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Letters  

Mobility problems

Because of the upcoming election and the advent of winter, I want to inform people about the plight of the handicapped.

It is bad enough trying to get around this city during the during normal weather but, during winter it is almost impossible.

I went to City Hall with my scooter and a sign that said “Kelowna does not care about it’s handicapped.” A few people came to me to say I was doing a good thing.

During my four-hour stay, I was interviewed by two news reporters. I thought I just might get my message out to a wider audience. I guess, because I was one person, it was not important to the news media. If there were more people, like the handicapped in Victoria protesting for a park, it may have had more impact.

These are the issues I was protesting.

I phoned the city regarding the sidewalk condition last winter. When I told the lady at City Hall about the bylaw stating sidewalks must be cleared of snow within 24 hours of a snowfall, her response was "Oh well".

I continued to complain regarding this issue and the city sent out someone to look at the situation. His response to me was that it looked like (someone) attempted to clear the sidewalk. The sidewalk was beside a business.That was absolutely no help to me.

The city seems to feel intersections, in front of the crosswalks, are a good place to dump snow and ice. Try getting across them in winter. These are issues that affect the handicapped in getting groceries, getting to appointments and just being able to get out. We are not asking for a park, we are asking for freedom of movement.

Obviously, the city does not police construction sites in Kelowna either. There was a four-plex going up on the corner of Sutherland Road and Ethel Street. (Crews) erected a fence around the property but, the legs of the fence were sitting at about a 45-degree angle on the sidewalk. A number of people were injured tripping on that hazard.

In November, at about 8:30 p.m. evening on, I was coming home from a meeting and my scooter caught the edge of one of the legs and it flipped my scooter over and on top of me. Luckily, x-rays showed no broken bones but nerve damage has resulted. The City of Kelowna does not care.

Douglas Greenwood



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