Steve Rant - City of WL Deputy Mayor & Mackenzie Avenue

On Tuesday, WL Council is set to meet and one of the topics for discussion is the appointment of Acting Mayors for 2010. For the record, this is the recommendation from City of WL Staff on this subject:

That pursuant to the report of the Corporate Services / Records Management Coordinator dated November 25, 2009, Council designate Councillors as Acting Mayor for the calendar year 2010, pursuant to the following schedule:

January - Councillor Tom Barr
February - Councillor Geoff Bourdon
March - Councillor Natalie Montoya
April - Councillor Surinderpal Rathor
May - Councillor Laurie Walters
June - Councillor Sue Zacharias
July - Councillor Tom Barr
August - Councillor Geoff Bourdon
September - Councillor Natalie Montoya
October - Councillor Surinderpal Rathor
November - Councillor Laurie Walters
December - Councillor Sue Zacharias

I do not see any reference to Councillor Rathor being re-appointed as Deputy Mayor for 2010 and I believe that calls into question the sincerity of Mayor Cook's promise to make Councillor Rathor as Deputy Mayor of the City for the entire term.

Also, on Council's Agenda for Tuesday, Council will be considering a recommendation from Staff to give 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Reading to Bylaw #2108 - Mackenzie Avenue Rehabilitation Loan Authorization Bylaw which, if adopted, would permit Council to borrow "up to" $3.5 million for the re-paving of Mackenzie Avenue from where it meets with Highway 97 South (by Husky Gas Station) to Highway 97 North (the Connector)

I sent Brian Carruthers (City of WL CAO) two emails on this subject and he notes the following:

i) The degree of work on any given section of Mackenzie Avenue will depend on the condition of the pavement/base and susceptibility to future damage/failure.

ii) The Mackenzie Rehab and Pavement Management Plan are two separate projects. The Mackenzie feasibility study will take a comprehensive look at the entire length of Mackenzie, the current condition and what will be required to rehabilitate the road based on the failures it is experiencing. The Pavement Management Plan will provide direction with respect to priorities for repaving and reconstruction of our general road network in the municipality and will provide a longer strategy

I would note that while I concur with the above, it would be appropriate to involve the public somehow prior to work commencing on Mackenzie Avenue as I believe the public will legitimately ask for the City's long term vision for road repairs.

Also, with the state of the local economy the way it is - a demonstration to the public of a long term vision of how the rehabilitation of the entire Mackenzie Avenue length fits into the City's long term economic and strategic plans would be appropriate.

Again, if this is not done, this would call into question the legitimacy of Mayor Cook's comments in the fall of 2008 around how approval for long-term borrowing for the new Fire Hall was done and how she indicated that she would do better.

When running for office - it is always ok to criticize the current office holders for their actions, but what it is not ok is to criticize and then to do exactly what you say you wouldn't do. There is only one word for that - hypocrisy.