Tuesday, June 23, 2009

It certainly is time.

There is a new banner outside city hall today.
It says 'Speak Up Winnipeg - It's Time We Had A Talk'
Well, what the hell took so long? Sammy has been Mayor for 5 flippin' years! And he only wants to talk now?
He has tried time and time again to give away everything we as citizens own...where was the conversation then?
When Sam and his cronies closed the Kelvin Community Club against the will of the community...why didn't he listen when they had something to say?
When he decided to cut the business tax to the tune of 56 million dollars...the business community said No but Sam didn't listen.
When Councillor Vandal introduced conflict of interest legislation, Sam certainly didn't have time to talk then. Fortunately, the Premier did.

The 'Ladder of Citizen Participation' has 8 rungs. Manipulation, Therapy, Informing, Consultation, Placation, Partnership, Delegated Power and Citizens Control.

"...if consulting them is not combined with other modes of participation, this rung of the ladder is still a sham since it offers no assurance that citizen concerns and ideas will be taken into account. The most frequent methods used for consulting people are attitude surveys, neighborhood meetings, and public hearings."

This is the problem. Sure, we can have all the talks (lecture?) you want but when Phil Sheegal and Alex Robinson get the final say and disregard any input not only from the public but from their own planners, administrators and even elected officials, it's a sham. Plain and simple.

This talk should have happened years ago. Let's make sure that speakupwinnipeg.com becomes an important tool in citizen participation and not a tool to placate us.

This should start in 2010 with a new Mayor. It's about time.

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