The owner of the Penticton White Spot has come forward to apologize for throwing dog feces on the property of Compass House, a homeless shelter just a few doors down from the iconic restaurant.
White Spot franchisee owner Al Mansfield said he “simply snapped after once again finding human feces near my restaurant.”
Tony Laing, CEO of Penticton And District Society for Community Living, that operates Compass House said a staff member witnessed the poop being dumped and that the actions had been caught on camera.
“Many of the issues of homelessness are fixed by having shelters and adequate washrooms,” Laing pointed out.
Business owners and residents in the area have long expressed frustrations about the loitering and crime taking place in and around the Main Street shelter. But Laing said it isn’t the shelter tenants committing crime.
READ MORE: Feces dumped at Penticton homeless shelter
“Residents who have to be in the shelter by 11 p.m. are not the ones committing property crimes in the middle of the night. Residents in the shelter are not the same homeless people sleeping in your doorways when they have a bed in our shelters.”
Here is White Spot owner Al Mansfield’s full letter below:
I am ashamed and embarrassed by my actions at Compass House in Penticton on Tuesday morning and I wanted to come forward to publicly apologize sincerely to Roger Evans and residents for the hurt I caused. I have already had a conversation with Roger and hope to meet with him on Wednesday to further apologize in person and to see how I can begin to make amends.
I also apologize to the people of Penticton for showing such callous disregard for the homeless residents in our community who are often the most vulnerable and disadvantaged through no fault of their own.
I simply snapped after once again finding human feces near my restaurant and showed inexcusable judgment even though I realized immediately that what I had done was wrong.
There is no justification for what I did, and I apologize to the dedicated teams at White Spot restaurants in the Okanagan and elsewhere. They should in no way be judged by my actions. What I did could not be further from the values of White Spot and showed disrespect for all that White Spot has stood for over the past 90 years and for their many loyal guests.
I know that Penticton is facing a homelessness crisis and requires considerable support to create meaningful change, of which I am committed to being a part of.
Sincerely,
Al Mansfield, Penticton White Spot Franchisee
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