Dear editor:
From the article “Transit service here ready to roll” (July 16), it stated, “Meanwhile, Coun. Sharon Tibbs wanted to dispel rumours that council planned to cancel the handi-van service here.”
Also quoting Coun. Deane Cunningham in same article, it stated, “The new service will have a 90-day trial period,” with Coun. Cunningham adding they were open to suggestions on how to improve the service.
Therefore I phoned Coun. Cunningham the next morning and gave him my suggestions. Then I asked him if they were discontinuing the handi-van service and he said no and that they couldn’t understand where all these rumours were coming from. I said it’s not from the people; I read had it in a write-up about council news. He said he didn’t know anything about it.
I feel sure that no reporter would dream up a thing like that about the handi-van because they would have no reason to be interested in the handi-van since only people with a disability and a letter from the doctor can ride it.
Therefore, in some way or form, it must have been mentioned or discussed at that particular meeting. Now it’s up to you, the council, to clarify why this came about.
Regarding the column by Mike Behan (“Boycotting new service is wrong move” (July 16), people were not boycotting Bock’s service but the few trips a day that they made was not adequate to meet the people’s needs therefore they had to find other ways and means to get where they wanted to go at a specific time.
Quoting Mr. Behan in his column, he wrote, “What’s worse, many of these same people were complaining all the while that they had no way to get around. The only real question is whether these people are really that short-sighted, or they’re being led down the proverbial garden path by advocates who purport to be looking out for their best interests.
“It’s painfully clear the town isn’t getting back into the bus service.”
Okay, Mike, I can vouch for a lot of these people and they are not short-sighted, nor are they fooled by anyone, not you, nor the council. And who is being short-sighted? I could name a few, and it is not the people you are running down in your article just because we are fighting for our rights as a citizen.
By the theme of your article, I think you are being blindly led astray by someone.
And since the town isn’t getting back into the bus service, why don’t they get someone else to run it who can probably do it cheaper than the system they have now.
One big complaint I have heard from people is that there are no appointed stops downtown nor a specific time. This is not a transit service, this is a taxi service–Bock’s.
Note: I am not knocking you, Paul, as you are doing the best you can, and I’m using your service. But I’m partly handicapped with arthritis and must use the handicapped van at times.
Signed,
Edla Orwick