Sudbury's downtown task team is making progress, says mayor

Less than two weeks after establishing a working group to focus on issues in Sudbury's downtown, Mayor Brian Bigger says the group is already making progress, though he knows problems won't be fixed overnight.

From city bylaw officers evicting people sleeping in a downtown park, to a recent stabbing, there has been a lot of attention recently on Sudbury's downtown and the social issues present there.

The downtown task team,as it's called, includes representatives from a number of local groups and organizations includingpolice, theDowntown Business Improvement Area (BIA), the Canadian Mental Health Association, Public Health Sudbury and Districts, the Shkagamik-KweHealth Centre, and more.

The group met for a second time on Friday, and after two meetings, Bigger says progress is underway in addressing some of the concerns from local businesses and residents, including working to clean up graffiti, additional garbage collection, and, starting thisweek, extra security near the downtown transit terminal.

"I think it was reflected in comments from members of the BIA that they could see and feel the difference. And so that's important as one part of our response."

He said, however, that cleanup and enforcement efforts are just part of the response, and said he is committed to learning about the gaps in services for the city's most vulnerable people, and how those services can be improved.

Last week, city bylaw officers told people camping in Memorial Park to leave an action Bigger defends, while acknowledging it is a "complex issue."

He said city staff have been trying to inform people about supports available to them, but says people "are not always prepared to accept that support."

While Bigger says he knows some of the people evicted from the park likely moved to other outdoor spaces, the action from city staff was necessary, since there are no washroom facilities at Memorial Park, creating "a challenge in a public space."

"We will continue to do what we can to help the people in need. As well as considering the downtown and the businesses and the people working downtown, the people who want to go and use the services downtown," Bigger said.

Bigger says the task team will meet again this week and continue to discuss solutions both for the long term and the short term, to help those in need.

That may include 24/7 warming stations and other options for people faced with spending the colder months outside, as well as others who Biggar said "are challenged and struggling downtown right now."