Don’t hold your breath waiting for transit satisfaction, if Veiner situation is any indication

It certainly feels like déjà vu. It was four years ago, Aug. 6, 2013, that Medicine Hat City Council, jut before the start of that year’s municipal election, was placating seniors. Now it is transit users.

“Fe fi fo fum we smell the blood of the alderman...” is the placard one senior held aloft at that council meeting, and it summed up the mood of the packed gallery.

“If the shovel is in the ground next spring (that would be spring 2014 — for a new Veiner Centre) please put up with the limitations that there are at Strathcona Centre,” said Ald. Graham Kelly that night.

Strathcona Centre was the temporary seniors’ centre after the flood made the Veiner Centre unusable.

The story in the News the following day recorded Ald. Robert Dumanowski asking seniors for a show of hands about whether they were in favour of repairs to the Veiner Centre or a new building in a new location. Two thirds of seniors voted for the latter.

“We will get this done,” said Dumanowski in the same story. “Seniors are the backbone of this community.”

“We are doing this for generations to come,” said Ald. Les Pearson.

Despite the best of intentions the shovel finally hit the ground in spring 2017. It is worth revisiting this information because of the current situation with transit.

It feels as though we have heard about transit changes to take place for the last year. During that time it was impossible to get any information about what the plans were. It felt like a big secret and transit users keep waiting for the day it would be revealed in an open house with a request for feedback from those who use the system. That did not happen.

In fact it is still not clear what was presented to council, behind closed doors, and whether any of the information was questioned and how thoroughly that was done. If the role of council is just to rubber stamp plans the city staff propose, than perhaps we need to question why we even need a council — just let the city get on with the job. City staff will no doubt be relieved to have the flip-flopping over and done with.

A lot has been made of the Financially Fit survey and the 3,000 people who ranked transit at the bottom of the list in terms of funding priorities.

It needs to be pointed out that the survey was not of transit users. It would be a little like standing outside Superstore and asking customers whether they felt we needed a Walmart in town. Most would say no. Stand outside Walmart, though, and ask shoppers if they want Walmart to stay the response would be overwhelmingly in favour.

That Financially Fit survey is also interesting in light of the survey conducted by the city in 2013 regarding the future of the Veiner Centre.

On Aug. 27, 2013, it was revealed there were 1,617 responses and 73 per cent wanted a new location for a seniors centre. Of that number, 41 per cent wanted a completely new building in a new location, 32 per cent wanted an existing building already in the community repurposed for seniors, and 27 per cent favoured the existing location. What did we end up going with four years later? The option that had the fewest votes.

What does that tell us about how the city and council respond to what the people say in surveys?

It also calls into question whether we will actually be returning to the old transit system, in spite of council’s vote on Monday. We have an election around the corner and that could be influencing everything.

(Gillian Slade is a News reporter. To comment on this and other editorials, go to www.medicinehatnews.com/opinions or call her at 403-528-8635.)