City target of resi

NVC staff deny allegations of discrimination

distressed” by the letter’s contents.

“A letter like this distresses me
as a department head. I simply dis-
agree with it,” said Smith.

Bundala sent the letter contain-
ing the allegations in response to
city staff's Jan. 3 recommendation
to council of placing a notice of
contravention on her property
because of plumbing and electrical
deficiencies and the presence of an
illegal suite.

~ The notice would serve as a
warning to prospective buyers.

But Bundata denied the pres-
ence of an illegal suite and accused
inspectors of using a double stan-
dard in their strict enforcement of
building bylaws in connection with
her property.

As. an example, Bundala pointed

a 1988 letter to G. A. Crawford,

the Property's previous owner, out-
_lining various infractions which

also included deadlines for the

then-owner to comply with.

However, according to Bundala,
the city did not adhere.to the same
procedure in its dealings with her.

“What purpose did a letter serve
then?

“Was it just an idle threat or did
Mr. Crawford use some unorthodox
methods to get the city off his
back?” asked Bundala. -

“Needless to say, there was n0
notice of listed deficiencies filed
against the property title, and of

NORTH VANCOUVER City
councillors and staff expressed
anger and disbelief at a series
of accusations aimed at them
by a disgruntled resident dur-
ing the Feb. 12 city council
meeting.

WORTH VANCOUVER
CITY COUNCIL
By Robert Gailster

. The fracas erupted upon presen-
tation of a letter to councillors from
Eva Bundala, owner of a property
in the 600-block of East 6th Street.
Bundala’s letter outlined various
. alleged wrongdoings by North
Vancouver City. staff in the course
of their dealings with her.
- Among the infractions was an °
‘alleged. recommendation by’a city
Staff member’ of a specific contrac-
“tor to: perform work.on Bundala’s.
home.
““This' contractor was recom-
mended to me by the city inspector,
‘as:I was forced to have somebody
: ‘acceptable’ to them, it could not be
“anybody -of my hoice,” stated |
_ Bundala. |
But Fred Smith, the | city’s
tor of Development Services,
ily disputed the accusations.
He told: councillors he'was, "very

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course he was not invited to the city -

counci) meeting.”

Bundaia also accused the city of
discrimination,

“The only conclusion [ can draw
is that a great deal of prejudice and
discrimination was a factor in my
personal experience with the city,”
stated Bundala.

City councillors responded
guarded!y to the contents of the let-
ter and, Jed by Coun. Bill Bell,
instead addressed the need for a
clearly defined process to deal with
this and similar issues.

“We have some serious allega-
tions against the city ... ibat are

ident rage F

now in the public domain,” said
Bell.
“If they are correct let’s deal

with it.”

Coun. Bell subsequently intro- °

duced a motion deferring the
Bundala proceedings for one month
to give her time to update any out-
standing deficiencies to her house
and for staff to come up with a
process to deal with similar situa-
tions.

The motion was passed unani-
mously.

“The accusations here may be
true, they may not be true, but right
now because of a lack of process
the City of North Vancouver has a
black eye,” said Beli.

advertorial
Feb. 21/98

” CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Over. the past twenty yeare or

20, our justice aystom has fended ©

to concentrate on the the theory of
“rehabilitation”, und “treating the
root cause”, as ways of reducing
c7ime. Howavor, recent experlenca
with aggressive policing In New
York, and studies of the effect that
longer prison terms have had on
the crima rate, seem to support the
return to a more “punishment”
oriented justice system. Perhaps,
as the Fallca Commissioner for
New York, William Bratton, puis H,
“We've discoverod the root causs
of crime. t's criminals.”

THE GRATION METHOD

in 1990, when Mr. Bratton was the
security director for the New York
subway system, he took a hard line
approach in addressing the problems
of graffiti, fare evasion, and
panhandling. The beneficial spinoff
was an Immediate and impressive
drop in serious crimes, with robberies
down 75%, and serious felonies cown
64% in Just five years.

it, Bratton subsequently became
the Potice Commissioner for New
York, where his methods have
tesulted in a 31%: drop in. murders, a
25% drop in car theft and a 22% drop

in robberies. These: improvements —

appear to have come directly from
instructing police to concentrate on
what would normaily be thought of as
minor violations. It was found, for
example, that friskings for incidants
like loud radio playing discouraged the
illegal carrying of firearms, and
prosecuting for minor cffenses geve

criminals the message that SERIOUS”

erirnes would not be tolerated.
Cespite these = meagurable
improvements in the crime rate, one
criminologist has sald that admitting
Bratton’s methods work would be
admitting ‘that crime is a voluntary
activity, not driven by forcas beyond
the individual's control. And according
to New York magazine, in order to
accept Bratton’s successes,, many
criminologists would have to concede
that thay have spent their entire
careers in support of a false premise.
They would have to discard their belief
fF that crime is directly [inked to
“aconomic’ deprivation and social
injustice”. (it is interesting to note that
poverty was not an excuse for criminal
activity during Ine Great Depression.
Crime rates at the time were some of
the lowest ever recorded.)

DOING HARD TIME

The August 29, 1995 adition of
Investor's Business Daily coritained

close to a full page of statistical.

information in an article by John
Barnes on the effects of punishment
on crime rates. He headed the piece,
“Does Crime Pay? Not {t Criminals Do
Hard Time”.

Mr. Barnes wrote that in 1994,
University of Arizona economist
Michael Block and researcher Steven
Twist compared crime victimization
fates with imprisonment rates from
1980 to 1992. They found that the ten
states which had the highest
imprisonment rates experienced an
8% drop in violent crime during the
period under study. In contrast, the 10
states with the lowest imprisonment
rates saw their violent crime rates
jump by 51% over the same period.

Block and Twist conciuded “What wa }
should learn from the last 30 years |
te that Incarceration works to

reduce crime. in order to restom

Amarica to the fovel of public
i once took almost for. granted,
criminal justice policy must continua
to emphasize Incerceration o the
punishment for crime, and violent

and repeat criminele should be. i

singled out for longer prison terms.”

FAORE ...

In 1995, Princeton criminologist
John Diulio, and Ann Morrison Piehl
wrote for the Brooking: Review that
“Using the best avaliable estimates of
prison operating costs and the social

costs of crime, we caiculated that |
convicted 7

imprisoning %6@
felons who offerded. at the:
medium rate cost $2.5 million,
but that leaving them on the
street cost $4.6 million". They

found that 94% ef all New Jersey stato. ji

prisoners had elther been convicted of »
a violent crime or had previously been §
sentanced to probation or imprison- j
ment,’ and. that two out of three
‘prisoners admitted to having done
time in youth facilities.

In 1989 the Bureau of Justice

Statistics issued some estimates of f-

how many crimes are prevented whila
criminals are locked up rather than

watking the streets. Anaiyst Patrick 3
higher’ }

Langan concluded that
incarceration rates betwaan 1973 and
1989 cut the number of rapes by
66,000, robberies by 323,000,

assaults by 380,000, bexglaries by 3.3 4

million, and that imprisonment clearly §
contributes to major. cuts in the
nurnber, and cost, of violent crimes. .

IT’S TIME TO GET TOUGH

Hardly a day goes by that | do not. §

get at least one letier or phorie call }
from a constituent concerned about :
problems in our justice system. The \f
complaints range from irritation with
the light sentences baing given out by
judges for serious crimes, to the
saemingly irresponsibie decisions of
tho Immigration and Refugee Board,
to the release of dangerous criminals
by the Parcie Soard, to Charter of |
Rights chalionges that always seem to
place the rights of criminats ahead of
the rights of law-abiding citizens. :
Most people do NOT feel as safe
today as they did two decades ago, |
and | am getting the message loud
and clear that the majority want
tougher sentences for repeat
offenders, a major overhaul of the
Young Otfeaders Act, and mere police
action to control crime. in our
community. Unfortunately, our present
Minister of Justice, Hon. Allan Rock,
shows no intarest in putting the rights
of victims ahead of the rights of
criminals. if you think it's worth writing
to him, his address is The House of §
Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6.
His fax number is (613) 947-4276,

Randy White MP will unvell his
Victims Rights Ali at a public rally
in Abbotsford on the evening of
February 29th. Guest speaker Is
Preston Manning. Call my office for
detalis.

ere eek

satety§

i Capitan College
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The Child Care Centre
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now accepting
applications for its new
facility opening
September 1, 1996.
‘Child care, including
infants, toddlers, and a
preschool program with |
extended hours, will be -
offered Monday to
Friday. For more
information, or to

apply, call 984-4950.

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