The waiting is almost over, the time to step up is very soon.

Only eighteen days to nomination day (Sept 23 by noon), nomination forms will be made available to anybody that is interested starting Monday morning (Sept 9) at the Municipal Office. There are only three council meetings left prior to the election (Sept 17, Oct 1 and Oct 15) so if you want to get a sense of how the process works your opportunities are becoming fewer. I have not seen anybody show up with a note pad in the last couple of meetings. Maybe that is an indication that there are not a lot of people interested or maybe some potential candidates have made up their minds and do not see a value to attending council meetings.  

This election is going to be a big one for the Crowsnest Pass, first of the next council’s  term is four years, so if we make the wrong choices we are stuck with them for that extra twelve months.

Much larger issue in my mind is like it or not Decoux and his group promised change (unfortunately very few people asked what kind of change) but they did deliver change. Today we have the largest administration we have ever had, we have the most regulation we have ever seen in the Crowsnest Pass, more bylaws, policies and procedures than even the most avid bean counter would care to count. We enjoyed a council that promised us a mere 2.5% mill rate increases over the last three years, then attempted to fool us all by slapping on franchise fee increases that today would equate to an extra 5-6% tax increase annually. We saw changes that tore this community apart and led to 2500 plus people signing a petition in what appeared to be record time. At that point you would think a government at any level would have realized it was time to hear the people. Instead the taxpayers of this community got an attitude of “do your investigation you will not find anything illegal here” And a Mayor that used a monthly municipal newsletter to attack anybody that dared to disagree with his direction.  

Now on the eve of the election we see a desperate attempt to buy votes by spending $600,000 of our own money to demolish a building that could have been tore down three years ago long before we spent $70,000 buying a Best Western Name for a consultant, redundant studies and legal fees.

      

We the voters get a choice in forty six short days,  I am sure most of the present council will put their names forth, I am also sure we will have quite a number of other candidates to look at.

My hope for this election is that the public asks questions lots of them when somebody talks about “change” ask them what they mean by that. Do not wait for the public forums each candidate will be lucky if they get five minutes to speak. Seek out the candidates ask them where they stand on the issues important to you. If a candidate is serious, he/she will make their phones numbers, emails and mostly themselves available to address your concerns and questions.  

Do not be easily fooled if a candidate promises you no tax increases for the next four years he is a liar, if he promises you tax decreases he is not only a liar he is a fool.

Remember a candidate can promise you the world but unless he can convince a majority of council to vote his way the promises really mean nothing. So if there is a particular direction you would like to see the municipality head in then you better make sure that there are enough potential councilors that have those common beliefs.

I hope the public does not get fooled by the politicians that attempt to please everybody, it is not possible and those types of people end up not taking a position on anything.

I have often been asked what kind of commitment is required to be a councilor? Time, it is not just showing up every second Tuesday raising your hand 25 times and going home. You will put in an average of 20 hours per week you will attend numerous meeting, and events. You will receive calls, you will be approached by the public where ever you go. If you want to be knowledgeable about issues you will spend a lot of time doing research. You will have to make a lot of tough decisions, some that affect people’s livelihoods and some that involve issues that people have been very passionate about for a long time.

You will get paid for doing this but if you are in this purely for the money you will be disappointed over the last ten years councilors have made somewhere around  $12-14,000 a year and the Mayor $22-25,000 a year.

Lastly make sure you have thick skin there will be times where those calls you get will not be so pleasant, and yes it should never be personal but there are a very small minority out there that like to make it that way.

Kudos  to everybody that decides to put their name up for a very difficult job ahead.  

    

Pass Herald a sign of the times

This week's Pass Herald (On line) is a very good reflection of what's going on in this community at this time. Obviously we start with the flood how could you not. 

At the last council meeting CAO Thompson mentioned that discussions had started with the Bellevue Seniors on their hall, he gave a sense that they were going well and more meeting were to come. 
When I read the article "Seniors Centre debate continues" available @
http://passherald.ca/archives/130625/index3.htm it certainly does not give the impression that we have amicable negotiations going on here.  

Then I read the article "Council severs ties with Pool Board" available @
http://passherald.ca/archives/130625/index1.htm
we seem to be getting a very common theme here in the Crowsnest Pass. 
(For those that want to compare this to when the structure of the ski hill was changed I will be answering that issue shortly) 

Lastly there is an article from guest writer S.C Rudegan titled "Who's in charge" available @
http://www.passherald.ca/archives/130625/index4.htm

Two very important paragraphs that I am taking from this very well written article:

If we forget what made us angry, if we, for example, vote in the same people who caused this community such grief and turmoil, who led us to be laughed at by surrounding municipalities, if we do not continue to demand accountability and transparency, then a year from now we will be whining the same destructful tune.  There is nothing wrong with being angry, if that anger is turned into action. Action that is positive, life-enhancing, and inclusive. The way ahead is not to return to the path already followed. It is to create something better. Expect more, and that’s what we’ll get. Give up the battle, surrender without winning, believe that we deserve nothing better – and that will be our destiny. But not a future worth fighting for. This community and it's people do deserve better, when you read the first two articles above and place that in context with what's happened in the last three years it certainly describes the tone of our community.  We are indeed having change rammed down our throat, Mayor Decoux said last week the public voted for change and that's what they are getting. We all know that change is inevitable but the question is always how much and how fast and if it is the right change. Our council and administration are following a script put together (Strategic Plan) that was not created for the most part and or brought into by the vast majority of the residents of this community. That I believe in it's self will mean lots of change at the ballot box this fall, unless of course Bruce is right and he really does have the "silent majority"!      Note: Keep in mind one very important number $4325

Talk about perfect timing getting the answers in the Crowsnest Pass.

Yesterday I posted the following article http://crowsnestpasshome.blogspot.ca/2012/11/a-community-divided-real-fix-is-eleven.html

Almost ironically, I receive an email this morning from the municipality, it’s the monthly newsletter. I will take a few quotes from the Mayors Corner and contribute my own thought’s.

Quote #1.  “I think it’s safe to say we are all very interested in local politics and hopefully will continue to be. I have to admit I am a bit disappointed in that we have held two budget meetings – with no one in attendance.”

Response #1 Looks like the people are speaking by their absence.

Quote #2  “I understand the current Councils’ “petition” has been delivered to Edmonton. The Minister of Municipal Affairs will ultimately make a decision based on wisdom, expertise, legislation and as a Council we will, as I have indicated on several occasions, abide by his decision.”

Response #2 Did not realize it was the current councils “petition” I had assumed that it was gathered by the ratepayers. Maybe this was an attempt at a little bit of sarcasm.

Quote #3 “On a positive note administration will be rolling out the new Fire Plan probably before Christmas. The plan promises to provide improved service and long term savings. The Director of Protective and Community Services, Mr. Albert Headrick has indicated the plan will provide a cost savings of over one half million dollars over the next two years and ongoing savings thereafter.

Response #3 Are we talking here about the operational budget, capital budget combination of both? The budget for Fire and Rescue (Operational) in 2010 was less than $400,000 if they are going to reduce that by $500,000 in the next two years, it will be very interesting to see what they will do. If it is reducing the capital budget by not going with a $1.3 million Quint and instead buying something for $800,000 that’s just playing with numbers.

Quote #4 “  We are in the process of determining an open house date for our hotel development team to gather input from yourselves regarding the development. I suspect it will be in February. Contrary to rumor no “flag” hotel has yet been determined”

Response #4 Maybe not an “Holiday Inn” looks like we are buying time. I predict that come next September we are going to have all of these “Hot” projects ready to go subject to the developers, manufacturers, corporations maintaining a level of comfort with the direction of the “next” municipal council.

Quote #5 “ The manufacturing company will be flying its executives out from Quebec to view the site again. The hot water situation and environmental regulation is still a problem”  

Response #5 These problems will not get fixed in the short term, probably require another three years see response #4 above.

Quote #6 Your Chief Administrative Officer and I have met with four representatives of a heavy industry once more to discuss further possibilities. They indicated they would make a decision towards the end of the first quarter of 2013 or the beginning of the second quarter. I am amazed at the research and care these companies take to ensure that all environmental and social requirements can be met before they commit. This is a welcome and complete reversal from my experience as a young man. We have come a long way.

Response #6 Love the way all this timing is coming together, see response #4 and #5 above. Does anybody really believe that none of these guys are running in the next election.

Quote #7 “On November 13th Councillors Gail, Gallant, the Chief Administrative Officer and I met with Minister Griffiths to discuss Highway 3 and the MD of Ranchlands. As you are aware the Provincial government has recently indicated it is not adverse to borrowing funds for much needed infrastructure projects – I would like to see our highway at the top of the list. We were able to provide the Minister with a review of the need for a new highway relative to the bright future of the Pass. Our second issue was the need to seriously address the problem of the MD of Ranchlands vis à vis the Crowsnest Pass. There are many complexities involved however we confirmed the obvious inequities and the positive impact on our taxes if an amalgamation could be realized. The Minister indicated he would visit us hopefully early in the New Year for a tour of the Pass and to continue these discussions.”

Response #7 It seems a long time ago since the provincial election remember all that talk from the PC’s about balance budgets, surpluses in fairly short order. Remember the opposition parties stating that the PC’s were basing their numbers on overly optimistic oil and gas prices. Now we find out that they were only talking about operational budgets, HWY 3 may be a priority for this community but it is not for Edmonton.

The MD of Ranchlands good luck I went to meetings with ministers to, met with the Council and CAO of Ranchlands, seen many letters go back and forth. I have not met many neighbors that are willing to share there good fortunes with the poor guy down the street. Which way do you think the MD of Pincher Creek and every other wealthy municipality are lobbying on this issue.

Quote #8    “In conclusion, Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “You will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you.” Please make no mistake. Your elected Council knows its duty well and is committed to fulfilling that duty to the citizens of Crowsnest Pass.”

Response #8 No matter what we the taxpayers think or care about the path they have chosen. 

A community divided, the real fix is eleven months away.

My fellow blogger Mr Prince is calling for a town hall meeting, the people that signed the petition are waiting for municipal affairs.

I think this municipality at this point in its short history is deeply divided, unfortunately it is not going to be repaired in the next eleven months. Any one of us can wish for a different out come but realistically it is not coming in the short term. The petition and municipal affairs will run its cause and hopefully something will come of that, if not then people need to be preparing for October 21^st 2013 that will be the communities next real opportunity for “change”.

Why do I feel it’s too late for real change with this council, the issues that have been put in front of the taxpayers over the last two years have been too numerous and two divisive.

Can a town hall meeting fix these issues? I don’t think so, most of the people I speak to could care less about a town hall meeting they have seen them become a platform for our leader to pump his chest, berate anybody that disagrees with him. I was so shocked when I watched a highly educated seventy year old man walk across a room to the sound of a few boos, waving his arms and telling the people to bring it on. (Leadership?)

I sat down last Friday and listened to a veteran administrator tell a reporter the way it is. (Yes it was as bad has it sounds). Communications has not been this council’s downfall in all honesty they have probably done a better job of communicating than any previous council, the problem is not so much communications it is what they have said and done. 

This Council believes in building a Bureaucracy by the time they have restructured they will have gone through more administrators in eighteen months than any other council in our history and have more upper management in place then we have ever seen before. Mean while we have a demoralized workforce that is scared and bullied to the point where a large percentage of them are in fear of their jobs.

This community has no commercial tax base, if we only did what we could pay for three quarters of what happens in this community would not happen. The key for this community is volunteers I came to learn this lesson over the last ten years, are there any volunteers left? Sure there are but not many, with what happened with Thunder in the Valley/Rum Runner Days and the Firemen situation who’s going to step forward. Want more proof of that look at municipal boards despite three months of advertising nine boards are short of members. Why do you think council backpedaled on getting rid of the Swimming Pool Authority two weeks ago? They desperately need to reverse the perception in the public forum as to how volunteers are being treated. What we did not  need is a member of council slamming the public because they didn’t support their way of doing things on the Rum Runner days weekend maybe just maybe the silent majority did not want it to change.  

The public has spoken about how they feel, despite the fact that 2500 people signed a petition in less than three weeks (more than double what is legally required). This council and its members can only focus on the “silent majority still supports us”, “or people were bullied and intimidated into signing”. Tell those people to contact municipal affairs I am sure the powers to be would love an excuse not to deal with this petition. Does it not say that the public has a problem with where you are going?

Look at our tax situation we hear great fanfare about a three year budget that only had annual increases of 2.5%, I didn’t hear anybody from council or administration tell us that Franchise Fees were going to increase more than 300% in three years.

Will the books balance at the end of the year? Of course they will I could spend hours writing about how numbers are shuffled. For example  take a look at Manager of Corporate Services, that position was only filled for three months this year. The other nine months of monies set aside for that position will be used to make the numbers work. My concern is the million dollars a year of administration moving forward how do we pay for that in future years when all the positions are filled year round?

Financial credibility is there any out there, after waiting for three and a half months look at the numbers that were presented for Rum Runner Days, remember the talk about $150-$200,000 not even close.   

Community Peace Officers all those that think these positions are going to pay for themselves raise your hand now. That’s a fallacy that will be proven over time, I can remember the consultant telling council at a G+P meeting that there were 290+ locations in violation of the unsightly premises bylaw how many of them have been cleaned up? Is there a date that they will be cleaned up by? So what happens with the bylaw officers once they are cleaned up?

Promises even though they were followed with a “you can take this with a grain of salt”

CLC gone before first snowfall, sharing Ranchlands tax base, Quebec manufacturer, deal with the hotel developer done in two weeks, two more, thirty days, heavy industry with up to 700 jobs. Politically you can sell hope all you want but sooner than later it has to be realized or you lose creditability.    

I think we have reached the point where the majority (be they loud or silent) do not pay a whole lot of attention anymore to what this council has to say or do. Most people are counting down the time until Oct 21,2013. Will a town hall meeting change that?   

Change in the Crowsnest Pass

I sat on council for six years during that time I learnt that this town has a lot of problems, declining and ageing population, lack of industry and development, duplication of services and facilities that most taxpayers can not afford to support.

Do we need change? Absolutely, change that involves attracting people here, bringing development and industry, looking at where our community could be ran more efficiently. Knowing all of these issues our local government needs to be ran as if it’s on a tight budget, because it should be.

Let’s talk about the change we can not and do not want, over spending the municipality will next year in the final year of this council’s term, take in $1.4 million more dollars out of  the taxpayers pockets than it did in 2010 that’s $400 per home.

They are building an empire that we can not afford, look at the number of staff in the municipal office do we really need more administration.

Municipal peace officers do we want two peace officers? Was that a good change? they wrote 2 bylaw tickets in the month of September, they are being looked at has a cash cow not a tool to clean up our community.

Once again we have consultants in our community talking about “branding” what was so wrong with “Mountain Freedom”? Thunder in the Valley brought this community way more attention than any new brand will. We all know there were problems go talk to the RCMP get the stats for the number of arrests over the last five years, we saw a tremendous decline the event was being ran better every year.

Fire Departments, we spent $300,000 in 2010 operating the Fire Departments how many full time Firemen are we going to get for that figure? Could Fire departments be ran better? Of course every branch of government could be run better, we have to find ways to operate our community on the present dollars not more.

It’s really hard to convince taxpayers of this when you see almost $300,000 spent on a piece of equipment that spends 98% of it’s time sitting in the back of the Blairmore Shop, all the new pickups running around and consultant after consultant.

The termination of a municipal employee should that have happened? We do not know all the details.

Personally, I have no problem terminating an employee with just cause, but there must be a fair process, if you believe you have grounds to terminate an employee you suspend them. You do a complete investigation then you let them go (it’s called due process) you don’t terminate them. Then seek the justification by releasing a press release every second day with a new revelation.

This situation with better communication and due process would have been handled so much better.

Back to the start do we need change? We all know the answer, of course, but I am having a tough time thinking of a good, positive change in the last two years. We need change that involves the people of the Crowsnest Pass.

And for those that disagree with me step up to the plate and point out the positive changes for us all to read.  

Crowsnest Pass Ratepayers Association

Open Letter to Mayor and Council


The Municipal Government Act states that under general duties of councilors:

(a) to consider the welfare and interests of the municipality as a whole and to bring to council’s attention anything that would promote the welfare or interests of the municipality.

This could be interpreted as if only the councilor considers that which would promote the welfare or interests of the municipality and the taxpayer’s input would be meaningless.

There are two types of government, the irresponsible and the responsible. We are currently being led by a group using the irresponsible method. Anyone and I do mean anyone can balance a budget by increasing fees, utilities, licenses, electrical, etc. etc. and rewriting the bylaws which when violated carry a large fine the first offense beginning at $250. Tally up the total increased revenue and add 2.5% to the property tax and voila you have a balanced budget even one that would show a surplus. Such genius!

The second type of governing the responsible method takes some doing. It is a method using common sense, restraint, cutting spending and if needs be to obtain a balanced budget add a minimal amount to the property tax. This method shows a governing body to be accountable and fiscally responsible to the people it represents, the taxpayer.

By increasing everything from soup to nuts, have you considered the burden you are placing upon the seniors of this community? What do we do, email Stephen Harper or Flaherty and tell them that our municipality is nickel and diming us to the extent that we might have to cut back on our groceries, or perhaps cut out one of our prescriptions because our rates went up and we are over budget? I’m sure that they just might consider a $1.50 raise on our pension.

Let’s face the truth of the matter. You have hired a group of strangers (experts) to come to our community and force upon us their ideas and methods in order to teach us how we should live in our own domain. We've been doing pretty well up until now, or so we thought so, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Many people I have spoken with have stated that this isn't Calgary and we do not have to deal with the noise, pace and congestion which in order to curb problems arising from this are forced to pass bylaws. This is not the case here, and if my sidewalk isn't cleared of snow, then it’s because I cleared it and the snowplow came along and covered it up. It seems that since Kevin Robbins and Donna Tona have been on board we have a new bylaw to contend almost every week, no ifs and or buts, it’s a done deal and we have to live with it.

Also, why are you doing everything that covers a period of three years? Has the thought crossed your mind that you won’t be in office then? This council and mayor are suffering from the BIG FROG LITTLE PUDDLE SYNDROME. Get over it and start doing the job you were elected to do instead of harassing your citizens and preying on us. If this is what you consider having our best interests at heart then you certainly have a misconstrued idea as to what good governing is all about. Start being responsible, and show some Government Transparency and we will feel that maybe we are not just cash cows living here for the hell of it.

Marilyn Milley - (on behalf of the Ratepayers Association)

Change its Coming, Franchise Fees, Taxes

Breaking News:

Well the public demanded change and by jolly Jan 1st Council is going to give it to you.

Yes you will defininitly see change, on your power and gas bill.

The CAO stated last night to achieve the goals and objectives of Council strategic plan the municipality needs to bring in an additional $500,000 in revenue next year, you can achieve that by raising franchise fees, mill rate etc. He went on further to state that if they didn't do franchise fees it would equate to an 8% tax increase.

My doesn't change feel good.

The initial motion by Councilor Mitchell was to keep the Atco charge at the present rate of 15%, and to increase the Fortis rate from 8% to 14% (within the ensuing debate he suggested that it could go to 17% next year). Then Councilor Londsbury made a friendly amendment to increase the Atco rate to 20% which was accepted by Councilor Mitchell. The motion passed by a vote of 5-2 (Saindon, Gail opposed)

What does this mean to you the taxpayer?
Fortis (electricity bill) will increase by $32.64 a year and bring in for the municipality an additional $147,823 a year.
Atco (Gas bill) will increase by $22.32 a year and bring in for the municipality an additional $47,638 per year.  That's a total of an additional $195,461 per year coming out of the taxpayers pocket.
Still leaves the municipality looking for an additional $350,000 in revenue to stasify the goals of the forth coming strategic plan.

NOTE: You can vote at the Pass Herald on how you feel about these franchise fee increases  @ http://www.passherald.ca/index.htm

Breaking News in the Crowsnest Pass-More change

Director of Community Services Cam Mertz is no longer employed with the Municipality.

First in June the CAO Tully Clifford left the municpality.

Then in July Director of HR and Legislative Services Lynne Cox left the municipality.

Now the Director of Community Services.

Rum Runner Days weekend.

Well here is your chance to make your comments about the weekend, good bad or indifferent. Weather it be the parade, show and shine, carnival, Thunder in the Valley, etc.

What did you think, is the weekend worth the $100,000 of taxpayers money that goes in to it?

Should the weekend continue in its present form, should the municipality be taking over the entire weekend as suggested by our local leaders or just leaving it alone.

Looking forward to any and all comments, now's your chance to speak.

 

More Change at the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass

Effective July 13 Director of HR and Legislative Services Lynne Cox will be leaving the Municipality.

Change in the Crowsnest Pass, CAO is leaving Wow

Resignation

Note: Check out the following article pointed out to me by one of my readers.

www.crowsnestpasspromoter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2860758

There is more available from this reader/commenter just go down to the right side of my blog and click on the Miners Journey.



The purpose of this email is to let you know I’ve submitted my resignation to Council, my last day of work in Crowsnest Pass will be June 15, 2011. Though my time here has been short I’ve really enjoyed working with all employees. It’s difficult working for local government as we are criticized often and praised seldom. Please know that I appreciate your efforts and acknowledge that Crowsnest Pass could not survive without the fine work of the employees of the Municipality. I’m glad that so many of you recognize that we’re working for our friends and neighbours and that you come to work each day to perform your duties to the best of your ability. Because of your efforts the Municipality offers a very wide range of services and programs to our residents and businesses. Though Council speaks of change you should be proud of your day-to-day work and all your accomplishments and not view change as a negative. Change is difficult and is often seen as a criticism. I challenge you instead to look at change as an opportunity to make a good organization even better. Through change it is hoped that additional opportunities for growth and advancement will be made available to employees and that Crowsnest Pass will continue to evolve as a fantastic place to live and visit. Thank you for working with me during my short time here.



Tully

Editorial in the Pass Promoter Oct 8

Very good editorial today, check it out.

http://www.crowsnestpasspromoter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2788954

I know there is a temptation to throw out all the present council and start fresh but I agree with the above editorial, council and most of their committees will be much less effective certainly for the first year with a totally green council.

Note: Do not get me wrong I think there should be new blood on every council, but having said that keep in mind most of our committee's are made up of volunteers who do not see the whole picture that councilors would those volunteers look for the input of councilors.
Picture for a moment our sub division board with two totally green councilors on it and a smooth talking, flashy pie in the sky developer coming in front of them.

Crowsnest Pass misconceptions, and the picture the authors paint

Today my fellow blogger and candidate for Mayor talks about one of the local papers in the Crowsnest Pass and the picture they paint.
http://blog.johnprince.ca/

Well this raises a great opportunity to talk once more about the great bogeyman of the last three years the 4-3 vote.
If I was a complete stranger coming in to this town I would assume based on what I have read that every decision made by council over the last three years was by a vote of 4-3.

I will try to clear the picture for those that have been brain washed, we had four councilors that stood for "change" in the Crowsnest Pass, three that stood for Status Quo. And that's fine everybody gets to stand for whatever they like (its called democracy).
But yes those four councilors voted the same way on issues that involved "change", (Crowsnest Centre, Arena's, Cleanup's, Eliminating new positions at the town, building our reserves back up, stopping members of council from promoting private business) the other three members that didn't want change for the most part voted against "change".

Does that come as a big surprise that people that wanted change voted for it? of course not, no more than people that opposed change voted against it.

But the local paper with the support of those that did not want change, knowing that neither of them could come up with sound facts or arguments to oppose change did the only thing they could, they created a smoke screen the 4-3, the issues were no longer the issue the vote was.

For the information of the taxpayers, councils here and most other places have been spilt for one reason or another forever. The issue here, was and is "change". It will be the same on the next council, , look at the list of candidates, we all know some will fight for "change" and some will oppose it, I do not expect seven to be elected all in favour of change or against.

I challenge anybody to look at the local newspaper from 2004-2007 and find one mention of the 4-3 as a big issue, guess what we had a 4-3 council three councilors believed in change four believed in Status Quo, and believe or not when the issue of change came up it got voted down 3-4.

A while back I reviewed all motions of council, well in excess of 90% were decided by something other than 4-3. Why because they dealt with something other than change.

Its no different than the corporate reviews on council, all three of them gave council a less than impressive reviews, three different councils, which all had only one thing in common the leader Mayor Irwin, as that ever been spoke about in the local paper?

Yes in my six years on council I have seen the Mayor as the Chair of council allow certain people the opportunity to rant and rave in the council chambers, with not a word said by him or the local paper.
I approached several members of the media when I first got on council about reporting these types of performances, they told me that they did not want to take sides, I told them I didn't want them to, I only asked them if somebody ranted and raved like a lunatic report it.

Anyway lets decide this election on real issues, do we want change or not?

Throw the bums out!

On Mr Prince's Blog this morning is a post regarding the rising discontent over incumbent politicians and how local incumbent politicians should be very afraid.
I would like to speak to some of the comments he refers to.

http://blog.johnprince.ca/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-07%3A00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=25

I know this is a case on the International and provincial side of things but the article he refers to does not talk at any point about municipal politics, but lets assume it will flow to that level.

Anyway let's talk about the rest of the post I will take some quotes and address them with my comments :

"According to the above story people in general are angry. Very Angry! They feel their politicians are elitist, arrogant and oblivious to their pain and suffering, and as such doing little to nothing to address their issues and concerns. As a result, it's a very, very bad time to be an incumbent."

Most of us on the present council are simple folks six of us have lived here for ten years or more.
Do we have some members of our council that are elitist, arrogant and oblivious to the residents pain and suffering, yes I think we have some of that do you really think taht applies to the whole of council? should they all be painted with that same brush?

Then we go to:

"With this in mind, I wonder how our own incumbents are feeling about their chances of getting back in, considering the mood of our residents towards the on-going, never ending, three year long battle between the two waring camps on our council?"

John you really do not buy into the 4-3 Irwin propaganda do you? we all know that council spilt over the Crowsnest Centre issue and a some budgetary related issues. We also all recognize that 95% of Council Motions pass by something other than 4-3.
Would this be the first council accused of being 4-3?
But as you have said many times yourself this council did a lot of things well and did not receive enough credit for the good things they did.

"The never ending battle between the waring camps" isn't that exactly how the media, Irwin and his cronies portrayed the council from 1998-2001? Was that all accurate?.

"All the while, apparently, oblivious to the fact there is a good chance none of them will be getting back in because of their past actions".

If none of us are to get back in due to our "past" actions then I suspect the voters will go back further than just this last council, because very few of us that have sat on council previously have not had our names tarnished by one part of the media or the other and Irwin's cronies.

"and understand from this that what is needed and wanted is democracy in action where councillors actually work together as a team for the greater common good and get things done, by applying some good old-fashioned basic common-sense while leaving the grandstanding and 'gotcha' politics behind"

Democracy isn't that about taking a position, debating it and voting? 4-3, 5-2, 6-1, 7-0 which one of them is not democracy.

"Can one blame them? After all, this council treated us like we were mushrooms i.e. kept us in the dark and fed us BS. We never had public forums to discuss any of the important issues, such as Bridgecreek/River Run and the lack of security deposits and long-term taxpayer liabilities, CLC (legal costs), the 4-3 voter split, etc., etc. and still know little to nothing on who, what, when and why with respect to these matters? They acted like they were above us and need not bother or trouble themselves with such matters as accountability and due diligence. Transparency went out the door as did fiscal responsibility. Thoughtful people believe one side was as bad as the other with respect to these matters, and therefore neither side is deserving of getting back in."

Couple of comments:
The Bridgecreek/River Run this is a private deal no different than any other development, we as a council can approve development agreements, zoning etc. No different than if I owned a piece of private land the municipality can not force me a built on it. There are people here that have owned land for 50 years and never done anything with it. That is a right allowed to us in a democratic country.
The mistakes the council made here was when the first council sold this property back in the mid 90's with no conditions attached to it.
Then this council made a large error, when we did not force them to put up security, I also feel that the Mayor made a big mistake when he appeared in their promotional video.

CLC legal costs those were not caused by council if you go back to the report in the spring that we were given by our financial officer after a request by Councillor Mitchell if memory serves me right those costs were about $80,000. Approximately $30,000 of that was due to the plebiscite that was forced on the municipality, which the public eventually sent a clear message on. The rest was as a result of the legal action taken due to the leases signed by the CLC Society.

The 4-3 I give Irwin credit here, he created an issue to blind as many people as possible to the real issues.
What amazes me is that some really smart people have brought into this issue, unless of course they are just using it for political advantage!
Another point if we are going to label this council as the 4-3 council what would we label previous councils, I hope I get this right:

1998-2001 4-3
2001-2004 5-2
2004-2007 4-3
2007-2010 4-3

Help me out folks let me know if I'm wrong.


"Fiscal Responsibility out the door".

Really over the last ten years can anybody point to a council that as done more to become more efficient, to reduce costs, than this one? sometime in the next two weeks I will list them all.

Anyway back to the question on the post, should incumbents be afraid? I guess depending on which side of the issues the voters side with, obviously some incumbents should be afraid.
But I believe that some of the councillors on this last council stood for what they truly believed in despite the fact that they were lambasted in parts of the media week after week.
They could have had it easy, they could have sat back and agreed with Irwin and his cronies, caused no controversy, had wonderful things said about them by those same hacks.

And today those same people would be blasting them for being a 7-0 council, a bunch of mindless sheep, Irwinites, that stood for nothing.

Anyway I believe that the people of the Crowsnest Pass are smart enough to cut through the crap that parts of the local media and Irwin and his cronies, have put out about members of this council and previous ones.

Finally yes I agree some what in that a few of the incumbents do not deserve to come back.
Change will happen in the Crowsnest Pass.

One Councilor's Response to issues in the Crowsnest Pass

Have not blogged for a while, have been very busy but it is time to speak, in response to my fellow blogger’s from the Crowsnest Pass, in addition to comments I have received from the public at large, lets jump around to the various issues.

Change do I believe in change? Of course, is change happening fast enough? Does it ever! Change is going to take the full commitment of many different people. Yes, it has to be more than just talk. It needs to be about action.

Due to changing demographics, Facilities that were required years ago may not be required today. To change, first we have to admit that the community is different; Census Canada for the last twenty-five years has shown that our community is getting older; school enrollment numbers shows the same thing. However, we have people in leadership positions who believe that we are getting younger.

Economic development, first we have to admit that we have a problem. Look, around we made the mistake of putting all of our eggs in one basket. The majority of Council took the position that expansion of our community would solve the problems. I agree to a point, development brings new money into the community creates new assessment, the only problem we have is development should be part of the solution not all of it. Drive around look at our new developments, see how much infrastructure as been put in place, how many basements poured, how many lots sold. It is scary.

Secondary Industry; There are people in this community that believe we are wasting our time pursuing secondary industry that nobody will come here. I still strongly believe that Council, Economic Development and the local Chamber of Commerce should be working together to achieve this goal. Does this get back to leadership of course?

Leadership A key factor for any community, does our leadership need to change? Keep in mind the last election, out of 2100 votes for the Mayor’s position the challenger received 43 per cent of the vote not a solid endorsement of the incumbent by any means. Change of leadership can happen in several ways.

At the ballot box, which it will eventually, or from within? Council’s direction can change if the will of any four or more councilors so wishes. How does that happen, by individuals willing to stand up to the ways things have always been done? What holds people back from standing up for change? The following issues.
Anybody that has ever sat on a council knows several things; those that have been in power for a long time will not relinquish it freely. Vocal self interest groups that have been looked after for years by that leadership will also fear a change of direction. I have seen on more than one occasin a politician change his position because he received half a dozen calls prior to a vote from that vocal minority.
The public image; how many times do you hear or read comments from feeble mined people, that don’t have a intelligent counter argument on a issue so they resort to all they have left, running around town making statements “what’s in it for him” or try to create an aura of suspicion about a person that opposes their views.
The lust for power, anybody that has been around political circles knows that the moment somebody sees them selves as the appointed successor he will work closely with the one doing the appointing. It is almost comical, to hear a councilor, who as voted the party line on most major issues in the last term, suddenly take exception because a majority of council with similar
view’s on an issue comes together to opposes his view.

What does it take to bring councilors together, to move in a different direction? Issues, that forces those same councilors to stand up and take a position. This is where you find out who the real people are, those that will not vote a certain way because the vocal minority exerts pressure, and believes it knows what is best for the rest of the voters, those that will not be swayed for future gain. We have that opportunity today in the Crowsnest Pass with the Crowsnest Centre four councilors have stood up and said that we do not need this old, under utilized, worn out building. There begins an opportunity for a change to the good old Status Quo.

Tube Park; it is true as you can see in my recent blog of June 27th should we look at options to bring something new in, yes but we do have to be very cautious that we don’t jeopardize our ski hill.



Albert Stella Arena; Council knew back during the budget process that the arena would not open until January 1st. All of a sudden because user groups have come forth with concerns some of council will find an opportunity to jump on the bandwagon.


Community Enhancement; Do we have a duty to improve the appearance of our community? Of course, we do, the Crowsnest Pass is one of the most beautiful places in the world and ninety percent of our residents look after their homes and businesses. Leadership needs to lead on this issue and work with other groups to futher enhance our community.

Change; will happen one issue at a time initially, until people realize that change is not such a bad thing that it is possible. Western civilization will not end because a program is altered, or a facility is no longer used in the Crowsnest Pass.