Re: "Residents favour low service over tax increase: survey," The Gazette, Feb. 23.
I read this article with interest, and with little surprise.
A few themes jumped out for me as a voter.
Of note, the mayor’s quote about her assumptions certainly reaffirmed how our council operates without any navigational plan, nor a solid ear to the community.
To say that the results of the survey came as a surprise to her is a powerful and accurate illustration of how out of touch our mayor and her entourage might be when it comes to truly understanding residents’ needs and wants.
You can’t plan major municipal affairs and functions around personal assumptions. And after all, we all know what happens when one assumes.
Also quite telling was the ongoing narrative that transparency and communication remain top-of-mind for taxpayers — elements the mayor openly avoided like a bad plague during the last election campaign. The fact that 20 candidates ran for council, and that the entire group of new blood pushed hard for change, making these principles a priority, is testament that there should be no surprise to the current council that these concerns are not going away any time soon.
And finally, the decision to leave council’s performance record out of the survey, "Tsk, tsk, tsk." How manipulative can an administration get?
This council is, with the exception of two new faces, essentially the same old council. Same habits, same passion for surveys, studies, and over-spending.
With five of the seven having served in the last term, it would have been very appropriate to survey voters on elements relative to their performance. For the managers of the survey to suggest that the council was "too new" to consider these measurements, is simply protective politics.
Let’s not forget. The new council is essentially forwarding what they started doing in their last term. So, let’s talk about it.
To intentionally and strategically leave out such avenues aimed at soliciting public opinion is nothing less than political censorship.
Shawn LeMay, St. Albert
