Stormy debate sinks WRCC saga
By dissolving Welland Recreational Canal Corp. and in tandem deciding to take over its duties, is the city council in over its head?
As time drifts on, will council be able to keep its head above water?
Wellanders are wondering about these and other matters in the days following the fateful council meeting of April 18, when WRCC, or what was left of it, was torpedoed by a recorded vote. It went down faster than the Titanic in a cut-short-by-the-mayor freewheeling discussion.
WRCC’s demise was being talked about in coffee klatches at the Tims I visit on occasion, no doubt other social networking outlets as well. Social networking in java joints pre-dates social media by eons it seems. It’s also more lively.
Anyone who lives here in our hometown knows WRCC spent much of its time in hot water in the past few years, at odds with elected officials in the previous city administration and the current as well. Most of this is water under the bridge at this late date so it is not my intention to make waves by bringing it back into public focus. Let it drift into murky waters, forever washed away, part of the flotsam and jetsam found throughout the seven seas.
But the toll of animosity over the years between the two sides clearly weighed heavily on some of the combatants. The depth of Ward 1 Coun. Mary Ann Grimaldi’s angst came through loud and clear when she said at the meeting: “I’m so tired of fighting over the WRCC in this council chamber.”
Oh dear. Let’s hope and pray post-traumatic stress disorder isn’t now taking a toll on our politicians, whose workloads are bound to increase even more with this newest cargo coming aboard our ship of state.
Coun. John Chiocchio of Ward 3 indicated a readiness on his part for armed hand-to-hand combat if need be: “It’s time to put a pitchfork in this,” he said.
Pitchfork? Hey, I admire the feisty councillor’s bravado with this pointed show of mano-a-mano ruggedness. The boxer Roberto Durán would be proud, too.
Always articulate in the council chamber, Chiochhio said WRCC and Welland International Flatwater Centre should be run under the City of Welland flag, according to this trusted newspaper’s report.
The flag imagery, of course, was more than enough to stoke the fires of this scribbler’s vivid imagination: Was that a skull and crossbones pennant I pictured flying high above our striking city hall, designed in the image of a ship? In dismembering WRCC and usurping its mandate, was an act of piracy about to be committed in the council chambers?
Of course, not all on council were in favour of taking such brazen action. Two of the opposed were Ward 2’s David McLeod and Ward 1’s Mark Carl. Both gave impressions of being adrift, maybe even lost at sea, due to the issue’s choppy waters.
Said McLeod: “I really don’t know where to start with this. We have a four-page document that suggests we dissolve the WRCC and I am confused as to how we got here.” Said Carl: “We had the public meetings, and I remember a great deal of discussion around the hybrid model and status quo. How did we get to dissolution?” How indeed! Am I to read into this that the Good Ship Welland sails the sometime stormy seas without as much as a compass for the crew? What we may be in need of here is some direction.
Discussion came to a rather abrupt halt due to intervention by Ward 5 Coun. Rocky Letourneau who asked for a recorded vote on city chief administrative officer Gary Long ’s recommendation. The newspaper report tells us councillors tried to raise points of privilege to allow for more discussion “but were shut down by Mayor Frank Campion, who said rules had to be followed.”
That of course meant the objecting councillors’ arguments were dead in the water. Campion, a still waters run deep kind of guy in my ship’s log, got in the last word. The plug was finally pulled on the WRCC. — Lifelong Welland resident Joe Barkovich has spent much of that time watching people. He continues to be amazed seeing the best and not so best in us, but that’s life. Get a glimpse of how Joe sees our part of the world in his weekly column. He can be reached at whererailsandwatermeet@gmail.com.