Dear editor,
Normally, only a few hundred residents per division vote in municipal elections, those who do not vote are content that our democracy is safe in the hands of so few. But over the last three years, democracy and governance in Rocky View has begun to unravel to the point where the election must now be the focus of us all.
Through mismanagement, our debt has skyrocketed from $5 million six years ago to $60.5 million today and we are not through yet. Recently, the County secured an additional $20.1 million line of credit to supply the water needed to further urbanize Balzac. And this week Councillor Buckley has warned that by July 2011, our debt will have reached a whooping $104 million.
More worrying than the mounting debt, however, is this council’s record for respecting public opinion. Let us not forget that on Jan. 26, 2010, two not-for-profit websites designed to facilitate public awareness of County affairs received Cease and Desist Notices from County lawyers - paid with your tax dollars - for using the County's “name and mark” illegally. Despite a strong rebuff by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association for infringing the Canadian Charter Section 2(b) and a deluge of letters from concerned residents, our elected officials have yet to withdraw the threat of legal action against those who openly criticized them.
Let us also not forget the manner in which council adopted its 50-year Growth Management Strategy (GMS). After $1-million and two years of secretive consultation with developers, the County held open houses to unveil its “draft” GMS. Regrettably, the open houses proved no more than pretense: a few weeks later, our councillors declared they would reject all public input and voted in a secret ballot to adopt the draft plan without a public hearing.
To add insult to injury, this fall, a year after the GMS was adopted and perfectly timed to distract from the upcoming election, our councillors voted to embark on an $80,000 consultation process about growth. Unfortunately, this process once again allowed our elected officials to escape participation in meaningful debate about their growth strategy. Instead they hid behind a Reeve-appointed body whose mandate was to collect public opinion and whose report can be easily ignored.
Monday, Oct 18 is Election Day and our best chance to renew democracy in Rocky View. If we are to save our rural County, everyone who can vote must. Find out who your current councillor is and vote in someone else.
Dr. Richard Wilson, Springbank.
