Accountability and local councils
It’s sad to read discussions on the Comment page debating whether Victoria or Saanich city councils listen.
Victoria council doesn’t listen. (Mayor Marianne Alto recently explained that she doesn’t want to hear it, with respect to her new Dowler Place location.)
Listening shouldn’t be the distraction it is, when our problems are dire and getting worse.
The most recent “defender” writes that public hearings skew to a small group that don’t represent the larger community, to explain their elimination. Well, sure. Every channel choice has the same tradeoffs. Apps would be as bad as hearings in how they’d skew to a group less than representative of the community.
So, might we consider why listening to the community is important?
Councillors pay lip service to the idea they govern for a larger community, and they spend depressing amounts on “communications” teams, but I can’t find an example where our city tried to find out what the community wanted on any big issue by asking a representative sample.
So I don’t buy it.
And that’s the point. Because councillors have made so many unhelpful comments, made so many undemocratic decisions, apparently out of fear of the electorate, the dominant perception in my community is that Alto’s council doesn’t listen because they don’t care. Or maybe, they don’t listen because they care about their super important ideas, more than they care about how people feel. Not sure which is worse.
I’ve been held accountable for making difficult change happen. I’d immediately fire anyone on my team who acted this way, and make sure folks knew why.
Change is really hard for people and credibility is essential. Choosing to give up that credibility is dumb, destructive, and will ultimately fail.
People who make that choice, who don’t understand how to manage to perception, should never be responsible for making change happen to benefit a community. They will make things worse, not better.
The proof is all around me.
Stephen Ison
Victoria
Mann Avenue lanes will be valuable
Construction has begun on bike lanes on Mann Avenue in Saanich, and I am very relieved to see them put in.
Mann is the only connecting point for three major bike arteries in the area — the Colquitz Creek trail, the Wilkinson bike corridor, and the network of shared-use trails that traverse Camosun College’s Interurban campus and adjoining parks that extend almost to Butchart Gardens.
It seems that it falls just short of connecting with the bike lanes on West Saanich Road, but perhaps that short gap will be bridged in the future.
Back in the day, I used to commute from the Tillicum Gorge area to Camosun Interurban, and this is one of the best bike corridors in the city. It is a beautiful park connector, it is separated from traffic so you don’t have to worry about you or your kids being struck by a car, and it is useful, as it connects many residential areas to schools and shopping destinations.
The one major hole in the network was Mann Avenue, which is needlessly wide and forces cyclists to either walk on the sidewalk or ride in the door zone alongside parked cars, the most dangerous place you can put cyclists.
ICBC statistics list 27 crashes in the area in their database of recent collisions, so it is certainly not a safe street at the moment.
I advocated for this corridor during one of the many rounds of consultation for the Active Transportation Plan which go back almost a decade, and I feel that the district has heard my concern.
I want future Camosun students to be able to bike to class safely on fully separated bike infrastructure, and I would like it if my kids could bike to the Layritz soccer and little league fields without having to worry about being run over.
Will Owen
Victoria
Preserve our history for the future
The Holt Creek Trestle, a 100-year-old piece of history in the Cowichan Valley (just outside of Duncan at Glenora Park) is about to get the axe — or is it chain saws and a demolition crew.
The historic buildings, the coastal towns, the rugged west coast, the charming backroads and bridges make this Island unique with millions of visitors flocking here every year.
The Holt Creek Trestle is not only a piece of history but is breathtaking to behold. Thousands of cyclists on their way to Skutz Falls and visitors/hikers/walkers stop in their tracks on the Holt Creek Trestle Bridge to marvel at the engineering feat and structure of the trestle spanning the deep canyon of Holt Creek.
It is easy to tear down history and replace it with convenient concrete and steel. Much like most of the architecturally un-inspired “Lego set” box apartments that are springing up everywhere you look on this Island, in another 20 years this Island might start looking like any other city or town.
Shouldn’t we be concerned about preserving history for generations to come, or are we only interested in short-term fixes?
The future, beauty and history of this Island (Holt Creek Trestle being one) should be a concern for us today, as it was for previous generations, to ensure these pieces of history be preserved for our children and great-grandchildren.
Alla Marinow
Mill Bay
Save the trestle for recreation uses
It’s beyond belief that another piece of Vancouver’s Island’s rail history is coming to an end.
The Kinsol Trestle, the Myra Canyon Trestles, and the Sooke Potholes Trestles have been preserved for future generations as part of a cycling and hiking trail system.
The Holt Creek Trestle is an important part of the early Canadian National railway line now being used for recreation. It no longer needs to be a heavy weight-bearing trestle so why not use steel bracing to support the structure as has been done in the past?
I think the cost would be worth it.
Where are the voices of the historical societies to address these concerns? I guess they, like others, are asleep at the switch.
Norm Tandberg
Esquimalt
The best choice in this election
How does a person decide who to vote for in the provincial election? Beats me!
Many politicians fail to consult the public before making important decisions. They don’t seem concerned about the needs and wants of taxpayers.
Some of our elected officials act like dictators. A case in point is Premier David Eby’s changes to the strata rental restriction bylaws. The public was never consulted and his decision caused problems for oodles of condo owners including me.
Did Eby forget that the word “democratic” features prominently in his party’s name?
Then we have that sunny-ways nepo baby in Ottawa who’s gone a little shady. He insisted on bringing thousands of new immigrants to Canada in the midst of a severe housing shortage.
I hope when he drives along the streets of downtown Toronto this winter that he will, at a bare minimum, hand out warm blankets to all those shivering newcomers sleeping on the sidewalk.
The big problems Canadians face today are largely the result of the decisions made in past years by the people we trusted to lead us.
The doctor shortage, the housing crisis, and the spiralling wave of crime and disorder we are now facing could have been foreseen. They did not have to happen.
In many respects, how we vote today will determine whether we are joyful or miserable in the years ahead. Consequently, this jaded and exasperated old lady’s gonna vote for the Cocktail Party!
Cheera Crow
Brentwood Bay
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