In the old Mafia folklore, when the heads of the rival families needed to come to an agreement on an issue, they would all get together in private to come to a peaceful solution to their problem. Often, they would work together to split their empires up amongst themselves to avoid any future hostilities.
This Mafia Commission arrangement sure looks a lot like the one being used by our City of Calgary Aldermen these days!
In an attempt to save his own aldermanic seat ( or "Territory?" ) Ald. Andre ( Save my Job) Chabot refuses to accept the boundary map recommendations of the City Returning officer. I have written about Andre's reasoning here, which I think is pretty clear. Having rejected the democratic procedure, City Council voted with Chabot yesterday to take the matter to Aldermanic Committee, which essentially means that they will decide among themselves,(behind closed doors) just like the Old Mafia Commission!
While I understand that Chabot's crew may want to protect their "Turf" and not lose their "Territory" to a "rival" Alderman in 2010, the optics of this arrangement are just terrible. Behind closed doors, they will likely make Council "an offer they cannot refuse".
If City Council does not come clean on this issue and allow an independent body to implement the changes to ward boundaries, I hope the lot of them get what they deserve... unemployment in 2010 (aka..."Swimming with the fishes"!)
Sadly - it's just another example of politicians getting the wrong message. It's not about serving their constituents anymore, it's about getting elected and re-elected. The voter is just a means to and end..
ReplyDeleteI am extremely concerned about the direction of city council if they are choosing to set up their own boundaries. I am very glad you are writing about this on your blog because very few people care about this.
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