A recent wave of youth crime in the city has councillors again concerned about vandalism and graffiti.
Councillor Trent Houk said he was among the many hit by a wave of vandalism that saw broken windows and slashed tires throughout the city on the weekend, resulting in more than 140 charges being laid.
"I was a victim of that as well," said Houk, the proprietor of James Auto Repair.
He said he got to engage with a lot of people in his area on the Sunday after the vandalism wave, and made the point that citizens wanted to "take things into their own hands with the way youths are cruising around the streets at all hours of the night with no supervision."
He wanted to know about enforcement of the curfew bylaw in the wake of the recent incidents.
"Why are the RCMP not enforcing it?" Houk asked. He also requested a copy of the bylaw for council to review.
Anticipating just such a question, City Clerk Debbie Wohlberg passed out copies of the bylaw, with its provisions for a youth curfew in effect from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. The issue of enforcement will be one of the matters discussed next week during the city's regular Municipal Services Committee meeting between councillors and the RCMP June 21.
The graffiti problem was also discussed at length at Monday's meeting, with council ultimately opting to delay passage of its controversial nuisance abatement bylaw to its next meeting over concerns victims of graffiti vandalism were being unfairly targeted in the bylaw. Council voted four to two to table third reading of the bylaw to its next meeting.
The issue was raised during the announcements and inquiries portion of the meeting, where Houk said he has received plenty of calls on the issue. "It really is getting to the point where people are feeling double victimized," Houk said.
Houk said he wanted to delay passage of the new nuisance abatement bylaw so fines and penalties against the perpetrators of the graffiti could be considered.
Councillor Ron Crush, though, noted the difficulties with seeking restitution, saying a small percentage of those committing the vandalism offences are actually caught.
Crush was supportive of restitution and an apology by offenders, though, as part of alternative measures and a diversion process for those who are caught. He suggested that could curb recidivism and address the problem.
Council also received a letter dated June 3 from city resident Gwen Volk proposing a solution to the graffiti problem: "why not put the paint in 'lock up' so it is not available to buy or steal by anyone under 18 years of age."
Volk noted that the city of Winnipeg passed a bylaw making it illegal to sell spray paint to someone under 18 years of age.
"Why not contact Winnipeg to learn more about how they are dealing with this problem. To punish the victims without doing anything to prevent the problem does not seem like a solution to me," Volk stated.
The issues of youth vandalism and graffiti were also discussed at length by Chamber directors at their final board meeting before the summer break Tuesday night.
At that meeting, Counillor Rhonda Seidel repeated what she had said at the previous night's council meeting - that she was happy to see a letter come in that proposed a possible solution to the graffiti problem.
Chamber directors indicated they were concerned about the graffiti situation and voiced support for measures to combat the problem, with directors suggesting businesses could play a role to come up with their own proposed solutions to address the situation.
