Archive for the ‘Focus – Vision Within View’ Category

There are rules in place for land-use, there should be common sense courtesy in place for land use, there used to be a committee that monitored these rules and maintained courtesies. In all reality at this point in time no land without a building  is safe in St. Albert and now there are even plans to build on top of existing buildings. By the simple stroke of a pen in a routine weekly meeting, peoples lives and neighborhoods are changed without the slightest regard from those changing the rules. There are many who have a lifetime invested in St. Albert yet it is outsiders that seek direct control of what they do in St. Albert. By allowing direct control, Council removes all control from it’s own citizens. Only fools give up control of their own land, only fools stop protecting their citizens interests and only fools can be fooled.

Every week with most every new Bylaw there comes a cost to the residents of St. Albert. Visionary ways to rob the people of their hard earned dollars. Each week many people work harder yet get further behind. Most are working while Bylaws are being made.It is beyond frustrating to watch a council dictate one bylaw after another to a city that they are just not listening to. Oh my, the repair work that will have to be done. Taxes, ever increasing garbage collection fees, fees for building recreational facilities and then more fees to use them. Fines for riding your bike, fines for starting your car, fines for having a bon-fire in your own back yard, fines for speeding, fines for stopping, fines for noise and it is still not enough(they need more). They want to fine us more. One would think, that if you stayed locked up inside your home( although you could not avoid the taxes), you could avoid the fees and fines. This is still not a guarantee, for you should check your property daily in the case of graffiti, or they will get you with a fine. The costs are not slowing down, they are masterfully reproducing. On the plus side, fee and fine bylaws can be adjusted or eliminated. What I am deeply concerned with is council giving away the farm to considered builders/ slash developers. There are some things that you just can’t get back, but I won’t even go there at this time.

Today I will ad some substance to working together for positive solutions. Consulting with established communities before planned development, communicating with the public more readily with regular question and answer(not only at election time), gathering more public opinion and working for what the people want rather than telling the people what they want. Council meetings, community meetings, development debates, and growth planning has all become very negative. Council is most often working against the community and positive solutions are never found. Every issue seems to be about someone winning and another losing(usually the regular citizens).  If council was in tuned with what the people want, positive solutions for St. Albert could be established from the get go. No protests, no consultants, no pressure, no anger and no wasted time and money. I see the Mayors responsilbility as more working with the people(working together). There are always outside influences and at this point in time I see more outside influences controlling what goes on in St. Albert. This does not have to be the case. We all know what we would like St. Albert to hold onto and we all know what change we would see as positive. There is a huge amount of sustance in St. Albert, known as its citizen’s. There is a whole lot planned for St. Albert that I would call negative as well as band-aids, not solutions. We need a positive solution for Servus place panning out, we need a positive solution for clean-up of St. Albert, we need a positive solution for affordable housing where someone else isn’t paying a price for it, we need a positive solution for addressing our tax issues,we need positive growth planning. One Mayor and one council not working together with the people of St. Albert will never find positive solutions.

Emotions are growing on the election front. I am seeing much more disagreement and emotion surrounding  election issues. It is good to have passion for what you believe. I think that it is very important for those placed in a position of trust by the people, to keep their decisions rational rather than emotional. We have to take a rational approach to the present as well as the future. It is sometimes difficult to not get emotional about something as you see it coming to be, but remaining rational must be the key. We cannot get excited about change just for the sake of change. Even though present can seem more concrete and long term plans somewhat abstract it is important to remain rational concerning both. I believe in having a well thought out rational plan and following through on the plan. To become emotional about a plan along the way can often throw things out of perspective. It is my thought that if a plan is causing many to become very emotional it is not a rational plan. There are currently far too many plans in place for St. Albert that are just not rational. We need to set our emotions aside and create some rational solutions for St. Albert.

We are all aware that there is a shortage of doctors in our country. Seniors, particularity those who have chosen to retire in St. Albert have mentioned not being able to find a doctor. Young families new to St. Albert mention not being able to find a doctor for their children.I would like to see a little preventative medicine brought into place to help with the load of existing doctors.I would also like to see St. Albert become a community that would attract alternative health measures specialists. The greenest cities are not surprisingly some of the healthiest cities as well. Focusing on becoming a community that has businesses that promote healthy fresh foods and restaurants, healthy environmental options and alternative relaxation options would also create a healthier population. We could  encourage many outdoor activity options, whether they be sports, leisure or entertainment. Healthy social and lifestyle choices  can have a huge benefit towards many health concerns. I also believe a city that focuses in this direction would probably look pretty attractive to doctors of many types.

With many of the planned directions for St. Albert a lot of repair work will be required. We will start with DARP, I have not met a single individual in speaking with the people of St. Albert who want high-rise buildings in downtown St. Albert, I have also not met a person who thinks underground public parking in downtown is a good idea, I have met many who are concerned about their current building, business or future in downtown and many who are concerned with the state of the river and what affects the downtown plan will have on it. The Downtown plan has to have an order of affordability and restriction on height of buildings much lower than the DARP plan. If Habitat is to build in St. Albert they should be doing it on a piece of land that is zoned for housing, not a school or park area. If this huge growth everyone seems to be predicting for St. Albert comes to be, we will need more schools. Building new Green Schools on these lands at some point would be the way to go in my eyes. The community surrounding these long time vacant school lands has a stand and rights that are being ignored. Northern development plans where Leapfrog development is a concern need to be scrutinized very carefully. We need some land-use watchdogs in St. Albert and we need to stop breaking rules to accommodate for the sake of what we think might be a future dollar. Our land and city needs to be protected because repair might not always be an option. WE need to plan what the MAJORITY of St. Albertans want.

Who is protecting the peoples investment in St. Albert and who is protecting St. Albert itself? I am becoming deeply concerned with the haste at which things are being passed through or by city hall so close to election.  Allowing Habitat their way, supporting DARP, not sticking to the rules on development. By some of the comments offered about St. Albert by outside investors, builders, etc., a definite lack of respect is being shown to both the people and the city. It is as if we are being viewed as a city where anything goes. I am not sure if giving everything the OK is an attempt to show something(anything) being accomplished or more an attempt at vandalizing in the case of eviction. The city needs to adhere to the rules that were put in place to protect and preserve St. Albert. St. Albert needs to stand strong in a planned and sustainable direction. We have the right and the responsibility to call the shots. We have a lot of value to protect, the kind of value that cannot be taken back once it is given up.

The last few days I have been listening to a lot of different people. Many have concerns for St. Albert and where it is going. Many also mention loving St. Albert and all of it’s beauty. I think the reason so many mention the beauty of St. Albert is because it is dear to them. People want solutions to a lot of minor things, which I believe to be easy fixes if we just use common sense, but in all reality the most basic concern to St. Albertans is the expense of living in St. Albert. All of the current issues on the table in St. Albert are supposed attempts at lessening expenses in St. Albert but are in turn expenses themselves. Most anyone you sit down with knows what St. Albert needs, it’s just a matter of making it happen. We need lower taxes and affordable services and everyone is painfully aware. Some sides argue you have to spend money to make money, other sides argue that you have to not spend to save money. It’s all about money and making St. Albert affordable for all to live in. I see lots of plans and promises by so many individuals, but I see very little common ground. What St. Albert has to find is a sensible common direction and stick to it. Even in deciding who I will vote for at election time, I will take great effort to choose those who in all of their common sense have the most common ground with what the people of St. Albert truly want. I believe the people of St. Albert don’t want to change their whole identity, they just simply want to be able to afford St. Albert and continue to enjoy the city for the beautiful city it is, at least that’s what the people are telling me.

Every couple of years the focus words change. Trainers of all types whether it be innovative, management, sales or motivation all jump on the word of the day and you hear the word until you are tired of hearing the word. We’ve all been through paradigm, innovate, diverse, brainstorm, think outside of the box, conceptual. Today’s word seems to be Vibrant. Canada wants a vibrant north, every city is looking for a vibrant downtown , we all want vibrant communities. Evolution is based on continued improvement of that which already works. So often we get so pumped up and involved with the words of the day that we forget to use the common sense in all of these words to create, grow and preserve and as well hang on to what works. We must look into plans that work with what already works. Planned development, growth and change should all enhance the core values that work. If you destroy core values for the sake of change you do not evolve, you cease to exist. I would love to see St. Albert embrace the latest technologies and design to enhance all that we have that works, who knows we might still end up vibrant.

I spent the afternoon in downtown Edmonton today. As we are driving my son is counting the stories on all of the buildings, we are both hoping St. Albert never looks like that. Lots of people(more than I ever remembered seeing prior) pushing buggies filled with bags of empty cans and bottles. The streets are busy and dirty, I guess the smoke in the air today didn’t help with the picture as well. Lot’s of traffic, lots of noise. I was very happy driving back into St. Albert again, seeing the hills, all of the green. We are so blessed to live in St. Albert, I hope we find a way to take care of what we have. We are truly a beautiful city.