What a cautionary action! What another unbelievable and outrageous waste of money and talent!
St Albert City Council is paying $25,000 plus of taxpayers’ dollars to outsource the strategic planning priorities sessions. Mayor Cathy Heron justifies this stating “city staff will bring their own plans (gasp! oh no!) … and their priorities are different from ours because they do not listen to the people like we do.” Therefore, three incumbent formerly all part-time and four brand new part-time council members apparently are supposedly better informed to set these important city priorities.
Without the annoying interference and informed ideas of the city staff, will the priorities really reflect St. Albert citizens or just the personal priorities of certain council members?
St. Albert city administrators are full-time and reportedly very well paid in the market to attract and retain the best people. Their full-time work is to understand and manage our city. Plus, I am sure they, and their many assistants, indeed do get an earful of positive and negative suggestions from citizens as that is their job.
This move shows an appalling and demoralizing lack of trust and value in staff’s qualifications, ongoing responsibilities, talents, work, expertise, professionalism, experienced opinions, and capabilities. Will this same disdained staff be really eagerly committed to implementing the new priorities, or remaining in St. Albert? Will there have to be additional external staff hired to oversee their work to ensure plans are done council’s way?
Some council members have already questioned the validity of the plebiscite results by the electors who cared enough to cast their ballot, and now they are questioning their administration’s abilities. Really? These are definite warning signs in these actions.
Judy Loutit, St. Albert
