the year. But what soon proved to be the impediment to expansion, was that the Winter Carnival became a hit with the locals, many of them doing the chores to keep it operational, but visitors weren't nearly as interested in getting cold, playing a few outdoor games, and drinking beer at one of the club sponsored drinking venues. It lasted for quite a few years, before organizers found it too cumbersome, expensive and difficult to get volunteers in the numbers that were needed. A good but limited idea to increase tourism to include winter recreation, failed to deliver on its initial expectation. There have been many more well thought out, but thinly executed plans, that were supposed to make Muskoka, as they say, a 365 day a year community. Well, it is open 365 days a year, or something like that, but it is a region that still depends on the summer season, to boost the economy through the off-season. I'll tell you one thing for sure, as someone who studies this side of local history constantly, a hundred thousand plus dollars, won't change what millions of dollars haven't in the past. Consider that this has been a local reality since the beginning of the tourism economy, in and around the mid 1870's, onward, and how entrenched this tradition has become since. It doesn't mean we don't have tourism in the winter, and we are of course, open for business to greet them; but the kind of increase our municipalities are looking for, just isn't possible the way they are approaching and implementing their wonder-plans.
      How do I know this. Historical precedent counts! Glad to share this information, in our present 365 day a year town of Gravenhurst.
      Does this mean, the historian, who seems to have a lot of opinions about the future, recommends giving-up trying to make Muskoka a destination throughout the year? No! But the effort to bring this to fruition, in the next century, will have to be in step with what the past has established, as a character reality of the tourism industry, having an international character. The solution won't be found without understanding all of the industry's intricacies, as it has prevailed since the late 1800's. It is no more complicated now that it was a hundred years ago. A refusal to delve back, is the precise reasoning that determines how much money is going to go down the drain, on wasted initiatives.
      I don't think we should ever give up trying to improve our number one industry. For starters, let's make the summer season period the best ever for our guests. Sometimes we pull up just a little shallow in this regard. There's lots of potential yet to capitalized on, in the tourism season we do possess.