(This editorial is republished with permission of Bob Axford's Neighborhood Living community newsletter, now on stands in Robins, Smitty's, Perkins and other fine establishments across Winnipeg)
Do the voters need to teach City Hall a lesson in civics again?
Last year, everyone thought City Council was turning over a new leaf when it came to including everyone in our town in planning for our future.
Active Transportation project organizers failed, in the development phases, to include many of the residents and businesses neighborhoods targeted for "improvements" in discussions. Rushing the projects because there was federal government infrastructure money to spend on the demands of the bike lobby was the priority. (Those pesky deadlines).
Outrage across the city against bike paths and other changes to streets and roadways, forced the issue of "public consultation" into the mainstream media right before the October election
Furor was heard from the north end to Berry Street to Grosvenor to Sherbrook and of course the gem of the mismanaged lot was Assiniboine Avenue. The stakeholder list there included bike lobbyists and groups from far and wide, but excluded business and property owners of South Broadway. They have taken their fight to court, where a judge refused a city ploy to toss the suit.
Oh sure, the city claimed they did their best, and shifted the blame: People don't want to come to meetings. It was in winter. It was in summer. It's not a roundabout, it's a traffic circle. Pledges by council incumbents to reform and make sure the voters and taxpayers and business owners were sought out and heard in future were at the forefront of election platforms.
Well, the new season of Open Houses kicked off with something called the Corydon-Osborne Neighborhood Plan at Gladstone School last Wednesday.
And nothing changed. In fact, it got worse. Not a single flier was distributed to homes about the session. Less than 100 citizens showed up over the 4 hour exhibition.
Oh, enthused Councillor Gerbasi, we ran an big ad in the Free Press and their area weeklies (that no one recalled seeing). Golly, we promoted it on a Facebook page (that had, as of the night before, only 33 followers plus 3 area politicians). Gee, Bike to the Future and local MLA Jennifer Howard sent out emails (which did nothing to inform those who are not from their camps).
Then there was the emails to the 'stakeholder list'. A list made up only of the people who went to the preliminary Design Workshops last month. In other words, if someone had to watch the cash register on those 2 days in May and could not make it, they are not considered stakeholders by the city now.
Although the city did a mail drop in Osborne Village for the May meetings, Councillor Gerbasi, city planners and communicators did NOTHING to make sure Osborne Village was made aware of the Open House that followed it. Major reforms were being discussed for Confusion Corner, the Corydon strip, and the new Rapid Transit station area which supporters pray will draw mixed use apartment towers. So who needed to hear from the neighbours ? Apparently not the City staff and consultants.
Nothing was sent to residents of Gertrude, Wardlaw, Stradbrook, or any other street. Nothing was provided to any of the Osborne Street enterprises that maybe, just maybe, might maybe want to know if a traffic circle, curb extension, or street direction change near their premises is being contemplated. Once again, public consultation is being guaranteed the bike lobby and others already plugged into the system, but not for those directly affected in the neighborhoods that special interest lobbyists want to see engineered and re-jigged to their convenience.
Wait a second. That wasn't supposed to happen again. Regardless of the excuses- the Village has its own Plan, there were posters inside the bus shelters, there's a postal strike - it wasn't supposed to happen.
Urban planner phraseology like "transformative areas" and “collective design process” registers a big zero on the 'what does it matter to me’ list. And that's the key. Those responsible for this failed methodology KNOW plain English works. But they don't use it in the ads and posters and so, people tune out.
Councillor Gerbasi said that when people see fliers from the City, they just chuck them in the garbage. The funny thing about fliers is, if it was headlined " Parking on your street may change ", " How about a parkade at the corner? ", " Is safety on your street a problem? ", the residents WOULD pay attention and get involved.
The fewer voices speaking up, the easier it is for the social engineers and lifestyle lobbyists who know their way around city hall to change our streetscape and land use and business environment, to suit their agenda.
A lot can change in a year. The way the city approaches development planning and Open Houses did not.
It can, starting now, if you step up and say, not again, it’s your job to get the word to the neighborhood about this process in an effective way. The Free Press is not the only paper in town people read, especially around cafes and patios. How about radio ads. OR - How about fliers written in plain English and sent to the people affected ?
You can call Councillor Jenny Gerbasi at 986-5636. It's worth a try, because claiming that the planning for Corydon-Osborne is adequate thus far, when maybe 200 people have had input and the folks from the Osborne Village were left out, is not Our Winnipeg, it’s someone else’s.
(If you’re concerned, The Plan Area boundaries and other information about the process is at
Www.winnipeg.ca/ppd/corydon)
PS- a reminder from last August, how the residents and businesses of Sherbrook were doublecrossed even with "public consultations", and how Coun. Harvey Smith called for the head of AT coordinator Kevin Nixon.
http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2010/07/this-week-more-exclusives-bike-lane-war.html