Their frustration has reached the boiling point and a group of downtown merchants, battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, laid it on the line Thursday in a meeting with Mayor Joe Preston.
Led by Patti Mugford of Mugford shoes, they gathered in a back laneway strewn with discarded needles and a habitat for the homeless who use doorways as a convenient toilet, to pressure Preston for immediate action.
Preston stressed what is needed is a group effort with the city, the Talbot Street merchants, the police and social service agencies to make the downtown core an inviting place again for shoppers.
The next move, said Preston, is an action meeting with the merchants next week to plan a working strategy.
He says he is counting on the group to put forward constructive ideas for change.
