| It's an election year.
Maybe it's because I watch the affairs of city hall closer than most that I believe our municipal government is suffering from electile dysfunction. We elect 14 councillors (I’ve stopped calling them aldermen in the hope that they’ll do the same) and a mayor every three years. From the day after the 2001 civic election, the official campaign for re-election begins. Municipal councillors are entitled to fundraise the very first day following an election. And so the agenda is set and the decisions that follow are largely predictable.
Former Calgary Mayor Rod Sykes explained to me why this is a bad thing. Five days a week, council reviews issues vital to the interests of developers, corporations, land speculators, contractors and others. All the while, the election war chests remain open for donations. This allows a person doing business with the city to contribute to a political campaign hours or minutes before a decision is made by council.
Yet, the dates upon which contributions are given to council members are not publicly disclosed, nor are they required to be. There is no way for the public to know whether a politician's vote has been purchased. I'm not saying city council is crooked, but there is no way to verify that this is not so. While the financial deficit enslaves us, the lack of accountability and transparency has led to a moral deficit at city hall that is literally poisoning our city.
I have known concerned Calgarians who have, for years, sought to eliminate pesticide spraying in city parks, to stop non-essential fluoride from being added to our drinking water, and to decrease car travel to help reduce air pollution.
In each case, they have been outmanoeuvred by moneyed interests. Perhaps, shut out is a better way to describe the results. OK, they've been goose-egged.
The effects of lobbying by insiders, the rich and the powerful, is crippling and can be seen on a daily basis. The panhandler bylaw, the selling of public facility names to the highest bidder, the annexation and development of farm land, the aggressive pursuit of fuel taxes to build roads to connect suburbs where farms once existed, increased user fees, increased utility rates, increased vehicle allowances for politicians, the East Village wasteland, the bulldozing of Mewata Stadium and subsequent financial bailout of Shaw Millennium Park, and the annual rise in property taxes, all demonstrate council's inability or fear to say "No" to powerful lobbyists.
The persuasion exerted upon councillors, the increased complexity of our city, the workload placed upon civic employees and the failure to elect a council with vision and coherence, is leading our city into a vortex of financial ruin, opening greater opportunity for graft and corruption.
Only by shining light into the dark recesses of city hall, allowing greater information to be shared and demanding open processes might we be able to salvage a city worthy of habitation.
An example of this lack of transparency is the way the city guards information. Often, agendas and minutes are posted on the city's website. This is a good thing. Yet, more often than not, attachments (which contain the meat of a subject) are excluded. This also occurs in the agendas provided for citizens attending city council and committee meetings.
Council members regularly keep the essential information to themselves. If we are not given information, we're not likely to criticize, nor even question. It's that simple.
As the city becomes bigger, the need for citizen involvement becomes greater. An informed public is essential if we are to monitor the decisions of increasingly powerful public servants.
If we value democracy, if we value the importance of every single person, we must encourage a wider spectrum of the public to play a role in the governance of our community. Otherwise, we will foster a municipal government that does not care, does not hear, and is not concerned about the public welfare.
It is the welfare of our citizens, of our public areas, services and operations that need protection. There is no doubt a people's government must be pursued. As Patrick Watson noted in his epic television series, democracy is a struggle. |
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