I can’t help questioning some recent Council proposals:
· Push for lower residential density: Does council want to be known for opposing a moral and widely accepted principle that humans cannot continue to expand their earthly footprint as in the past? Does council want to be remembered for encouraging even more sprawl to one of the most inefficient communities imaginable? Is land an unlimited resource? Should there be no consideration for the ecological and economic inefficiency of providing services to a town addicted to low-density subdivisions?
· Making town salaries public: Good step toward better citizen understanding of where taxes are going. Council and administration have committed to idea that Town of Cochrane salaries should be in the top 40 per cent. Remember, the town compares itself only with other municipalities for staff salaries – and council pay, for that matter. So towns in the region follow each other in a continuous upward spiral. Council should ask for comparisons with the private sector. Town employees mostly do a good job but, compared to the private sector, are extremely well off.
· Bridge naming: Which veterans would we commemorate with Veterans’ Bridge? Would it be Canadians from the First and Second World Wars? How far back or how recent? We have a publicly-supported Cenotaph for the former. The proposed naming is a political statement. Why can’t we honour all those who have died in human conflict by calling it the Soldier and Civilian Sacrifice Bridge? How about Peace Bridge? Why not commemorate our First Nation peoples? Call it the Truth and Reconciliation Bridge. Please, don’t blindly rubberstamp “Veterans’ Bridge.”
· Skyrocketing emergency service costs: Thanks to councillors seeking more discussion, especially on the fire department. Town statistics showed just eight of 906 calls up to November 2017, were for residential fires. The rest were to accidents, medical emergencies or trivial matters. Can’t we better design services so that two-person fire crews don’t have to attend relatively minor incidents with a massive truck?
· Public transit: Why would council commission more studies, more consultants’ fees, and even a plebiscite to decide what to do about transit? Countless communities have managed to introduce this service and realized, that, although public transit isn’t cheap and although a majority of people won’t use it, it is a crucial, basic service for a significant minority – especially the young and elderly. Get on with it.
Andy Marshall
