Four candidates for Town of St. Paul council shared views on downtown St. Paul with the Journal leading up to the all candidates forum at the Multi-Purpose Room at the Rec. Centre on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The candidates for the vacant councillor's seat are Roxanne Bergheim, Alice Herperger, Richard Lavoie and Norm Noel.
The byelection will be held on Jan. 12.
Over the summer, the Journal reported as many as 200 pick ups per month by RCMP for public intoxication offences, causing a strain on police resources. The Town of St. Paul continues working on its panhandling bylaw.
The Journal also reported in brief on the Downtown Revitalization Committee's goal to work towards a downtown hostel or shelter for the homeless in St. Paul in December.
As most tickets related to panhandling go unpaid, Noel suggested community service as a way to work off the fine. “To issue a fine to someone who can't pay, you're not solving the problem … You can't get water from a stone."
He said he opposes the Downtown Revitalization Committee's idea to have a hostel because it would become a “hotel" and would risk attracting more problems. He said town taxpayers should not have to pay for such a facility. “I just want to make sure our tax dollars get spent wisely."
While panhandling should be addressed, Noel is not in favour of drafting and then not enforcing a bylaw. “The law does have to be enforced. That's the big key."
Bergheim said the Town would have to look at the feasibility, cost and who would support the overnight shelter.
“If the majority of the residents of St. Paul feel strongly enough that this is an important issue, council has to discuss it and get all the facts on the table."
“It's always about getting all of your information together," she said, suggesting if the issue were brought to council, it would need to look at what other communities have done.
Lavoie said he would need more information before saying whether he would support a homeless shelter but said he would want groups to bring suggestions forward to council if elected.
“I'd like to investigate to find out if there is a true need and where it is coming from."
As a downtown business owner, Herperger said panhandling and loitering issues are a top priority. Herperger supports a “warming centre, a place where people can go, get warm, have a cup of coffee and have access to a taxi."
The centre could offer rides to get people where they need to go, she said. The centre would operate on funds from downtown community groups and businesses chipping in, she said.
Herperger does not favour ticketing panhandlers because they are unable to pay. “It's the last thing RCMP needs is jails filled all the time because people can't pay a ticket."
Incentives
“I don't think small businesses are sometimes given the priority they need to be given," Herperger said, saying there is a lack of incentives for new downtown businesses.
As a renter in a downtown business, she said a break on the water bill for the first six months could be a simple incentive for new downtown businesses. She said she received no incentives when she moved The Jungle downtown from the St. Paul Shopping Centre.
She added every business should receive incentives, and pointed to the injection of Town, County and provincial tax dollars into the east end of town and the Wellness Centre as an incentive for the area. “That's going to draw business there."
Regarding incentives for new downtown businesses, Noel said it may not be fair to give an incentive to a new business while existing businesses have struggled without incentives.
“You do have to encourage new business but it becomes a fine line … If giving some concessions to get that new business is what it takes, then you should," adding that incentives should not be confined to the downtown area.
“There is significant challenges when you try to revitalize downtown," said Lavoie.
“Most of your box stores like to go on the outskirts of communities. You see that across northeast Alberta."
Lavoie said he is not sure if he is in favour of incentives for new downtown businesses. He said he would need to talk to all the people involved and see “all the pieces of the puzzle.
“It's always important for the town to take a look at offering incentives," he said, adding the town should recognize businesses who have been in the community for many years.
Bergheim said she would support an incentive for new downtown businesses, saying it is difficult to compete with the big box stores. She added the town would have to look at the “whole picture" including established businesses.
She called the Town's replacing of downtown sidewalks and its summer flowers a “fantastic idea" and a “start in the right direction."
