Thread by @LdnOntBikeCafe

Hey y'all, Ben here. Guess what? Another break-in. Yep, for real, we can't make this up. We'd all been having a lovely long weekend when at around 9pm last night our phones started ringing. Thread. 🧵👇

We had what we believe to be a false alarm on Friday - maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. But last night was our SIXTH break-in since the start of the pandemic.
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SIX.
We're out of insurance claims, so all of this is out of pocket for us. Again.

There are so many underlying issues with this particular break-in it's hard to know where to start. We have a failure of our social system/supports. We have a failure of our police services to act. And we have a bureaucratic nightmare at City Hall.

Let's start with the social stuff - London is experiencing massive housing / drug / social problems. They've gotten *much* worse over the pandemic. Anyone who works downtown understands innately what it feels like to walk past someone with a needle in their arm in an alcove.

Or someone sleeping under a bike box we put out for "recycling". It's *hard* watching all of this and knowing that it's not a problem we can help solve without collective action.

Last night, our robber may have bumped into some people using drugs on our back stoop while trying to exit. Or the people in the back tried to break-in after the robber left with his prize, and were startled by security. Either way, this bike and spoons were ditched in the alley.

The frustrations of seeing people every day who need support and aren't getting it are deep. We all feel it, and talked about this as a team today. We all know there's a big problem, and feel helpless to solve it.

If you're looking for a quick hit of empathy, try @Wine_Vinyl's book "Foul Play Is Not Suspected" goodreads.com/book/show/5302…

You can borrow that book from our library if you can't find a copy locally. It's fiction. But only just. And feels far too real most days. londonbicyclecafe.com/bike-store/lon…

The second is @lpsmediaoffice. Last week one of our wonderful customers spotted the bike that was stolen from us in the spring listed on FB marketplace. We called LPS repeatedly trying to get action, and got nothing. Here's the listing. facebook.com/marketplace/it…

It's incredible that after we locate an item (and one over $5k) stolen from us, and get no support getting it back. Having it sold out in the open like this only encourages future theft. LPS not acting here encourages folks to take matters into their own hands, dangerously.

Finally, and perhaps most frustratingly is that the @CityofLdnOnt is taking little or no action, or actively slowing efforts of businesses to secure themselves from this type of activity.

We applied for a grant after the first break-in and were asked to jump through repeated hoops that were written nowhere to actually do the work (seriously, we'd say "ok we did this thing" and then there will be a secret next thing).

The result of this is that our project was delayed, our security doors have not yet been installed (because we kept having to say "no, not yet" to the company who designs them) and now we've had another break-in as a result.

This break in is a direct result of City staff failing to do their jobs properly, and delaying us from securing our store from break-in and theft. We could have (and would have) installed a solution in June, but were made to wait. We're not waiting any more.

Finally, part of the bureaucratic nightmare has been a lack of representation. The downtown councillor's job (currently vacant Ward 13) is much more challenging than any other ward. There are more businesses, and issue complexity downtown than anywhere else in the city.

Councillors from other wards *LOVE* to meddle with downtown issues, too. Everyone "feels" like they own a bit of the core, despite not actually being elected to represent it.

Sure, @KayabagaArielle did a decent job as councillor, but made her choice to run federally, and we haven't had an avenue/advocate internally at city hall to help with this, or the ongoing construction issues (our water was off this morning, without notice, of course).

@KayabagaArielle So yes, we absolutely need representation, and yes, in a democratic country it should be a byelection that fills the seat. Representative Democracy has a cost. The benefits far outweigh those costs. With the departure of Cllr Squire today, a byelection should be called.

@KayabagaArielle So another frustrating day for us. We're committed to Downtown, we want to keep building there. We want to build a warm and welcoming place for people who use a bike to get around (and transit, and walking, too). It's hard to turn around and keep building on a day like this.

What are we missing? We're missing our beloved "Sandworm" - a @TernBicyclesNA HSD in the "Dune" colourway. If you see it around town, please let us know (lock it with your own lock if it's parked!). We'd love to get it back into our hands, and know we have to do it ourselves.

@TernBicyclesNA If you've been in to the store to try an HSD, this is probably one of the bikes you've been test riding. It's been a trusty demo all season, and we'd love to be able to share it with more people this fall as we get into 2022 pre-order season.

So thanks for keeping your eyes out. Thanks for hearing our frustrations. We're going to get back to work, and do what we do best, but sometimes it's important to vent in order for others to understand what's going on behind the scenes in our world. Have a great short week y'all.