A quick look at the agenda for the Scarborough Community Council’s early October meeting is a paradox – it’s sobering, but yet could drive you to drink.
The agenda is flooded with minor street sign, speed limit and rezoning issues. This is perfectly fine business for a community council to take care of, until you look at who is taking care of it.
All of Scarborough’s city councilors sit on the community council. The people we elected to look after our local interests are the ones who must deal with minor issues.
One would perhaps expect them to be out, doing their best to make life for locals easier. Not dealing directly with driveway distance and fence length disputes.
There is no reference to gun violence on the agenda. Nor is there any reference to immigrant issues.
To be fair, the Community Council is not there to pass binding resolutions on major issues like crime and the local economy. It is there to deal with issues of strictly local interest.
But hearing from Malvern residents about what could be done to make their neighbourhood safer would certainly qualify as a local issue. This could do more good than changing the speed limit on a side street.
The Council has been known to deal with issues like Scarborough’s media image. It should do so most of the time.
Zoning issues are extremely important to those who are affected by them, and need to be dealt with. But the elephants in the room, like crime, need to be met head on, and the community council could – and should – be a leader on that.
The Council needs to decide what is more important – the safety of its residents, or the length of Mrs. Smith’s driveway. The choice should be clear.