07-03-2018, 10:55 AM
(07-03-2018, 10:25 AM)creative Wrote: I'm fine with making this an election issue. I would also be in favour of this being a question on the ballot as long as everyone is prepared to accept the results and the opinion of the majority.
We live in a representative democracy, not a direct democracy. It shouldn't be a ballot issue.
But at the very minimum, "should city plow sidewalks" shouldn't be a ballot issue.
If you want a ballot issue that makes sense then "should clear sidewalks in winter be a priority for the city" could be one.
You're welcome to vote no to that. Once that passes (even all councillors who opposed the project claim to support that priority), then it is up to council, through their staff, to determine the most effective way to achieving that goal.
The point is, the first question is one of implementation, which should rarely, if ever be a ballot issue. Everyone here has plenty of opinions about what the best implementation to achieve clear sidewalks is, but most of us have little evidence. Why should those of us with opinions, and no evidence make the decision? We should be voting on priorities and goals only. Implementation should be driven by data and evidence, to achieve the goals (the second question) in the most efficient, cost effective manner.
What council has done is decided they don't want evidence to show their policy is effective, in fact, they are spending 130k (the cost of fully implementing pro-active bylaw enforcement) without any evidence whatsoever that spending that money is a good use of fund, nor any way to gather evidence of the efficacy of that spend after the fact.
It is a fiscally irresponsible policy.