Both sides of the city council riff have behaved in disappointing ways

Dear editor,

The last few weeks have been very disappointing watching the events with the city council. When all the elected candidates were running in the election, they all spoke of how they would work together and eliminate the problems of the previous administrations.

It appears that what we now are witnessing is a lack of any kind of leadership. There are great problems on both sides of the current situation, and both seem to have decided their way is right. The mayor wanted to achieve more transparency, which is commendable, but where is the co-operation with the rest of the council?

If the event of Aug. 21, 2023 was not meant to be a public showdown, why did the mayor come prepared with an outsourced legal opinion? Should this not be a topic that should try to be resolved behind the scenes, what is the benefit of working it out in public?

On the council side, after viewing the events of Aug. 21, how were the repercussions they delivered deserving of the action? When questioned about this, the collective response is, “It has been some time coming,” and, “People inside city hall know.”

If this is true, why was no action taken earlier to mitigate any future damage? The city needs someone in this mess to stand up and be a leader in supporting the citizens of Medicine Hat. A leader is a person who has a vision, shares it and asks for input while enabling others to achieve the common goal, not just trying to get their own way.

The longer this situation continues, the more damage that will occur.

Alan Rose Medicine Hat