East Ottawa Star
Published: Friday, August 14, 2009 Questions worthy of an answer Has it been almost 18 months (Feb. 22, 2008) since I wrote my last questions column? It is time to update and write another one. Are you ready? Why do we bother posting 40 km/hr and 50 km/hr speed limit signs on our residential streets when they are consistently disobeyed? Why don’t the local police, in concert with city traffic enforcement efforts, target my street for speeders and reap the cash reward? Do they not know they can make $10,000 from the 90 km/hr speedsters on my 40 km/hr crescent? Will the vendors of the Canadian Tire property on Tenth Line let us know what sort of bites they are receiving for this prime piece of commercially zoned and serviced land? Where are our local politicians in arguing for the use of this property for a youth facility, restaurant paradise or other community enabling purpose? And will the big box bastardization of Innes Road finally come to some sort of end? Speaking of our local politicians, have they finally sorted out their interjurisdictional name calling? Do they not understand that in doing so, none of them gains any advantage while all of them lose respect? Will our city devote even a minute of time to refresh, if not rebuild, its economic strategy so our economy can diversify above and beyond government and its associated para-public institutions and employment base? And will these same officials recognize the ethnocultural, bilingual and post-secondary attainment strengths of the Orléans workforce as a key advantage to market to outside investors? More to the point, is anyone at City Hall and other economic development organizations (that our funded by our tax dollars) talking to any prospective private sector investors/employers? Will OC Transpo ever reward our community with rush-hour services that actually reflect our city’s leading ridership levels? Are you as frustrated as me that unless you live near the first three stops on your express route that getting a seat on the bus is harder than winning the lottery? Why is my water bill so much more than last year and the year before even though I haven’t watered my lawn in … forever? And why did the city ding me an interest penalty for paying my first property tax installment payment one day (literally two minutes late online) late even though I was deprived, but paid fully, for transit services for almost two months? Did you know that since my last questions column the overpass just east of Montreal Road and the 174 was fixed and completed? But keeping with traffic, why does summer traffic into the core of the city move quickly but traffic coming home at day’s end still result in winter volumes, regardless of the time when one leaves? Can readers send more questions for next week’s column to orleansoutakes@transcontinental.ca? |