Read Between the Lines

Falling just shy of psychobabble, the Mayor's annual December message to Coldstream taxpayers more accurately portrays a raison d'etre for the bureaucracy in which this enclave's council is mired than a document that touches on the topics of paramount importance to residents.

"Psychobabble… a set of repetitive verbal formalities that kills off the very spontaneity, candor, and understanding it pretends to promote. It’s an idiom that reduces psychological insight to a collection of standardized observations that provides a frozen lexicon to deal with an infinite variety of problems."  (Rosen, 1975)

Not a word to justify why this mayor won't raise his hand and join Vernon Mayor Sawatzky in calling for a study on area amalgamation, not a word about community debt--or interest payments--of this community of ~10,000.   But it does placate residents who are decidedly stuck in the past.

So, what are the repetitive verbal formalities--smoke 'n mirrors--he relies on in his 996-word mealy-mouthed submission?  In no particular order:

"...new structure in...Sub-Regional; eastern and western halves; many of our industrial lands; replacement of separated; support facilities; result in many years of work; cooperation and support of local government partners; planned retirement; considerable experience; had to undertake another hiring process; attempt to explain only a few of the reasons; concerns and desire for change; undergone many changes; found ourselves involved in a function that lacked clarity; funded the service through taxation; contracted the operations; major partner in the service; contract was never signed nor agreed to; a point of concern; recent change; due to legislation; heightened these concerns; lost any significant voice; significant disparity; distribution of parks and facilities; ownership a mixed bag; but paid for; little say; were not even included; ownership or zoning; leased on yearly basis; could have been sold off; little or no input; become very complex; no clarity in ownership, responsibility, capacity or authority;  politicians had shied away from attempting to reorganize; immensity of the job; lack of cooperative relationships; initiated originally; resurrected; provided an opportunity; some of the problems; cooperation we now have; worked together; clean up many of the problems; evolved over the years; better alignment; realized that perfection is rarely achievable; set overall improvement as our goal; hoped that, moving forward; provide a more responsive, efficient service; service delivery."

Makes one wonder just who are the 25 people the Mayor is addressing.

Page three's listing of Parks and Recreation Services includes a comment of considerable note:  "With these major issues resolved, the District (of Coldstream) is moving full steam ahead with developing the service delivery model for the local parks the District will be taking over." 

"Maybe they bought a steam-driven mower," muses Kia.

Hot air continues to drive Coldstream.

Divisiveness reigns.