As many of my regular readers will recall, I have posted on the shortcomings of past City Councils on these very pages; we have elected a mostly new council this past November.
(Only ONE of the newly elected actually garnered a vote from yours truly.)
So far, I am unimpressed with this council. Let me explain why:
Recently I came across this article: http://www.sseer.ca/community-economic-development/13-ways-to-kill-a-community/
I encourage you to read this article in its entirety and put on your thinking caps.
Let’s go through them one by one.
1. Water Quality:
Our main source of drinking water is in the McLaughlin Ridge/China Creek Watershed. This is privately owned by a logging company.
Yes, Dear Reader, you read that right: PRIVATELY OWNED.
Very recently, said logging company, the provincial pundits, and the local city council had what I will politely call a “Love In” during our most recent council meeting.
Save for one councillor who put forth a motion to stop all logging activities in this area, and perhaps pursue a land swap; the majority and Mayor lapped up the slightly pungent offerings of the logging company and provincial punditry as if they were the finest of pearls and diamonds.
Nary a thought of the fact that whilst the aforementioned stroking of egos ensued, logging activities continues at an ever-increasing frantic pace.
Hmmm…..I smell poo and it stinks.
2. Business Attraction:
One can take a leisurely jaunt around our “little burg” in whatever conveyance of choice and see a multitude of shuttered, vacant storefronts; multiple vacant lots with all manner of weeds and debris reaching for the heavens; the occasional “professional girl” plying her wares in broad daylight.
I’m sure many a potential business owner sees these signs and says “I MUST build my business here!”….. Not.
No amount of yammering by our Economic Development Officer is going to change my mind.
3. Youth Involvement:
This one gives me the giggles. Unless the youth come from a well-to-do family and are interested in hockey, the youth here are mostly regarded the same way that slightly demented family member is at any number of family gatherings. Slightly embarrassing, and the sooner out of the way, the better.
4. Assessing Community Needs and Assets:
Unless our community only consists of a couple dozen senior citizens in need of extended care, and they all happen to live within the confines of the City Hall building; the only Need and Asset that City Hall deems worth addressing is: Business As Usual.
Time and again, the Magic Bullet proposed to kick start this community into the next century is a regurgitated, perfumed, and lipsticked version of the same pigs that caused this community to fall in the toilet in the first place.
5. Shop Elsewhere:
This has been addressed in my blog posting “Customer Service, Eh Wot?” on April 21, 2014. It still applies.
6. Appearance of Businesses and the Community At Large:
At the main entrance of town, guests are blessed with the destruction caused by the very same logging company I spoke of at the beginning of this blog, followed by a lovely view of tattered billboards as far as the eye can see, an automobile junkyard on the right, a graveyard on the left, and: Hark! The Chamber Of Commerce/Tourism Building.
A lovely monstrosity of a building housing folks that spend much time doing much of nothing, as “Promoting Port Alberni to the World is not our mandate”. Uh huh…..
7.Cooperation:
Unless you are Jimmy Pattison, or heaven forbid, Jack Purdy, with plans of taking far more out of this community than you will ever put in, Tofino is down the road and to the right…..
8. Live In The Past:
“This is the way we’ve always done it” should be carved into the city letterhead.
Yes, I agree we should honour the past, but let’s live in the present and prepare for the future.
9. Ignore The Seniors:
Unless our seniors are currently in an Old Folks Home, on the way there, or on the way into the ground, there is little to no point in offering these folks anything more than a glorified “gossip centre”, maybe a little building where they can roll little balls around, or a corner of a coffee shop. They’re going to be dead soon, so why bother?
10. Nothing New:
Let’s see….in 40 years the newest, biggest Thing we’ve had is Walmart. Nuff said.
11. Ignore Immigrants and Newcomers:
These folks bring innovation and new ideas that might possibly be a Good Thing. We mustn’t have that! We’re quite comfortable living “In The Good Old Days” thanks.
12. Take No Risks:
With our low cost of housing and land, why would we want to take the risk of attracting knowledge industries here? Or encouraging a world class university to set up shop here? Piffle, if we took risks and it turned out positive, we might believe that we deserve more!
13. Don’t Take Responsibility:
Much like what our current Mayor promised when campaigning. If you promise nothing, you can be held liable for nothing.
As it stands now, I don’t anticipate much change for the next four years. For the one councillor who earned my vote: Bless You for stepping up. It is unfortunate the rest of council is not as forward minded.