LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Wake up, there’s a problem at Seawall Park

Editor, Recently there was a community forum in Clinton regarding drug use and crime. The Langley Seawall Park now has hours limiting night use because of crime, vandalism and drugs. I found a used needle at the park this spring, but threw it away before I realized there was a growing issue. At a vacant property that I have listed for sale, I have had someone sleep in the yard this summer, something I’ve never seen before, even during the recession years.

October 21, 2016 7:41 pm

Editor,

Recently there was a community forum in Clinton regarding drug use and crime. The Langley Seawall Park now has hours limiting night use because of crime, vandalism and drugs. I found a used needle at the park this spring, but threw it away before I realized there was a growing issue. At a vacant property that I have listed for sale, I have had someone sleep in the yard this summer, something I’ve never seen before, even during the recession years.

Drugs, and homelessness, or people who “have chosen not to retain a physical address” as one recent letter writer wrote, must be faced, discussed and solutions found. Whether the issues leading to the rising crime are drugs, alcohol, lack of affordable housing, mental illness, I cannot say.

Last spring I picked up a friend at the Clinton Park & Ride parking lot, there was a tent in the back corner of the lot. What the heck?

Another letter writer from Langley wrote that she didn’t think the Langley Seawall area needs to be closed at night. Yes it does. There is absolutely no way for the police to patrol down there after dark in an effective way, it is pitch dark. She also stated that “even the homeless couple who lived under one of the Langley buildings for three weeks this summer” didn’t see any drug syringes.

Really?? She thinks it’s OK for someone to live under a Langley building at any point in time??

The tone of “we don’t have a problem, these are irrational fears” has to stop. We do have a problem, and we need to find solutions, now. Perhaps the winter months will give us a bit of a reprieve from people who “choose not to have a physical address,” but we have got to figure out a solution, and quickly.

Let’s figure this out together. We have a problem, it is dangerous in many ways.

For those who think used needles in any of our beautiful parks is acceptable, or “not happening,” wake up and catch a clue.

LEANNE FINLAY

Clinton

Editor’s note: The Langley City Council tabled its decision to close Seawall Park from midnight to 6 a.m. at an Oct. 17 meeting, which was after this letter was written.