Pelham’s new Town Council was sworn into office back on November 21. Since that day, by our count there have been three regular business meetings, one ceremonial meeting, four training sessions, and one budget meeting. Councillors have addressed a number of planning issues, appointed some of its boards and commissions, elected a Deputy Mayor (for the first time ever), approved some corporate-level policies, and also tentatively green-lit about $11 million dollars in capital spending. This group has been pleasingly productive—all the more impressive given that none of the three new councillors had any prior experience in government.
It has been refreshing (though surely disappointing to popcorn manufacturers) to see that this council has so far adopted civility as a hallmark—no insult-comic zingers hurled at each other, no rolled eyeballs or snide grins, no demeaning of senior staff or front-line workers—and that councillors are actually making a concerted effort to work together and find common ground.
So why two steps forward and one back? There have been a couple of head-scratchers, puzzling, self-inflicted wounds.
First, the provisional approval of an up to $50,000, lighted crosswalk in Fenwick—not supported by traffic data—reeks of parochialism. It is clearly a knee-jerk response to anecdotal complaints from some residents, complaints that are, again, not supported by traffic science. This is why traffic counts are taken—so that actual evidence forms the basis of traffic engineering. Otherwise you end up with a crazy chicanes, and hay-bale roundabouts, and what late former Mayor Ron Leavens called “political stop signs.”
If you think it already takes too long to drive across town (and this will only get worse as our population increases), imagine how long it will take with speed limits dropped to 40 km/h and yet more crosswalks that aren’t justified.
Of course, traffic-calming measures near schools, long-term care and seniors facilities make sense and should be strictly enforced. But “traffic calming” spurred by NIMBYism makes us all spend more time in traffic, needlessly, emitting more exhaust into the atmosphere, needlessly.
Second, and more disappointingly, council went a little off the rails during their capital budget meeting last week. Rather than simply cutting the budgeted expenditure on engineering plans for a potential new town square opposite the MCC as being currently unnecessary—a position which we support; there are more urgent fish to fry—four councillors went to an extreme by way of a procedural vote to forbid—to forbid!—any further discussion whatsoever on the topic of a town square for the next four years.
Unbelievable. Unprecedented. The stuff of dictatorships.
For goodness sake, Town Council is already in charge. Town Council already gets to make all spending decisions. If Town Council doesn’t want to approve something—building a town square or buying an Airbus A320—no one can force them to do it.
But deliberately censoring discussion? Making it impossible to talk about something, especially at the start of their mandate? It's unnecessary, unwise, and starkly undemocratic.
Five councillors have essentially decided to stick their fingers in their ears and loudly talk about anything else. For the record: Councillors Wink, Ker, Niznik, Hildebrandt and Eckhardt voted in favour of self-muzzling, while Mayor Junkin and Councillor Olson voted against.
Now, councillors were sitting as a committee, not as council per se, so these decisions remain provisional—upon more sober reflection, they may be reconsidered when council next meets. We hope that both the unnecessary crosswalk and the self-censoring muzzling are recognized as repairable potholes on an otherwise smooth road of governance, and council’s journey proceeds without further bumps.
Otherwise we may be at the top of a slippery slope, waiting to see what else council decides it absolutely definitely doesn’t want to discuss over the next four years. Tree planting? Censored! Snow plowing deficiencies? Nein! Backyard chickens? Don’t even think about it.
The popcorn manufacturers are ready to gear-up production. Please, let’s not give them the pleasure.
Correction: We earlier included Councillor Brian Eckhardt among those who voted against self-muzzling. In fact, Eckhardt was among the five councillors who voted for it.
