Pubdate: Thu, 26 Oct 2006 Source: North Island Gazette (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 North Island Gazette Contact: http://www.northislandgazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2783 Author: Tom Cook, WHY HAS NOTHING BEEN DONE? Dear Editor, I'd Like to Start by Correcting an Error in Last Week's Cover Article. Deanna Johnston is the resident and tenant, not owner, of #107 Chancellor Heights, but "It's a rental" most definitely doesn't fit into her way of thinking. It shows in the way the place is kept, inside and out. It shows in her determination to not be intimidated by dealers, thugs, threats and posturing bullies. It shows when she and her young family are still there after all that has happened in the last year. Would you have the guts to set up a video camera and record licence plates for months while the dealers threatened you and yours for doing so? How long would you endure this if you could pick up and move at any time? So why, for over a year, have our tenants endured countless verbal threats at home and at work, verbal abuse, excessive foot and vehicle traffic at all hours, addicts walking in or knocking on the door at all hours asking to buy crack, shady people lurking, babies crying in car seats for an hour while their parents party, loud music, altercations, vandalism, complaints against them, and who knows what else to come? I think we all know the answer. We are the ones who have a right to be here. The dealers sold that right a long time ago. Dealers belong in jail, not in the neighbourhood. Countless times we and our tenants have called the RCMP to report these incidents. The standard responses: "There's nothing we can do. Our hands are tied. We're working very hard to solve the problem. We have limited resources. We need more information," and so on are, just cliches now, old, worn, and ineffective. We've heard all the reasons why nothing can be done to stop what's been going on for over a year now. Patience shrinks while frustration grows. Dealers get busted, charged and released so they can deal while they wait for the court date they have no intention of appearing for. So they get another court date and another few charges, but continue to deal until the next court date comes and goes. No one stops them. Whose rights are being protected? And the whole time, people like Deanna and her family, who work hard, pay their bills and taxes, have children in school, and definitely are contributing in a positive way to our community, must watch the same dealers sell the same drugs to the same addicts. Talk about your vicious cycle. And now the dealers' customers threaten her as she walks her daughter to the school bus stop. Why does she have to put up with this? Most of us middle-class folk live in blissful ignorance of what goes on in this town, unless of course we happen to have a dealer move in next door to our residence or rental property. Then it turns into your problem instead of a newspaper article you read as you relax in your nice warm house on the hill. Don't let it happen to you. Dealers and addicts are sons and daughters of teachers, judges, and lawyers, skid row bums and everyone in between. Don't fool yourself into thinking your kids will turn out right if you hope for the best. They might not and I can vouch for that. I think the residents of Cedar Heights Mobile Home Park will use last week's events as the catalyst for further communication and with some hard work and sacrifice, show the dealers how difficult it will be to do business there. How about some laws that do more than merely inconvenience the drug dealers? Tom Cook, Port Hardy - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine