Pubdate: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 Source: Kelowna Capital News (CN BC) Copyright: 2006, West Partners Publishing Ltd. Contact: http://www.kelownacapnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1294 Author: Erin Hussey RESIDENTS' CALLS FOR HELP GO UNHEEDED To the Editor: Death visited my neighbourhood on Friday. A well-known drug house on Rowcliffe was its stage. Am I surprised? No. Are my neighbours surprised? No. For almost two years, calls have been made to the police and the landlord regarding suspicious activity around this house-but to no avail. My wife and I have two young children. Many of our neighbours have young children and we are doing our best to keep our little part of the city beautiful and family friendly. But it seems that everyone is conspiring against us. First, the City of Kelowna allowed the desertion and then demolition of the old KSS property without any thought or plan for what to do with the land. So we now have a 5.6-hectare abandoned lot outside our front window that is a magnet for drugs and prostitution. Then the school board decided to remove the play structure from Central School. So now instead of the Central School grounds being a magnet for families with young children, it has become another abandoned space where ne'er-do-wells often congregate. To add insult to injury, my wife called the police earlier this summer to let them know of an increase in suspicious activity (drug dealers on bikes and a prostitute) and the officer flatly asked my wife - "what do you expect us to do about it?" We are good people trying to be part of the solution so why aren't our public services - the city, school district and police-doing the same? ERIN HUSSEY Kelowna - --- MAP posted-by: Steve Heath