Dear Editor,
If Municipalities and their councils are an order of government charged with providing effective management and delivery of services in a manner that is responsive to community needs, it would follow that the priority would be the social health of the community in the broadest sense.
When viewed as an organism, rather than a collection of individuals, the organism’s immune system is strengthened by its social and economic diversity.
Circumstances that inhibit the stability of social and economic diversity can be viewed as an infection that is able to take hold because of a compromised immune system.
The cascade effect of this weakened immune system directly affects the municipality’s capacity to generate revenue to do its job of being responsive to community needs.
Creating or allowing for the creation of housing that would help the most financially challenged members of the community would stimulate the local economy by providing secure housing for employees of local businesses, allowing them to grow, generate more tax revenue and remove survival stress from those who wish to work and contribute.
Sincerely,
Richard Best
