Carly Nesbitt
Phone: 604-852-5110
Subject: Abbotsford News Contact Us - Other
This is in regards to all of the hype surrounding the ACS's proposal for a 20-unit housing project.
As a member of the downtown community, both working and living in the area, this is a subject to me that is close to heart. I pride myself on my community, supporting it in all ways possible. I attend local events, I vend at local markets with my jewelry, and I do at least 90 per cent of my shopping at our local downtown stores, who are apart of the ADBA.
So it greatly saddens me when I see the petition that they are circulating around about this proposal, which has promoted me to lose faith in my downtown community and is urging me to no longer frequent those businesses.
I fully understand that with any type of project such as this, there will be concerns and a million questions needed to be answered. I also understand that these people have invested their time, money and lives into their businesses, so of course they are worried about the effect this housing will have if approved.
But what I don't understand is how grown adults, can allow them selves to succumb to fear tactics and misinformation to get what they want. Those of you who have signed this petition, I strongly urge you to contact the Abbotsford Community Services and ask them the facts surrounding the matter, because the facts that are in said petition can hardly be called that.
On another note, as a concerned citizen, who was merely voicing my opinion to the ADBA about their misinformation in a straight-to-the point manner, I had my posts deleted, and blocked. And I was not the only one. Although these posts may have been chalked with truths that dawned the light on the inaccuracies in their petition, by no means were they threatening or disrespectful.
The threat that the ADBA received about this issue is completely uncalled for and is not the way we are going to come to a resolution about this. But I am not okay with the ADBA using that threat as an excuse for silencing those opposed with how they are conducting their concerns.
On their original post of yesterday they stated that they wanted the community to know the TRUTH about this proposal and that everyone was entitled to their own opinion. As soon as we started correcting the mistakes on their petition and stating our opinions, we were blocked from any further communication. Opposition of your stance? Yes. Threats such as the one left on your door? No, so let us be heard.
Please attend the open discussion on July 25th and go to the Abbotsford Community Services website for the facts about their proposal so you may make informed decisions and questions on your own.
Carly Nesbitt, Abbotsford