This is in response to the letter, 'Aggressive tactics threaten to undermine will of Saanich voters.'
I am not affiliated with Save Our Saanich, and believe some individuals who were aggressive are totally inappropriate. People simply want to be heard, and in my opinion, this current Saanich council ignores opinions that do not match their agenda. It is frustrating.
Having lived and paid taxes in Saanich for 43 years, which amount to tens of thousands of dollars, I do not like to be simply ignored. I opposed the Saanich Operations Centre AAP simply because of the lack of transparency provided by council. The writer of the letter made assumptions I found offensive. I'm a retiree who, along with my spouse, worked over 37 years in the area, and we are stereotyped as greedy "paper millionaires" who bought their homes when home prices and interest rates were low. This is a misconception. We paid "market rate," and our first interest rate was 14.5% on our mortgage. I am not anti-development and never have been and spent my working years working with less privileged individuals.
I agree that the University Heights property was underutilized. Good luck affording one of the rentals now available. My spouse and I simply could not afford to pay that and put food on the table. On our pensions (something we worked years for), rent in the University Heights complex would require over 50% of our income. We went without movies and meals out, as well as specialty coffees, to provide for our family. Please do not stereotype us.
In my opinion, Saanich council simply fails to listen to voters who question their vision of our future. I have written them numerous times and they simply ignore my messages. Anger builds and tempers flare. We all want to simply be heard, but please do not stereotype all 'paper millionaires' as seemingly greedy real estate investors worried about lower rental rates. Do you have you any idea how expensive, let alone the emotional and financial stress, it is to invest in real estate rentals? We have never profited from real estate other than our home we live in.
Thomas Musgreave
Saanich
