Coldstream residents head off to the polls Saturday thinking they can make a difference in their community. Boy, are they mistaken.As advance polling started last week, the District of Coldstream was undermining the entire electoral process.
“Council’s not bound by the results of the referendum,” said Wendy Kay, chief administrative officer.
Kay went on to say that council will make the ultimate decision on forwarding a sports complex application to the Agricultural Land Commission because the referendum “is just an opinion, it’s not about money.”
And that is an extremely poor message to send to residents, and especially those who have campaigned on both sides of the controversial issue.
It leaves the public with the impression that their opinions don’t count and the politicians and bureaucrats will do what ever they want.
And you would have thought Kay would understand that situation after the municipal office fiasco of a few years ago.
In 2001, residents were asked through referendum to borrow money to construct a new municipal office. The proposal was shot down in flames, but instead of abandoning plans, council found other ways to proceed with the office. The excuse was that the referendum was about how to finance the office and not whether the building should be constructed.
Technically, the council and administrators of that era were correct but it left many residents feeling that their politicians were arrogant and out-of-touch.
Flash forward to 2007 and once again the bureaucrats are technically correct.
It is council — or at least a majority of them — that will have to officially send any application for the Aberdeen Road site off to the ALC for consideration.
Kay indicates that the referendum is just an opinion, but if that is entirely the case, why bother asking for it?
Residents expect that when they are asked to vote in a referendum, that the prevailing outcome will be accepted by the politicians and not just cast aside like yesterday’s laundry.
Two scenarios are in the offing for Saturday — a majority of voters support sending the application off to the ALC or a majority want it put through the shredder.
If it is a no vote, Mayor Gary Corner and Councillors Glen Taylor and Carol Williams better be willing to get with the program and accept the fact that current plans for Aberdeen Road are dead.
But if it is a yes vote, a similar onus is on the anti-complex forces — namely Councillors Doug Dirk, Bill Firman and Jim Garlick — to not stand in the way (I have not placed Coun. Mary Malerby in a camp because she is a wild card and could go either way).
Ultimately, this is not about what politicians want or their own personal views.
That point was made loud and clear when Garlick announced his intention to run for council in 2005.
"I'm wanting to serve my community, not serve myself,” he said.
Kay’s comments last week were inappropriate and they could have some residents questioning whether they should even vote Saturday.
With just a few days left, council members need to be abundantly clear that whatever the results, it is the voters who will ultimately decide the fate of the issue.
No comments:
Post a Comment