Editor, The News:
Re: Rental house raided again (The News, March 7).
Does this fact really surprise anyone?
There are two impediments in operation here.
First and foremost is Coun. Al Hogarth.
My guess is that as long as he can collect monies or a welfare cheque, he will continue to obtain his fee from the landlord, regardless of the suitability of the tenant.
And why would a decent tenant want to live in a ramshackle place such as this anyway?
Furthermore, why would a landlord want to obtain a court order and hire bailiffs to remove them if the rents are being collected?
Something could have been done about this situation a long time ago.
Mayor and council could have put more pressure on the RCMP to use whatever means possible to get the job done, such as a forfeiture application, and possibly saved the expense of four raids on this property.
With regards to Coun. Hogarth, it is apparent that his loyalty does not involve the best interests of the citizens of Maple Ridge, no matter how he tries to play the card that the Residential Tenancy Act is ineffective.
It is not in his interest to make any great effort to resolve the situation.
As far as the other culprits here, I have to include Mayor Ernie Daykin and bylaw director Liz Holitzki for not even responding to the concerns of a next-door neighbour who is frustrated by the lack of progress in this matter.
I also question Coun. Cheryl Ashlie for her lack of due diligence.
She managed to get her picture in the News, championing the demolition of the properties, then dropped the ball by not following up the progress and just assumed that there were obstacles.
A good analogy would be if you hired a courier company to deliver a parcel on a certain day and it never arrived, would you not make a phone call and ascertain what the problem was?
Grover Telford
Maple Ridge