No target on council, but local politics is our chief concern
Column: Gimme Some Grammar
Originally published March 31, 2006.
By MICHAEL HALL
Today staff
We give The Regional Municipal of Wood Buffalo a hard time.
It's not like we've got it in for them; it's just the way the cookie crumbles.
Local government is the most important form of politics to most of us.
Who supplies the water to your kitchen tap, and where does the stuff go when you flush your toilet? Who clears the snow from the road, paves the potholes and takes the garbage away?
Who controls zoning, saying yes or no to that application for a welding shop next door to your house?
Municipal government.
When you're out at the grocery store, you may run into a municipal councillor. When you're tightening your child's skates to go out on the ice, a municipal employee may next to you.
Local matters most.
Famed U.S. congressman Tip O'Neill once said "all politics is local," from his perch helping to run the United States. He's right. But local still matters most.
We send politicians to Edmonton and Ottawa, but we also realize that most of what goes on those places has nothing to do with us.
We're little fish in a big ocean.
But not for Mayor Melissa Blake, regional councillors and the hundreds of municipal staffl we are their No. 1 concern.
If you look at it the other way around, they're our No. 1 concern, too.
That results in criticism from time to time.
Everyone is an expert, sure. Everyone has an opinion.
The board meetings of Syncrude Canada, Suncor Energy or Shell Canada are not broadcast on the local TV and reported on the radio and front page of the paper.
Municipalities are under more scrutiny than any corporation.
That's because we give them money and they spend it. The only cash Syncrude gets from me is if it fill my gas tank at one of its owner's stations.
Because they have a finite amount of money (carefully ignoring the municipality's ability to raise cash by raising taxes), nothing Wood Buffalo ever does is good enough. The potholes are never filled and the snow is never cleared fast enough.
Recreation facilities are never built quickly enough. It costs too much for the various permits to add a garage. Taxes (note to municipal staff -- I DID NOT say the "tax rate") keep rising. Streets are cleaned, but they're dirty again within a week.
It's the opposite of Guy Boutilier's words of wisdom -- it's a lose-lose proposition.
I have some sympathy. My wife is a former small-town administrator. When we moved within the town, the people on the new street rubbed their hands with glee: "oh, boy, we're finally going to get snowplows through here quickly," they told me.
It didn't happen.
But I'm wandering off-topic.
My goal in these pages is fairness. Criticism or praise, it must be deserved. There may be some people at city hall -- although they haven't told me -- who believe they have a target on their backs and we have a rifle trained on them.
There's no question that we go over what they say and what they do with a fine-tooth comb.
The recent urban camps issue is one example. Some readers alleged we were covering just one side of the debate (when in truth, those in favour were tough to find). I'm satisfied that overall, we not only covered both sides, we did so in an accurate and fair manner. We're not perfect, but I'll match our accuracy against that of anyone, including municipal officials.
Down at city hall, those who held a different opinion from the prevailing attitude in favour of the camps were either confused themselves or lashed out, saying others didn't have the correct information.
There's a difference between plain wrong and opposing views. One is unfortunate. The other is part of a healthy society.
Then there was the dirty pool.
Callers I spoke with attacked the motives of individual politicians and municipal workers on the camps issue. Crazy stuff.
Their complaints didn't pass my smell test. If there believed an illegal conflict of interest to exist, there's a procedure to follow.
To date, nothing has happened other than harsh words that accomplished nothing.
If you believe someone is in conflict, put up or shut up.
Our society today is focused on winners and losers like never before.
Sports metaphors abound. We learn that second place might as well be last place. A win is the only acceptable result. Only losers lose.
What happens when one side "wins," but everyone loses?
I believe that's happening right here, right now.
If you believe someone is in conflict, put up or shut up.
© Copyright 2006, Fort McMurray Today.
Originally published March 31, 2006.
By MICHAEL HALL
Today staff
We give The Regional Municipal of Wood Buffalo a hard time.
It's not like we've got it in for them; it's just the way the cookie crumbles.
Local government is the most important form of politics to most of us.
Who supplies the water to your kitchen tap, and where does the stuff go when you flush your toilet? Who clears the snow from the road, paves the potholes and takes the garbage away?
Who controls zoning, saying yes or no to that application for a welding shop next door to your house?
Municipal government.
When you're out at the grocery store, you may run into a municipal councillor. When you're tightening your child's skates to go out on the ice, a municipal employee may next to you.
Local matters most.
Famed U.S. congressman Tip O'Neill once said "all politics is local," from his perch helping to run the United States. He's right. But local still matters most.
We send politicians to Edmonton and Ottawa, but we also realize that most of what goes on those places has nothing to do with us.
We're little fish in a big ocean.
But not for Mayor Melissa Blake, regional councillors and the hundreds of municipal staffl we are their No. 1 concern.
If you look at it the other way around, they're our No. 1 concern, too.
That results in criticism from time to time.
Everyone is an expert, sure. Everyone has an opinion.
The board meetings of Syncrude Canada, Suncor Energy or Shell Canada are not broadcast on the local TV and reported on the radio and front page of the paper.
Municipalities are under more scrutiny than any corporation.
That's because we give them money and they spend it. The only cash Syncrude gets from me is if it fill my gas tank at one of its owner's stations.
Because they have a finite amount of money (carefully ignoring the municipality's ability to raise cash by raising taxes), nothing Wood Buffalo ever does is good enough. The potholes are never filled and the snow is never cleared fast enough.
Recreation facilities are never built quickly enough. It costs too much for the various permits to add a garage. Taxes (note to municipal staff -- I DID NOT say the "tax rate") keep rising. Streets are cleaned, but they're dirty again within a week.
It's the opposite of Guy Boutilier's words of wisdom -- it's a lose-lose proposition.
I have some sympathy. My wife is a former small-town administrator. When we moved within the town, the people on the new street rubbed their hands with glee: "oh, boy, we're finally going to get snowplows through here quickly," they told me.
It didn't happen.
But I'm wandering off-topic.
My goal in these pages is fairness. Criticism or praise, it must be deserved. There may be some people at city hall -- although they haven't told me -- who believe they have a target on their backs and we have a rifle trained on them.
There's no question that we go over what they say and what they do with a fine-tooth comb.
The recent urban camps issue is one example. Some readers alleged we were covering just one side of the debate (when in truth, those in favour were tough to find). I'm satisfied that overall, we not only covered both sides, we did so in an accurate and fair manner. We're not perfect, but I'll match our accuracy against that of anyone, including municipal officials.
Down at city hall, those who held a different opinion from the prevailing attitude in favour of the camps were either confused themselves or lashed out, saying others didn't have the correct information.
There's a difference between plain wrong and opposing views. One is unfortunate. The other is part of a healthy society.
Then there was the dirty pool.
Callers I spoke with attacked the motives of individual politicians and municipal workers on the camps issue. Crazy stuff.
Their complaints didn't pass my smell test. If there believed an illegal conflict of interest to exist, there's a procedure to follow.
To date, nothing has happened other than harsh words that accomplished nothing.
If you believe someone is in conflict, put up or shut up.
Our society today is focused on winners and losers like never before.
Sports metaphors abound. We learn that second place might as well be last place. A win is the only acceptable result. Only losers lose.
What happens when one side "wins," but everyone loses?
I believe that's happening right here, right now.
If you believe someone is in conflict, put up or shut up.
© Copyright 2006, Fort McMurray Today.
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