During the debate on the Fire Master Plan there were two things that jumped out at me that nobody has spoken about yet.
The first being Councilor Londsbury referred in quite some detail to the Fire Master Plan of 2001, the fact that a large number of residents were interviewed about the quality of the fire service we received. What Councilor Londsbury neglected to mention during his comments on that issue were the results of the survey.
In summary this is what the survey said, the rest is available on the municipal web site under Fire Master Plan 2001:
234 residents were contacted 223 residents participated
49 from Bellevue, 59 from Blairmore, 65 from Coleman and 50 from Hillcrest.
90% of the respondents said they had no complaints about the fire departments
73% felt that response times were adequate
88% of the respondents strongly or moderately agreed with the statement "I am satisfied with the level of fire protection I currently receive"
78% felt the same way about rescue services and 76% about ambulance services.
Another point, most members of council attempted to make it sound like nothing was done after the 2001 Fire Master Plan. A big step that was taken in 2002, was the purchase of $1.5 million worth of fire trucks, most people would agree that was a significant step taken by the council of the day.
The other issue that bothers me, our illustrious Mayor made the following comment during the debate which I copied from the Pass Promoter article written by Joni MacFarlane:
“You’ve been challenged in your efforts by situations and circumstances created by a
lack of foresight or oversight by our predecessors,” he said. “The difficulties you’ve
experienced should never have occurred much less the situation you found yourself
having to correct… It’s time to move on to the next task.”
During the last thirty months I have heard this Mayor in all his arrogance go on and on about how previous council's failed this community, attempting to create the impression that there was no bylaws, no procedure, no policies and no processes in place.
If he was not so arrogant he would realize that despite everything he believes, this council and his leadership are not perfect, even one of his own members stated publicly in the local papers last week that some of the things this council has done have been less than perfect.
Over the years there have been some dam good people who sat on various councils. There have been literally hundreds if not thousands of bylaws, procedures, policies and processes put in place over the last thirty years.
Did some need changing and updating? absolutely, does he think that everything they have put into place will be left untouched by future councils? I don't think so.
People keep saying over and over again that this council has done a better job of communicating than previous councils. That is a statement I actually agree with, what these guys have not grasped, is one the people are not agreeing with what they are communicating and two if you did not act with such a high level of arrogance people would have an easier time of hearing what you have to say.
Anybody remember "bring it on"
18 comments:
Press Release – For Immediate Distribution
NEW COMMUNICATION STRATEGY IMPLEMENTED
Dear Residents, it has come to our attention that our massage is not getting through to you and, therefore, our efforts are not fully understood and properly appreciated.
It is our firm belief that our very important message has been corrupted by the local newspapers and, especially, the blogs and few misinformed residents who keep spreading inaccuracies. With this in mind, on your behalf, we have hired a renowned international consultant in linguistics, Professor Henry Higgins, who has reviewed the stories in both local papers with special emphasis on reporting bias.
As you know, Professor Higgins is a very credible celebrity with high demand on Broadway, as well as in London’s West end. We, as a community, were very fortunate he happened to be between gigs and available.
This is what he has found: we are not understood and we are not appreciated.
He also suggested we hire a reputable Public Relations Consultants to correct few of the persistent inaccuracies which keep spreading through our community. Everyone knows that PR consultants are more dependable than small town reporters. Our PR consultants have been tasked to correct the following inaccuracies:
1) We did not cancel the Thunder in the Valley!
2) No one ever suggested Community Peace Officers would pay for themselves!
3) We did not hire additional administrative staff!
4) We are very open and transparent!
5) We did not call police about the fireworks, honest!
6) We do not threaten anyone, especially in the media, with high powered lawyers!
7) We don’t hire out of town consultant needlessly, they are all needed, honest!
8) We did not wreck the fire department, even if a bit more expensive; the new fire department is much better looking. Our PR department is working on a calendar, coming soon, honest!
There are few other issues and inaccuracies, but this is getting a bit long to hold attention.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The information contained herein is deemed accurate but cannot be warranted to be so. As with any public announcement, everything is open to interpretation. It may contain satirical hyperbole, peanut butter by-products, as well as very, blatant political incorrectness. This information should be used with caution as it may cause insomnia, urinary tract disorder and rushes in certain places. If symptoms persist, please see your health professional or the nearest liquor store.
(Ps. Distribution and re-distribution)
Good post Dean.
And thank you,Magnificent 7for your latest press release.You forgot to add:
We did not pay someone from the city $300.00 a day to shoot gophers, that is just a silly rumor. You gulliable hillbillies. need to get your facts from us.
I don't remember that comment Dean but I do remember the Fire Chief saying "This isn't my first rodeo"
I don't remember "Bring it on."
I do remember a citizen commenting that he didn't appreciate being called an "uninformed rambler,"
to which the Mayor replied,
"If the shoe fits, wear it."
I thought that was very disrespectful, and it made my fists go up in my mind. I immediately walked out of that "Town Hall" meeting. (He had already ejected one very upset senior, and I thought it best to "eject" myself.)
I just said this on Emile's blog:
A typical example of your “information”:
“Through this restructuring process the municipality will experience on average capital & operational savings of $170.000.00″
My point, of course, is that there is no corresponding statement:
“Through this restructuring process the municipality will experience additional expenditures of $XXX.000.00″.
Usually he doesn't get the point, or pretends not to.
Keith
Dean I remember the "bring it on" it was at the last town hall meeting. Decoux was walking over to the podium there were a few boos from the crowd, then Decoux in a moment of mature leadership waved his arms and said "bring it on".
You should check out the post on Princes blog about the cat bylaw. On what hand it's some very good humour but on the other it's sad because it shows the joke our community as become.
Can we start a count down clock to the next election?
Mike
No, no count down yet....time seems to go faster if we don't officially start counting down. I say, wait till at least June!
(But if your like me, you started counting down in your head at least 13 months ago!)
Oh....yeah.....I remember now! Thanks for reminding me!
As for October.....BRING IT ON!
I believe he said at that meeting, that he had no intention of running again. Can we hope? Can we dream? Will he complete that task? Let us pray.
I am surprised about the comment about if the mayor will be running again. If like people say there is a majority that do not think he is doing a good job, he will not get voted in again. Simple. Must be some doubt I guess.
It would be nice if he run, just to see the " silent majority" at work. But it would be even nicer to see him run and keep on running, all the way to some other place.
Off topic- About 5 weeks ago the CNP releases a press release announcing a new hotel.About 4 weeks ago they held their open house concerning the new hotel.
My thoughts are that this is taking to long.It seems to me that there was never a deal in place, that we just passed the sales opportunity to someone else.And so far they can not find a taker.
Why announce this sale if there actually is not a sale? Why not wait until you actually have a full deal in place?
This all reminds me of Bridgecreek. I hope I am wrong.
That whole thing was most likely stage managed by the new PR CONSULTANT from Edmonton. Much ado about nothing.
The seven days of Bruce
On the first day, the peoples of the Crowsnest Pass said Magnificent seven come forth and govern us the lost tribes of the Crowsnest Pass
On the second day, Bruce found there was no good book (policies,procedures,bylaws) so he said let us the Magnificent seven write thy book
On the third day Bruce said let us strike up a committee of wise men from beyond our borders (Mayor’s Task Force) to develop a road map for our community
On the fourth day, Bruce decided to put in place a civil servant class (Bureaucracy) to lead the rudderless employee’s of the lost tribes.
On the fifth day, Bruce directed his loyal civil servants to smash any dissent groups within the villages that may oppose his commandments (Volunteers)
On the sixth day, Bruce directed his Master of the treasury to go forth and maximize the “tithe”.
On the seventh day, Bruce recognized enough good had been done for the lost tribes of the Crowsnest Pass, the Magnificent Seven had governed, written the good book, wrote the road map, created the bureaucracy, eliminated dissent and increased the “tithe”. It now was truly time to rest.
Mike
They hired a PR consultant on the sly in order to bring more clarity to their communication effort. Go figure.
Would we have known about the PR guy if Saje had not spoken up?
Reading the Pass Herald story about how the municipality has worked with the PR consultant on their press releases and open houses, sheds some light on the disjointed communication effort. Only a big city consultant would suggest a, by invitation only, event to introduce a small community branding effort. No one here would have been so clever on their own.
I loved your comment Mike, keep up the good work. But I don't think he's done yet. We can only hope he'll rest for the next 7 months. Then we will all have to make sure that our "majority" doesn't get split up into a bunch of little minorities.
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