Public Meeting on Core Review Report Goes Tuesday Night
Monday, November 12, 2012 @ 4:17 AM
Prince George, B.C. – Mayor Shari Green won’t be turning out to hear further what the public has to say about the Core Review report, but that isn’t putting a halt to public discussion.
A meeting Tuesday night at CNC will give city residents a chance to respond to the final Core Services Review report and share their community vision with the two members of City Council who say they’re interested in listening to those thoughts. Garth Frizzell and Brian Skakun had indicated they would attend the session. Mayor Green has stated “the community conversation around the opportunities has already occurred.” Councillor Cameron Stolz has called the meeting “misguided.” And Councillor Murry Krause isn’t attending because he feels council chambers are the best place to hold such a debate.
While the Mayor won’t go to the meeting to hear what taxpayers have to say, she has said she would receive feedback from it if, say, it was videotaped.
The public will have an opportunity to speak at the meeting. It runs from 6 to 10p.m. Tuesday night in the atrium at CNC.
Comments
looks like the mayor is afraid to meet with the tax payers, maybe it is time she left the office for good. oh and I dont mean another trip paid for by the same tax payers she wont meet with.
have a good day.
It sure appears that Shari Green is more interested in rubbing shoulders with politicians in higher places than she is in talking to the public on a core review she pushed through council.
The more I watch her performance at city hall the more it has become evident what her intentions are as mayor. Just another want a bee politician trying to climb the corporate political latter.
Try doing good things at city hall for recognition rather than showing provincial governments what you can get away with Shari.
This will be nothing more than a union yell fest, with rude members screaming at anything that jepordizes the unions monopoly. See bc rail and gst forums.
^^^ This.
“Councillor Cameron Stolz has called the meeting âmisguided”.
Strange thought coming from the Councillor who I consider to be himself “misguided”.
“This will be nothing more than a union yell fest, with rude members screaming at anything that jepordizes the unions monopoly. See bc rail and gst forums.”
Yep. I pity the person or persons who tries to get a word in edge wise.
“Mayor Green has stated âthe community conversation around the opportunities has already occurred.â”
One cannot control a conversation once it it has started. The converstaion is normally over when there is no one left to have a conversation.
This community conversation about the activities at City Hall may actually just be starting.
I just read the time….. 6 to 10…… WOW!!! That ought to be interesting to see how long it actually will last.
BUT, that is in sharp contrast to what happened with the converstations the Mayor is referring to – limited space, limited time, limited knowledge on the part of the facilitators, limited appreciation for the feedback received.
When one feels that their part of a converstaion has been heard and they have received adequate information from others who are part of the conversation, one leaves with a feeling of satisfaction.
When that does not happen, one tends to keep on conversing.
The conversation between City Hall and the Citizens of this City needs to continue as a true dialogue, not a monologue. If that ever happens in a meaningful way, this City is on the way to fix its problems. If not we will continue to waste away.
Mayor want-to-be Stolz calls a meeting of concerned tax payers “misguided” ? Who is misguided? Did he run in the last civic election on the platform of cutting services and selling off assets that belong to the good citizens of Prince George? No! – Did the elected Mayor Green, run on a platform of cutting services and selling assets of the good citizens of Prince George? No ! – Did any current council members run in the last civic election on the platform of cutting services, laying off employees and selling assets of the good citizens of Prince George?
No ! – So Mr. Stolz tell the good citizens of Prince George who is misguided! By the way Ms. Green you have no choice but to hear about the next meeting, it’s your civic duty as Mayor of this City!! Bravo to Brian and Garth – least we have someone on council that has some guts!
It seems pretty clear to me that Mayor Sherri Green thinks she is too good to deal with the citizens of PG.Here is a little piece of advice to our current Mayor.If you can’t deal with Ben Meisner/Opinion 250 and you can’t deal with unions and the citizens of PG,your political career will remain stagnant and you should only be a one term Mayor!
Consumer prices rose 1.2% in the 12 months to September.
Looked on the City’s website – next council meeting – and noticed the increases for the average person. Pretty scary when it appears that not one increase is below 3%.
Need to read carefully as some show say 3% while others say 3% yearly……
I can’t help wandering if the Core review was a smokescreen. It looks like it will be costing the citizens of our city a lot more even when it comes to Freedom of Information.
I think every paid councilor and mayor has an obligation to attend meetings like this whether they like what is going to be said or not. That is their job and that is what they got the big pay raise for. Its part of their fiduciary duty to the citizens they represent.
I say that the Core Review is a smoke screen.
I also say that those who think this meeting will be controlled by the Unions, etc; are just using that as an excuse to not go. Those who want will get 2 minutes more or less to speak, and there will be an independent moderator. I certainly dont agree 100% with the Unions, Management, Staff, etc; however I beleive they have a right to express thier opinions.
This is an opportunity for people to get out an express their opinions. So go for it.
Everyone in Prince George, City Managers, Staff, Unions, Police, Firemen, taxpayers, need to take a serious look at what is happening, and make their views and comments known.
If we just sit idly by and let them do what they please, then we are in for some serious problems down the road.
Well of course you must be correct in your assertion dow7500. I mean what level-headed citizen would want to go to a meeting and point out the glaring omissions in this core review, the muddied way in which it was presented and carried out, and the fact a council with apparent little forethought said, hey we have 350 thousand dollars we’re willing to spend on a core review. Now what are your bids? Brilliant. Notwithstanding the fact reviews in cities of comparable size were done for less than a third the cost.
Yup, everyone outside a union in this city should agree with this fine job done on the core review.
And what happened to Green’s openness in running the city. She doesn’t seem open to listening to the people who pay her bloated salary. If she was she’d be at the meeting. Bob and weave, bob and weave.
We already are in serious problems with this council. Current and some past council have a record of not listening to the regular people – only special interest groups to name one….
I look back at the neighborhoods of Haldi and BBK fiascoes, the Dike, a PAC to name a few.
I don’t care what a persons position is if they are working for the city – they are taxpayers. So saying it is going to be a witch session by Unions is your own smokescreen.
I’m not against people having a say democrat. I”m against disorderly
mean spirited displays. I was at an HST forum at UNBC and it was off the charts embarassing. Looking at the players on this one, I would expect nothing less. Council is the forum for debate with our elected offidials. If the general publc wants to attend a bitch session, so be it. I don’t see a need for the mayor and coucil to neal before an obvious ambush.
The Mayor and some Councillors dont seem to want to be at this meeting, however in the Mayors case she would like to get a copy of a tape if one is made.
None of them had any problem sitting in a public forum when they wanted to get elected.
The HST debates got a little acrimonius because the **Slick Willies** who had a vested interest in keeping this tax, tried to baffle the crowd with BS. As a result they were booed. Such is life.
Dont see how this meeting could be construed as an **ambush** when Council was asked to host a meeting and refused. Then when these people put on the meeting anyway, they invited Council and the Mayor to attend. Again most refused.
An ambush as I understand the meaning, is to hide and attack an unsuspecting foe. In his case everything is out in the open.
Sorry not everything. The Mayor and some Councillors went into hiding.
Being baffled by “slick Willie” is no resone for the tone of that forum. It was a joke the behavior there. If you think that “is life”. Sucks to be you.
The tone was in direct response to a Government bringing in a tax that they said they wouldnt. Then trying to get all thier buddies out to defend them.
If you are going to push the people around, lie and connive, then you better be prepared for some **blow back**.
All Governments (contrary to some opinions) have a responsibility to be honest and open as much as possible with their constituents.
We are now in the process of the Core Review and all the vested interest parties will be up in arms to protect thier interests, which is understandable. The problem is that at the end of the day it will be the taxpayers who will get it in the ear. Who speaks for them????
If City Management, Councillors, and Unions, and Staff, continue to protect thier own interests over and above the interests of those who pay thier salaries, they are setting themselves up for some serious dialogue with taxpayers in the future.
The days of Wine and Roses are over.
I have no problem with dialouge, but keep it civil.
No one said it wasn’t going to be civil, and no one said it was going to be an ambush, dow. Don’t pre-suppose.
As Palopu pointed out, those who sought public office had no problem going to public meetings before the election and in some cases, bending reality (being kind) to get elected.
There are citizens who have valid concerns to express about the services of this city and seeing as they are the people who pay the bill, they deserve to have their say.
The people who went to the citizens to get elected should at least have the courtesy to hear what the citizens have to say and if it turns out some of those thoughts are in opposition to what the review and council say, then they should have the fortitude to turn out and listen to the discussion.
Judging by some of the decisions of this council its members have certainly made some glaring errors and may even be able to learn a few things which will make the city function much more effectively than is now the case. Or do they know it all?
If you think that this is a forum for concerned citizens so be it. We’ll see. I suspect its a union forum and the union does not represent concerned citizens, they represent their members.
I think that everyone who speaks should identify their affiliation.
While those who work for the City have every right to speak and vote as citizens of this community, they do have a special interest with respect to an objective evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization they work for.
In fact, in my opinion, that interest is a conflict.
People who have conflicts of interest with respect to a matter under discussion ought to identify that and remove themselves in any decision making process.
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