I also support Coun. Morgan Nagel and his run for the UCP. I just wish it wasn't in our constituency. Coun. Nagel is the quintessential, self-serving conservative who will not only, more than likely, take up a seat in the Legislature, but will also fit nicely in to a spot in that lofty ivory tower perpetrated and perpetuated by too many former Conservative governments in this province.
I attended the last council meeting on Feb. 26 and listened to Coun. Nagel's motion and justifications regarding the introduction of a Residential Estates zoning option within the town for developers. Councillor Nagel made three very distinctive comments when stating his position on this issue.
First: Cochrane needs more “…rich people". Why? Are there too many 'poor' Cochranites; is it Council's job to establish some sort of social stratification? If you think that a handful of affluent people will immigrate to Cochrane and immediately pay off [your] 6 million rec centre shortfall; you’re are sorely mistaken.
Second: “… successful people” need options too [within Cochrane]. What? Last time I checked there are many, many ‘successful’ people who call Cochrane home. Or, did you just mean to say that Chocranites, generally, are unsuccessful? Just because these people would live in Cochrane doesn’t mean they will automatically bring with them their ‘successful’ commercial and industrial endeavours to the Town as well.
Thirdly: Cochrane would benefit from having “…people with money”. How? I have money, I pay my taxes. A bigger lot will not garner more taxes than a sub divided lot. Do you really think that ‘people with money’ want to live in a town that doesn’t plough it’s side streets for months in the winter or would they prefer to live in a rural setting and pay to have their access roads cleared; just saying.
I look forward to Coun. Nagel’s resignation from Council so that perhaps we can elect a poor, unsuccessful individual (who has no money) to represent the true interests of our community.
Robert King
