Letter To The Editor - Nov 23, 2007 - From Blair King - Top Down Management Style That Drives Me Batty

Editor's Note: This was a comment, not a letter from Blair King to Cllr. Richter's posting on the water issue. The content was so dead on about process and control that we decided to give it prominence as it hits on very valid points for all of us to mull over. Oh by the way the attached political cartoon is by this Editor, not Blair.

Kim,

The process you describe for input from the public and the Township sounds like a typical Provincial Gov’t, top down management style that drives me batty. They pick the experts and the panel and then put them to work. The public is deemed unqualified to supply useful input and therefore only lip service is paid to the public input stage. I’m surprised that Langley doesn’t have policies that would prevent this being forced down out throat this way. Especially in a situation like this where we will be taking the brunt of any new plan. I do understand, theoretically, where they are coming from in that this will be the model for other communities and so the BC gov’t wants their stamp on it but it is the Township of Langley that will pay if things go wrong and so the taxpayers of this region should be allowed a real say in the planning and implementation stages. To put a plan out there holus-bolus, then have two short open houses and finally expect the plan to be finalized less than 30 days thereafter (with a holiday like X-Mas fit in there) is simply ridiculous. I’ll bet that the comments from the open houses won’t even be collated in less than a couple days. Then the plan’s authors have to have a chance to read the input and consider it. Any changes to the plan, based on the public input, would then have to be considered by the committee as a whole, then run through the review process and finally the lawyers. To expect all this in under a month is beyond inane.

As for the public input set-up that is a farce. There should be open houses in more than one location and at more than one time period. Thursday nights are particularly bad for me and having the same limited hours on the same night in the same location over two weeks seems designed to discourage people who actually work for a living. Heck I seldom get out of work before 6 and then I have to get home for dinner and then it is time to get the little guy to bed. For an issue with these far-reaching consequences at least one open house should be on a weekend when it is easier for people to schedule to get there and the open houses should be in various locations in the Township to allow those who rely on transit or alternative means of transportation a chance to comment. This is a Township-wide plan and people from across the Township should have a chance to be heard.

Mind you this a regular concern of mine. Open houses in the Township seem designed to be convenient to Township Staff and hostile to the public. Does the Township not understand that maybe just some of the tax-paying population in Langley actually works for a living? They always seem to schedule open houses in undesirable locations at lousy times for those of us with employers who expect us to be at work during working hours!!!

Editor's Note: This is Part 2 on the WMP. See Kim's initial post at Part 1 and another post at part 3 on the WMP....