Letter to the editor: Open letter to Moose Jaw residents

Open letter to the editor, Moose Jaw Residents:

The Good Neighbors Group (GNG) would like to provide an update on the latest activity in the community.

This is a follow-up to the story Randy Palmer told on February 25, 2024.

After the Town Hall in downtown Moose Jaw, the GNG met with the Moose Jaw Police Chief and discussed the following topics:

• Better communication of programs/initiatives to the business community.
• The effect of crime, graffiti and vandalism.
• Patrol officers build relationships with downtown merchants.
• Plan to meet regularly in the future.

GNG also met with the mayor and city manager and the following topics were discussed:

• The effect of crime, graffiti and vandalism.
• Appearance of streets, sidewalks, public parking lots.
• Great options, bring the program back.
• Loss of tourism revenue – $85 million.
• Plan to meet regularly in the future.

GNG invited the following to attend a cooperation meeting:

• Moose Jaw & District Chamber of Commerce
• Police Service MJ
• Moose Jaw Tourism
• Downtown Moose Jaw Association, and
• Enterprises

This meeting was well attended, with representation from many businesses, the Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown MJ Association, Tourism Moose Jaw and the mayor.

Below are the following action items from the meeting:

• Lobby the City Council to develop and implement an ordinance that ultimately supports businesses, citizens and community safety.
• Petition the City Council to hold a public meeting on Souls Harbor.
• Request for City Council to reduce City Hall hours (open to the public) to 815-500: Currently, public hours for access to City Hall are 1000-400. Moose Jaw is the only community in Saskatchewan with such limited hours to the public, with the exception of Morse Saskatchewan, which has a population of 200!

The best way to predict the future is to create it!

This is about keeping our community safe and saving lives!

Carolyn Ross

Below is a sample letter to the Moose Jaw City Council

(Sender’s name)
(sender’s address)
(Sender’s city, zip code)

(Date written)

Moose Jaw City Council
Main Street 228 North
Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
S6H 3J8

Dear Mayor and Alderman,

(I/we) (am/are) writing to request that the Moose Jaw City Council develop a bylaw to support the historic center and the businesses operating in the area, and to review the plans of the “City of Moose Jaw Downtown Local Area Plan to be enforced, November 2017, WHICH was adopted by the council.

The requested ordinance would keep the streets of Moose Jaw safe for everyone involved. A step to ensure that unhoused people get the mental health and substance abuse services they need.
• Moose Jaw should not allow homeless encampments to encroach on the livelihoods of its citizens.
• Moose Jaw should ban loitering/sleeping on city streets, sidewalks, and parks AND ensure laws are enforced.
• All city shelters must provide substance abuse treatment and mental health services.
• Services that directly assist people with criminal or disruptive behavior should not be located
a) the center, and
b) in the same areas as retail or service establishments.

(I/we) understand that the purpose of the Municipalities Act is to ensure that municipalities provide the legal structure and framework to govern themselves and make the decisions they consider appropriate and in the best interests of their residents . The Council must promote safety and well-being in the community.

You (WE) must learn from other communities who have made mistakes and their unwillingness to take action.

Our public spaces and downtown are critical to MOOSE JAW’s overall economy and growth, AND worth fighting for.

Honestly,

(your name)

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.