smoke and mirrors

LOOK AT THIS!!!! Look over here. TA DA....the city is giving us proper curbs and grass....if they come up with the money that they already had once for this project and spent elsewhere....yay, yay for us...curbs and grass and maybe even trees....look, look over here....

But wait...what? What is that?
NO!!! DON'T LOOK OVER THERE!!!!
Is that a ten unit wet housing that may be going in across the street from two properties that combined have been crack houses how many times? That's where the City Social Planner has been eyeing to put in the wet house? No matter how many studies the city has paid for that have recommended spreading out social services? No matter that study after study after study warns against acts that lead to the 'ghetto-ization" of any one part of the community? Really? Huh. Go figure.

NO! Don't look over there, don't look.... No, don't look behind that curtain...don't look behind....ah damn.

So VIHA is looking to open a big box service kinda like the No Hope Centre, er, sorry, the New Hope Centre...where they will provide a drop-in centre and yet another needle exchange....and more...with money pilfered from other programs that are already running under efficiency...Instead of running three programs well, they would rather run six programs badly. The drop-in centre has been closed three time here in two years...why is that? Could it be all the problems it caused to this neighbourhood all three times? Helping pave the way towards the open air drug market that we endured until just a few months ago? Could it be because properties it was housed in received damage and theft? Could it be because they just can't run this damn program?
And just where do you think it will be? This next time? Hmmmn?
Hey, but look over here at these curbs and grass and trees you might get if we find the money for them...that we already had once and spent somewhere else...just look at that, will you? Ah, c'mon, look over here, dammit.