As a strong supporter of the need for a branch library I attended the city council’s meeting on Nov. 6 as I was interested in Councillor Sheena Hughes’ motion to rescind the borrowing by-law and to discontinue further planning for the branch library.
As a strong supporter of the need for a branch library I attended the city council’s meeting on Nov. 6 as I was interested in Councillor Sheena Hughes’ motion to rescind the borrowing by-law and to discontinue further planning for the branch library.
That discussion and debate was an eye opener and showed me why the George Cuff Municipal Inspection report pointed out some faults in the behaviour of some members of the previous city council. I found Councillor Sheena Hughes both disrespectful to colleagues and petulant and angry when she was not getting her way. Her motions did not pass, and she went off on a rant about how the present council, except for Ray Watkins, who voted with her, were not respecting the wishes of the people who voted “no” to the branch library in the plebiscite. She even used the word ‘hogwash’ to describe other council members’ opinions and remarks. As a member of the public watching this display of petulance, I was impressed with the other councillors, who offered their positions calmly and reasonably. Their message was that city administration will be putting out a comprehensive report in the second quarter of 2018 with details about capital expenditures and this was something that neither they nor the voting public knew about before the election. For that reason, they were delaying a decision on voting down the motion to rescind the borrowing by-law.
I thought it interesting that Councillor Hughes was so insistent that the ‘people had spoken’ in the plebiscite results and that council should follow the wishes of the people. She wanted to be sure that the public knew that the present council was not obeying the wishes of the people. Of course, Councillor Hughes neglected to mention that much of the information put out about the branch library and the dollar figures attached to it before the election was incorrect and could be considered misinformation. I am surprised that Councillor Hughes is so insistent that the plebiscite results be respected when campaign literature put out with her name on it says, when posing the question: “Does Council have to respect the plebiscite results? NO the next council is NOT FORCED to follow the plebiscite results. Many candidates are supportive of the branch library promotional campaign and constructing the branch after the election. The individuals YOU elect on October 16 will decide whether or not the library branch is built after the election.”
Talk about wanting your cake and eating it too! It is important to remember that five of seven city council members, including the mayor were voted in despite saying they understood that the library had a space issue and were in favour of working with the St. Albert Library Board to solve this very important issue facing the library.
In closing, I would remind Councillor Hughes that she still has four more years on council and she represents all of St. Albert, not just her base of “non-library” supporters and she needs to stop behaving like a child who has just had her favourite toy taken away.
Valerie Spink, St. Albert
