Peace River Public Transportation: Mixed Messages

The Support the Bus meeting on Monday night was an exciting show of community mobilization. Erin Steele has an informative overview ("Community rallies around bus issue") in this week's Record-Gazette, so I'll keep my comments to what I observed and what I've been thinking about since Monday night.

Beyond the courage it took for many of the people to get up and speak to a crowd of this size (bravo for them!), a number of things stood out for me: 

Cohesion: This is not yet a cohesive Council and might never be. There was no coherent message that told me these policy-makers had truly considered the pros and cons of this decision. Each person who spoke seemed to have a bit of the picture, but no one presented a full one. And the concerns I had back in October (Builder or Divider?) still hold true based on what I saw on Monday and in previous Council meetings.  

Mixed Messages: Mayor Mann started out his comments by saying that Council hadn't cancelled the bus service, but rather it was that the current contract wasn't working. I doubt this nuanced distinction was very comforting for the people in the audience who had just bared their vulnerabilities by describing how not having a bus would affect them. The comment raised the question in my mind as to whether Council or Town staff are negotiating with another provider? If so, let's hear about it, in the spirit of the "transparency" that we hear Mayor Mann wants to see (such as with the airport negotiations) and so people can stop worrying about April 1.

However, despite the Mayor's comment, others appear to support the decision to give notice on the contract solely from a financial perspective, saying that the service is too expensive for the number of people who ride it. Councillor Lafontaine said it "stood out like a sore thumb" when Council first reviewed the budget. If that's the case, why summarily cancel without going back to administration for other ideas, suggestions for creating efficiencies, etc.? The arena also stands out like a sore thumb when you look at what it costs, but it's unlikely that Council would decide to shut it down without checking first with staff and user groups. This seemingly hasty decision was done around the same time Council was busy getting rid of its highly competent CAO. She might have provided valuable guidance about how best to address the issue in a way that would not result in widespread public backlash.

But back to the question--which is it? Is it just a case of a contract that isn't working and that could perhaps be fixed so people will still have transportation on April 1, or it is a big ticket service that Council (or some of Council) isn't prepared to continue to support?

Where's the plan?  The decision to cancel the bus service (sorry, cancel the contract) appears to have been done with no plan in place and none developed since. If there IS a plan, it is not being communicated to those most interested—the riders, employers whose employees rely on the service and various service providers. And there was scant indication on Monday that Council cared much about what impact their decision will have on regular riders. Empathy and solutions were in short supply.

This decision was made quietly in December without any communication until mid-January. We heard the suggestion on Monday that a committee could be set up to secure funding and run the service. If Council thought that was a good idea, perhaps it could have directed Community Services to set up a consultation with stakeholders early in January. I find it discouraging to have this tossed back to volunteers in such a cavalier manner and with so little time left to plan.

Where is the professional guidance? Why is Council making this kind of decision apparently all on its own? Where was the involvement of the Town's professional staff? Has the Director of Community Services been completely sidelined in all of this? If she wasn't she invited by Council to speak to the issue on Monday, then why not?

Mayor Mann's comment that this council has experience in business and budgets and that it will “go through the budget line-by-line” showed an astonishing lack of understanding about the role of Council. In my world, this is called micro-management. Do the Mayor and councillors want to both govern and manage? That’s never a good mix.

The Town has qualified, professional staff whose job it is to plan and bring forward ideas and budgets for Council to consider and to take Council's ideas and figure out how to implement them. A municipality is a complex set of businesses from museums to recreation to water and sewer. Councillors are amateurs and they are part-time and ought not to be meddling in the day-to-day management of the corporate body. Their knowledge and expertise is far more suitably applied, with the help of staff, to high level thinking about future direction and priorities, reflected in the policies they set, not wasting their time and that of staff going though a budget line-by-line.

Who does the Town exist to serve? One councillor apparently said that "the taxpayers wouldn't like it" if the bus service was retained. Hmmm, does the municipality exist only to serve taxpayers? (And don't renters pay taxes indirectly?)

Mayor Mann referred several times throughout the evening to the "core business" of the Town. I agree that roads, sewer and water are important, but I'll remind him that people don't tend to move to a community or decide to set up a business because the place has great roads. The quality of life available to residents--those with money and those without--is a major factor in relocation. And good quality of life for all requires some spending as well as leadership from the municipality to build a diverse community that "fosters rich cultural, social, educational, and economic opportunities for ALL" and where "we take pride in our safe, healthy and environmentally friendly community where we live, play and work cooperatively with our neighbours" (Peace River Vision Statement, 2009).

Surely this Council doesn't intend to convey the message that Peace River really doesn't care about people who are not taxpayers! Unfortunately, this decision and the lack of follow-up to help those who rely on the service does tend to send out this message.

I hope I'm wrong, but I got the sense that Council has no intention to revisit this decision. Yet nothing much was offered to the concerned residents in attendance or those who signed the petition except platitudes about how hard it is to make choices and old ideas that toss the matter back to the community to solve (and with not enough time to do anything).

Is this what being fiscally conservative means--just cut and damn the consequences? It was a highly unsatisfying response from a group of smart men who ought to be able to do better than that. And I didn't once hear the Mayor ask his favourite question: "How can we help YOU?"

Peace River's Bus Service Cancellation: Petition locations & public meeting

If you're concerned about Council's decision in December to cancel the Peace River bus service, you have a few options:
  
Petition: This petition asks Town Council to revisit the decision, but is not one that will be legally-binding, since those take enormous effort because of the requirement for each signature to be witnessed and the witness swearing an affidavit. But the organizers hope it will give Council an indication of interest in the issue.

There are 32 petition locations. Here are a few--if you care about the loss of the service and are a resident of Peace River, be sure to make an effort to sign:

In the Downtown area:

• A&W
• Value Drug
• The Bargain Store
• Liquidation World
• Sagitawa Friendship Centre
• The Dollar Store

On the West Hill:

• No Frills
• IGA
• Shopper's Drug

In the North End:

• Sugar Plum Tree Daycare

Public Meeting: A public meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 31, 7:00 at the Belle Petroleum Centre. This is an accessible location (unlike Council Chambers). Transportation will be available. The organizers hope that Mayor and councillors will attend. People who are affected by the service cancellation will have the opportunity to speak to the issue, and all points of view will be welcome during this facilitated discussion. More details coming.

Peace River Town Council Signals New Direction: CAO, Transit, Airport, Fire Service

The minutes of December 13 and 20 are contained in the January 10 agenda package available on the Town's website. They signal how the new Council plans to distinguish itself from the former Council.

December 13, 2010
Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)
After a 2-hour in camera session, Council moved to accept Norma MacQuarrie's resignation on a "without cause" basis. In my limited experience, the term "without cause" has applied in the case of a dismissal (the recent firing of Stephen Duckett by Alberta Health Services is an example), not a resignation. To whom or what does "without cause" apply? Perhaps someone with HR experience can enlighten me.

The rest of the motion indicates that compensation will be "based on the CAO's employment contract." Will the public know the cost of Ms. MacQuarrie's leaving?

The CAO position is being advertised in the Record-Gazette and on the Municipal World Job Board. The ad indicates that Council is looking for a "dedicated, motivated, and dynamic professional" to join the team. As well "The successful candidate will be a leader with excellent communication and interpersonal skills that will promote strategic development and improvement of municipal services to create a vibrant and sustainable community. The individual will be responsible to provide leadership and direction to a staff of 62 full-time and 5 part-time employees." These are exactly the qualities of the highly competent and ethical CAO that the Town had, and who will be a very difficult act to follow.

December 20, 2010
After another 2-hour in camera session, three motions of significance resulted:
1. That a letter be drafted to the Airport Committee stating that, while the Town of Peace River is committed to a high level of regional cooperation, the newly elected council requires time to fully assess the proposed airport governance structure and would like to meet with the regional partners to help address the following concerns:
1) Governance model - “Society” vs. “Authority”
2) Operational Components - issues surrounding existing staff
3) Proposed memorandum of understanding with Northern Air Charter
4) Membership Agreement - one year commitments
5) Cost sharing formula
6) Alberta Health Services Building Location

Council wants to understand the implications of this regional cooperation initiative, which is important. But it also needs to have some trust in the previous work done to investigate governance models thoroughly and to negotiate on cost sharing. Most importantly, Peace River Council should not unnecessarily hold up this important process. It would be easy to lose momentum and leave the Town once again completely responsible for the airport, which is a significant cost to our taxpayers. Asking partners to share costs also means that power and control need to be shared.

2. That administration provide 90-days notice of termination to Napp ‘n Sons Ventures Ltd. with respect to cancelling the Peace River Transit Service effective March 31, 2011.
This is an extremely disappointing decision given the previous Council's decision to allow this innovative service a few years of stable funding to get established, build ridership, and establish an advertising base.

Questions that arise in my mind: 

• What evidence base did Council use to come to the decision?
• Was Community Services and the Community Services board consulted on this decision? If not, why not?
• Was Northern Lakes College consulted since it could affect the ability of its students to get to class? If not, why not?
• Were employers consulted who have employees that count on this service?
• How influential was the taxi company lobby in this decision?
• Has Council directed administration to identify other ways to help low income people get around this very inaccessible town? If not, why not? 
• Why was there no news release announcing this decision that affects so many people and explaining the rationale?

If you are concerned about this decision, let Community Services (780-624-1000) and Town Council know.


3. That administration contact the Town of Slave Lake and the Town of Hinton to determine the level of service provided by their fire departments and their annual fire department budget.
It's important that Council understand how other communities manage their fire services. Peace River's fire department has aspirations that may go beyond the Town's abilities to fund without cutting other important programs. I hope Council has already considered the comprehensive review the former Council undertook, which if I remember correctly, included comparatives with other small Alberta fire departments.

Why Sidewalks Are Important

Avi Friedman from McGill University is in town today and tomorrow with two of his architectural students to do consultations about tourism and downtown revitalization. I expect we'll hear a thing or two about community walkability along with many more thought-provoking ideas.

A new study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine that looked at data from 11,541 survey participants in 11 countries came to the conclusion, according to this article, that "those who live in an urban neighborhood are twice as likely to be physically active as those in the suburbs," with the most important factor being "accessibility to sidewalks."

The article goes on to say that the study found that "Those individuals who reported living in a city neighborhood with easy access to sidewalks were 15-50 percent more likely to get moderate-to vigorous activity at least five days a week for at least 30 minutes each day."

Peace River has lots of sidewalks as well as the paved paths along the dike and up the West Hill. This valley is so beautiful--let's take the time to savour it by walking, biking or taking the bus to work or activities, even just once in awhile. It's good for the environment and good for our bodies!

Peace River Museum Events: Pi Kennedy- A Métis Trapper & Mercy Flight Re-enactment

Pi Kennedy - A Métis Trapper
Local photographer, Stuart Barr, has collaborated with Libby Gunn of Fort Smith to produce a photography exhibit about another "life of Pi," in this case, Pi Kennedy, an 86-year-old trapper. The exhibit will run throughout February and March.

The opening gala (Thursday, February 5th, 6:30-8:00 PM) will feature an unedited documentary film and stories in conjunction with the regular storytelling event.

Wop May Mercy Flight Re-Enactment

We are awaiting the arrival of the Wop May Mercy Flight portion of the Spirit of Edmonton Project, honouring the 100th anniversary of aviation in Canada and Alberta and the 80th anniversary of the original mercy flight in 1929.

The date of arrival of the bi-plane in Peace River depends on weather and mechanical conditions and will be announced on the local radio station, via word of mouth and on the museum blog (http://peacerivermuseum.blogspot.com/).

The museum blog tells the story of the original flight and this article from the Edmonton Journal describes the whole project:

http://www.where.ca/edmonton/article_feature~listing_id~66.htm

Snow, Sidewalks & Goat Tracks

Walking around Peace River is a standard feature of my days because when I was elected to Council, I decided to walk to meetings whenever possible. So for two winters now, I've tromped through the snow and have become a lot more aware of which homes and businesses keep their sidewalks shovelled and which don't.

There is a house on my regular walking route that has been sale for two winters now and the sidewalks not cleaned. This results in what someone has called a "goat track," a narrow path that makes walking very challenging. If this was a side street where there is little pedestrian traffic, it would be less of an issue, but this is a major pedestrian route.

There is a large, empty building downtown where the owner has not made snow removal arrangements. A large store on 101st Street removes snow from one side, but not the other. More goat tracks.

It seems like time to look at a snow removal bylaw (it's surprising to me that the Town doesn't already have one). As the Complete Streets workshop I attended this winter reminded us, if people can't comfortably walk around town, it's going to be very difficult to get them out of their vehicles, whether for fitness or to reduce our carbon footprint.

A bylaw would need to be reasonable and manageable for residents and businesses (as well as for the Town itself). But with a bylaw, the Town could do more than just try to educate. Warnings could be issued to those who aren't clearing in a timely way and if the warning wasn't enough, then the Town could arrange for clearing and bill the owner. And we walkers would find winter life so much easier!

Complete Streets Workshop in Peace River

The Town of Peace River is co-sponsoring a free workshop on December 4 (Thursday) with Transport Canada and the Sustainable Alberta Association. Rebecca O'Brien, the Sustainable Alberta Association Program Director is the presenter.

We'll look at ways to evaluate and improve our sustainable transportation environment (walking, cycling and transit) and the day will include a short "walk-about."

Anyone who is interested in health, environmental and planning issues is encouraged to attend.

I'm attending and hope to see a large number of other participants there. What I'm particularly interested in learning about is how we can adapt principles that have been developed for large urban centres to a small town with the kind of geographic challenges that Peace River walkers and cyclers encounter.

For more information or to register, go to the Town of Peace River website.