This is so stupid, but we got what we voted for. It’s easy for the city to ticket cars on the street, but why will they not enforce their helmet bylaw, and how come I’ve never ever read where a bike rider got nailed for violating the traffic laws?

I look at Ospika. The Lac du Bois School, the Sally Ann, the funeral home, all of which have people parking along Ospika on a regular basis. This is a flippant decision. Will there also be plowing, sanding and maintaining these “bike lanes”. So silly

she seems to have a beef with cars, how about she make some fines up for the two wheelers who zig zag all over the roads or run down the sidewalks….

I would hope she has support as she already has city workers painting bike signs all over town…even before it has been debated by council

Guaranteed if she had kids in Lac de Bois, she wouldn’t be pushing for this. Parking is a nightmare around there, people in this city don’t need any more restrictions, enough is enough. Hey Jillian, why don’t you focus on some important issues in this city, and attract some business instead of sticking it to the people trying to pick their kids up from school?

I applaud Jillian Merrick for taking this on this issue. Too many dangerous situations are occurring due to parking in bike lanes. Bike lane parking on Ospika for soccer is an example of a complete hazard for many reasons. Bike to Work week and other cycling initiatives are fantastic but obvious problems with our road ways need to be fixed in order to increase safety for everyone.

What about the Joggers,perhaps we coud paint little stick figure joggers in the bike lanes also. Or maybe Jillian could push for Jogger lanes beside the bike lanes.

There is plenty of legal parking near the Ospika soccer fields for those who drive their kids to their soccer matches – it’s hazardous as all heck to drive past the fields when games are on, with dozens of people traipsing out on that busy street, carrying chairs, thermoses, kids, and various other paraphernalia. Keeping the streets safe for all the cyclists is important, and cutting down on all the cars in the Bowl is much appreciated by residents who can suffer through some pretty nasty air quality days. Well done, Councillor Merrick!

The city has put “no parking” signs all the way down 18th past the soccer fields so now people park on Ospika where there are no such signs. Remove the ones on 18th – at least down one side – and install them on Ospika and your problem is solved. Everyone can park even closer to the soccer field and is happy and bikers get their lane and they are happy

I think it is awesome for the bikers, people should have a little respect for others and quit blocking off the bike lanes! I would be very happy to see less accidents. Do any of the kids or fans bike to soccer? I have new bike lanes in front of my house and I see people parking and especially driving in them all the time, sheesh!

For the record, I don’t even own a bike, but the drivers in general in PG have to get out of the stone age with their thinking. It would help if traffic could also not cut across corners and try staying in the car lane most of the time! No wonder the road paint is wore off quickly. A lot of people have no clue where the passenger side of their vehicle is.

Veritas states “Bike lane parking on Ospika for soccer is an example of a complete hazard for many reasons.”
Give some real examples of how hazardous this is, not just conjecture.
And what about in the winter, no parking on Ospika for those attending hockey games?

Yep I see hordes of bikes out there, oh wait.

What about bike routes off the main streets? When riding my bike I stay off the main roads in most part and get around just fine. Off the main roads much more peaceful and relaxing.

Look at connecting bike routes off the main roads.

“she seems to have a beef with cars, how about she make some fines up for the two wheelers who zig zag all over the roads or run down the sidewalks…. ”

They are also known as street people. Fine them all you want, the ticket will never get paid. And since they ride their bikes right in front of the police station – on the side walk, clearly it’s not a high priority for law enforcement.

Myself, as a cyclist, I have mixed feelings. First, there will be no enforcement anyway. Drive through College Heights on any given day and see the number of vehicles that park half on the sidewalk, half on the road – never ticketed. Our by-law enforcement officers seem to spend their days tucked safely away in the RCMP tower making the odd trip out to Timmies to get everyone donuts.

Two less controversial solutions would be.

Signage all along Ospika that says “Cyclists, if bike lane blocked must use sidewalk.” Safer a bike/pedestrian collision that bike/car.

Or: “Cyclists Must use outside lane if bike lane blocked.” At least this tells the cars the cyclists aren’t being a**holes riding on the middle of the road, it’s the law. Keep in mind, when cyclist rides along parked cars, they need to stay about 5 feet out to avoid being doored, so they effectively have to block the outside traffic lane.

So those of you opposed to this proposal – need to accept dealing with cyclists on the sidewalk, or on the road where you’ll get slowed up a bit.

Or just put a big signs at the entrance to the city – PG is a car/truck town. Any other mode of transport – do so at your own risk.

Myself, I’m leaning toward Detoe44’s philosophy – get a mountain bike, ride in the forest where all you have to worry about is hitting trees, going over the side of a hill, getting bit by a dog – that’s never bit before according to the owner, or running into a bear – still safer than riding on PG roads.

Congrats to Jilian for following through on her campaign platform she is by far the most honest and active councillor in along time.

I cycle to work (and choose a route based on bike lanes that has less traffic than most)but would bike more if better safer way to do it. Why are people so opposed to safety?

I’ve had drivers try to hit me while I move (with the right of way) around parked cars in bike lanes. I can’t win under current system. The bike lanes are already there. She is just asking that they be enforcd. This is a change that’s been coming for years. There are lots of places to park around CN Centre that don’t include the bike lanes.

Don’t forget the park along Ospika, and the many weddings etc; that take place there. Plus Parkwood Seniors care home, that has overflow parking onto Ospika when there are special occasions.

We might be able to clear off Ospika for the bikers, however we will create a much more dangerous parking situation for other areas like schools etc;

Bottom line is that all day long as I drive around Prince George I see very few bikers. So where are they.???

If the idea is to bike into town and take a bus back why are they not doing this now. What about the 6 months of winter when we have no bikers.

Furthermore this town has very few people who use the sidewalks. They are conspicuous by their absence. So as I stated before, we have hundreds of kilometers of sidewalk not being used by pedestrians or bikers, and the bikers want to use the parking spaces to ride their bikes.

We need a bylaw that allows bikers to use the sidewalks in certain areas with the pedestrians having the right of way. This would solve the problem. Especially when you see how little the sidewalks are being used, and how few bikers there actually are in this town.

My guess is you would be hard pressed to come up with 200 people who ride their bikes on a regular basis.

While I do understand the issue of bikes passing parked cars and the potential for injury, the world is full of chances of injury. To dedicate that amount of space as no parking around PG does pose an issue for most areas and if I was a home owner who purchased a house on what is now potentially going to become a no parking block I would be upset about not being able to park in front of my house.

If you look at the Rainbow Park area, if there is no parking allowed in the bike lanes around the park, where are cars going to park ? There is often weddings or other events going on in the park and only street side parking. Is the city going to put in a parking lot ?

I support Jillian but in this case it is a need that isn’t a priority here in PG, without a total rethink of city streets and transportation priorities. A stop gap measure that is going to cost money with little gain.

Oh yes, now what about the scateboarders? too often, scateboarders navigate travelways like misguided missiles!
Do they stick to sashaying around sidewalk users or, heavens to betsy, will they be allowed to share the bike lanes? From what I have seen, it is likely scateboarders will interfere with bikers much more than cars and parked cars.
Let parked cars share the bike lanes!

@lbear First of all Ospika is a fast road way, having cars parked in the bike lane creates a bottle neck and obstructed view on busy soccer days, as drivers are turning onto 18th ave, especially since the City two years ago in a knee jerk decision shut down the 18th ave entrance to Rotary field and replaced it with the top corner entrance at Ospika and 18th. Large crowds of people trying to cross at the lights while cars are turning both right and left on to 18th to access the fields. The City needs to shut down bike lane parking, reopen the 18th entrance, highlight the cross walk and enforce the speed violators down 18th. Parking is ample in the exhibition parking lot as well as behind the Aqua center. It used to be that simple until the City threw a wrench into what worked and closed that 18th ave entrance, without looking to the obvious solution involving the RCMP and speed enforcement. As far as hockey games, plenty of parking in existing parking lots, I’ve heard people say they prefer parking in the bike lane merely for the convince of not having to deal with the slow exit out of the lots after games, or perhaps the City may allow parking on game days only.

Why pander to less than 1% of vehicle traffic? Why not do a count of how much the bike lanes are used before wasting so much money?

“We need a bylaw that allows bikers to use the sidewalks in certain areas with the pedestrians having the right of way.”

Totally agree. In these contentious areas this would be a better solution for all involved. The cyclists that this wouldn’t be acceptable to are the “road bikers” high end carbon fibre skinny wheel bikes that love smooth pavement – I’ve got one – I know. But for your every day commuter bike, the sidewalk is just fine.

This is from the MVA of BC

(2) A person operating a cycle

(a) must not ride on a sidewalk unless authorized by a bylaw made under section 124 or unless otherwise directed by a sign,

c) must, subject to paragraph (a), ride as near as practicable to the right side of the highway,

So, considering the risk of being doored, bikes must/not may, must ride down the middle of the outside lane on Ospika – legally – so how about we come up with a solution that makes sense like Palopus.

But be fair people – you want to keep your parking, then keep your hand off the horn, and keep a safe distance, if you get stuck following a bike – and BTW – lots of cyclists are carrying cameras now, so if you want to tailgate, smile, you may be sitting in traffic court explaining it.

I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to contact me directly on this issue. Lots of constructive conversations and interesting solutions to be had when people take the time to speak one-on-one with decision makers.

So many people upset about proposed change. How unfortunate.

Posters regularily criticize Merrick for the ideas she brings forth, yet I do not see other councillors publicly speaking out against these ideas. If you feel her suggestions are inappropriate, spend your time at council, contact the other councillors. But please, provide reasons beyond dislike and personal inconvenience.

Merrick appears to be the most active, driven and socially responsible councillor we have had in over 12 years. I am confident the negativity of opinion250 will not deter her from working to advance PG.

Editor’s note:
Just for clarification, this site has not been ‘opinion250’ for three years, just plain old 250News. While some comments may not favour Ms. Merrick’s proposal, 250News has not written anything ‘negative’ about her idea, rather, those who are commenting have presented opposing views.
-Elaine Macdonald-Meisner

Jillian, we are the decision makers, or at least should be.. Your statement bothers me immensely. You have barely had time to warm your chair in council and you seem to be power hungry.. You work for us.. Would be good if you remembered that.

If there were in fact a decision maker at City Hall, these bike lanes would have been cleared for bikes when they first painted the lines, hard to change habits now.
I applaud Heather Sapergia and the cycling club for the work they have done on this issue. Now, if we could get no parking signs along the length of Ospika, that would be great.

We have yet to see Merrick’s arguments in support of the motion as well as any response from administration if they were asked to respond.

What I am expecting is the above plus discussion by those present at the meeting with a direction to administration to respond to the motion.

As a backgrounder for this discussion City Council approved the Prince George Active Transportation Plan on October 17, 2011. The material relating to that can be viewed on line at princegeorge.ca/citybusiness/longrangeplanning/transportationplans/activetransportationplan/Pages/Default.aspx

It states: “The Plan makes a number of recommendations to Active Transportation standards and guidelines, infrastructure, as well as policies and programs. The Plan also outlines an implementation strategy that includes the adoption of standards, development of new infrastructure, implementation of policies and programs, as well as recommended funding levels.”

Note that the plan makes recommendations to standards, guidelines, infrastructure, policies and programs. Recommendations are one thing. I am looking for the approved 5 or more components.

When it comes to transportation plans, best practices dictates that actual as well as projected volumes of traffic, from pedestrians to trucks, should provide part of the foundation for determination of location as well as types of infrastructure. Also, that not only includes movement but also parking, whether benches for pedestrians, bike racks, stopping for vehicles and vehicle parking. While I have not had a thorough read of the material, I see no counts for current bicycle traffic, and certainly none based on seasonal demand or projected demand.

The City of Vancouver collects bicycle traffic counts at 4 locations since 2009 and reports the counts on a monthly basis. I think the average is about 600 a day/location, but that might be low.

Here is a “safe” bike lane in downtown Copenhagen. streets.mn/2013/09/10/life-in-the-green-lane/bike-lane-copenhagen.

It is time the issue is raised at City Hall. Like many things, a plan was prepared and approved, but has failed in its proper implementation. Now someone is asking for a quick fix to one aspect, and only one aspect of the plan because it happens to be the easy thing to do. However, I do not think it is the right thing to do.

The parking along Ospika in a number of locations is a symptom. We can guess at the reason. Banning parking there is reacting to the symptom. We need to react to the cause.

For instance, 18th ave between Ospika and Foothills is a derelict street. The sides of the roadway are totally unkempt. It should be a service road to the recreation facilities on both sides of the street. Instead, it has become an alternate connector to Ospika since Foothills has not been completed to connect to Ferry. If it were, the traffic on 18th would drop by at least 75%. The only reason why parking is not allowed along 18th is because the space between the edge of the road and the fences on both sides is “no man’s land”. Time to fix it up, then consider restricting parking on Ospika.

To repeat my mantra, we have no planning department and we have no respect for the concept of planning.

When did these “Bike Lanes” become Bike Lanes ?
As Far as I remember these “Bike Lanes” have always been Parking spots for vehicles.
Just because someone painted a “bicycle” in these lanes — does that make it a “Bike Lane” and under who’s authority ?
When Bikes need to be Licenced and Insured to be on the road–than they can have some rights.

“Lots of constructive conversations and interesting solutions to be had when people take the time to speak one-on-one with decision makers.”

An interesting comment, especially in the absence of acknowledging that public forums, whether on line or in a hall are also effective. In fact, I would say more effective because they speak of open government, not secret meetings behind closed doors on the phone.

“Merrick appears to be the most active, driven and socially responsible councillor we have had in over 12 years”

I recall someone else like that, Debora Munoz.

Those of you who think riding on sidewalks safer, take a look at the Bike Sense manual for BC.

“Several studies have proven that cyclists on sidewalks face a far greater collision risk than cyclists on the roadway. The main danger points are
driveways and street crossings where sidewalk cyclists surprise motorists and pedestrians by appearing from unexpected directions.”

http://www.bikesense.bc.ca/documents/bikesense.pdf

merrick power hungry?????….
I’ll agree with that….
but isn’t all our city council this term…..
will she listen to the people,
only those that agree with her I feel..

You are doing a great service for the biking public Ms. Merrick , thank you . If the gas burners can’t get with the program . The solution is concrete barriers like in Vancouver . Life is about give and take . Autos don’t own the road ways , we all do .

Oneofakind , we already have all the rights and responsibilities of a motor vehicle when biking on a public roadway . This argument of yours and others about paying for licensing and insurance is really a sad little nit you a picking at . None of that would even pay for painting lines on the roads . And I’m talking about your licence and insurance. Either of those taxes end up building roads .

I applaud Councilor Merrick for being proactive on the use of bike lanes. Sidewalks are for walking and bike lanes are for biking.

Just because you don’t see a biker while you are driving around does not mean that are none. Yesterday, in a small, unscientific snap shot, I noted how many cyclists I saw while standing at the bus stop in front of the 4 Seasons pool. In 15 minutes I saw 5, 4 of whom were wearing helmets and biking on the correct side of the road. Then I went over to the parking garage at the Cancer Centre/hospital and counted bikes in the bike lock up: 12. Last week at Spruceland beside Save On Foods, I counted 5 using the bike rack at the same time. Go to the Farmers’ Markets on Saturday and see how many people cycle there. There are 4 dedicated bike shops in town plus others who sell bikes. The sale of bikes and accessories seems to be thriving.

I predict that no parking in bike lanes will encourage even more people to use bikes as a preferred mode of transportation.

I guess in the winter time the city will be removing snow for these make believe bike lanes so the enormous biking community can use them in feb or a warm winter day? Of course not.

I biked to work for 25 years, and let me tell it was not very safe. A lot drivers just seen red with a biker being on the road. I wished they had a separate biking.. walking lake away from the traffic especially on the dangerous hart highway with all its curbs. Drivers attitudes have to change before biking can become safe, sooner or later it will have too. Unless they find some magic energy source

P Val wrote: “You work for us.. Would be good if you remembered that.”

Incorrect. I work for the community as a whole.

Sure I am all for it so long as all bike owners must register and obtain a bike license plate to be fastened on the bike so we can call them in when they ride like idiots. For those without a bike plate, seizure and sale of unlicensed bikes, if we are going to have rule and fines then it applies to both parties vehicles and bikes…period.

AM by Has. You just confirmed by statement that there are very few people who use bikes in Prince George. Especially on a regular basis.

I agree that sidewalks are for walking, but the problem is very few people in Prince George walk. You can drive for miles and never see anyone using the sidewalks outside the bowl area. If we are not going to use these (expensive) sidewalks for walking, then lets at least use them for bikes in those areas where biking conflicts with parking.

Prince George will never be a bike town. Its has to large of a land mass, and the population is spread out all over hells half acre.

Because of the distance people have to travel to and from work, bicycles don’t work for the majority of people. You would spend a couple of hours or more each day just going to and coming from work.

Lets remember where we live, and the conditions we live under. Trying to transplant Vancouver, Vancouver Island, or European culture and thinking into a town like Prince George just doesn’t work.

To repeat my mantra, we have no planning department and we have no respect for the concept of planning.

============================================================

In most modern communities efforts are made to get people out of their cars and reduce pollution in the community. So wake up to the real world and start planning for less traffic and more bikes.
Cheers

And I certainly hope that Counc. Merrick also fully endorses fining those bike riders who ride outside of the bike lanes into traffic. Last week on Foothills I had to move halfway over into the left lane for two more cyclists in racing gear who were riding outside of the bike lane. It seems that the bike lane is, for some of these cyclists, only there when they feel it is convenient for them.

And I also remember a point made by a cyclist a few months ago that the bike lanes are dangerous in places because of the gravel and sand that is on them.

So, Counc. Merrick, I hope that you also push strongly for regular cleaning of the bike lanes and regular enforcement of their usage by the RCMP.

In closing let me state that I am not against the bike lanes. I am, though against the (minority of) cyclists out there that feel they have the option of using or not using them as the so choose.

It’s just alittle strange that drivers are so worried about parking . No parking areas are typicly real money makers for their cities . Most bike lanes are tow zones . I don’t have the numbers for them but if EV charging stations are any indication. In the states some big cities make on average 16k per year per spot towing and ticketing ICE autos . I think that would put more money in the city coffers than licensing of cyclists .

This comment by Professional warrants repeating

Posted on Wednesday, August 26, 2015 @ 11:35 AM by Professional

Sure I am all for it so long as all bike owners must register and obtain a bike license plate to be fastened on the bike so we can call them in when they ride like idiots. For those without a bike plate, seizure and sale of unlicensed bikes, if we are going to have rule and fines then it applies to both parties vehicles and bikes…period.

Kids have gotten me back on the bike after years of driving. My biggest fear……..getting hit by a wayward moron looking at their cellphone. Not sure a white line will help.

Being DEAD Right is not the Way to start your Day! Defensive Driving gets you Home !

HabsFans wrote: “I am, though against the (minority of) cyclists out there that feel they have the option of using or not using them as they so choose.”

Actually, unlike car drivers, they do have that option. In fact, when the bike lanes end in this city, and there are lots of those, there is absolutely no instruction/signage available for both car drivers and bicyclists of how to handle themselves. There are tons of locations in this city where a bike lane abruptly ends and then there is nothingness. For those who are familiar with a route, they will have figured it out after a while. Those who are going along a new route, however have to either stop and figure it out or simply go ahead and ride wherever they can go in the most direct fashion. It is the latter situation which can end up in a crash. Those areas are unsafe. The thing is that we have so far had very few riders, so the probability of that crash happening is relatively low. Once ridership increases, those unsafe conditions will need some serious attention. In Bellingham they have started to mark such areas both by upright signs as well as street markings that the road ahead is used by both bicyclists and car drivers in the same traffic lane.

We have a lot to learn and work on. It is not quite as simple as putting some markings on what used to be a road shoulder for emergency stops, bus stops, stops by city vehicles emptying public garbage cans, households on arterials and collectors which are accessed by laneways but where the city has decided to pick up garbage on the arterial with the cans sitting in the bike lanes in the morning when commuters are biking to work.

One example. Fifth Avenue west of Ahbou has a wide shoulder right up to Foothills. It abruptly ends at Ahbou. Past Ahbou to the Bypass the street gets very busy with traffic rearranging itself to enter/exit Spruceland, to make a left onto HWY 97, to go straight on 5th and to go right on Central or the Bypass. The bicyclist has to either join the traffic lane or get off the bike and walk on the sidewalk. If they continue on 5th to go downtown, they are warned by a sign on the east of the bypass that they have to use 3rd Avenue. 5th is too narrow for a bike lane and I suppose that the City figures it slows down traffic too much if bikes use the same lane as cars. The sidewalk all along the rest of 5th is atrocious, narrow, obstructed by utility poles, etc.

This City has a lot of infrastructure work they need to do to make ALL “active” transportation routes safe for bikers, pedestrians, disabled on scooters, mothers with baby carriages, injured and elderly people who have some difficulty walking as well as seeing (blind/partially blind).

High time someone started the ball rolling to take an inventory of the state of the union. This by the seat of someone’s pants suggestions should no longer be tolerated.

We deserve professionals working on such issues.

I made one observation recently. If someone has a license suspended due to a DUI, one of the modes of transportation they can still use is a bicycle.

Also, I know of one such case where the fellow uses an electric scooter for which one does not need a license.

Why does every soccer player in this city have to play in the same spot. Only creates that much more congestion, lots of large empty spaces to have more fields. That would remove a lot of the chaos in this area.

P Val wrote: “You work for us.. Would be good if you remembered that.”

Incorrect. I work for the community as a whole.
——————————————-

Reactions like that remind me of Cameron Stolz.

“Why does every soccer player in this city have to play in the same spot.”

Because it is there and it is there because UNBC had too much expansive soil where they were building and needed to replace some of it with gravel for a stable foundation. They carted gravel from the soccer field area up the hill and brought the soil required for soccer fields down the hill. So the site prep contract for UNBC paid for part of the work, Rotary funded part of the project, and the City got some reasonably priced soccer fields out of the situation.

Further savings were had by shared use of washrooms, change areas, and pooled services such as lighting, less fences, better security (visibility), shared parking, etc.

There are other fields around such as DP Todd, College Heights, etc. But I do not see them used too often, if at all.

Gopg2015;
Councilor Merrick actually reminds me more of our former mayor than of Cameron Stolz! It seems that she has the same flippant attitude towards anyone who would dare disagree with with her.
Her arguing semantics in response to the “She works for us” comment is just a small example!
Happily, I didn’t vote for her last time! I’m sure she is losing votes with every flippant off the cuff comment that she makes so we probably won’t have to be overly concerned beyond this one term in office!

Palopu, my small snap shot was just that. It was not a survey over a long period of time. I just wanted to point out that yes, there are cyclists in Prince George. I could use your same argument with buses in PG. If I just looked at one or two individual buses, it might look like there was not much usage but over the course of last year, there was over 1 million rides. To gauge the number of cyclists, one would have to do counts at multiple locations over multiple times.

I was just past CNC and two of the bike racks at the front entrance were nearly full and the side one had bikes.

Sometimes, during the university year, there are cyclists lined up at 15th and Foothills, waiting to put their bikes on the buses going up the hill.

Try it. You might find it better than driving a gas sucking car or truck.

In the 90’s we lived on Parker. I had a 12 speed road bike that I road for exercise. I went out Parker to Tabor to 5th Ave to Foothills to Otway through Sterling sub to Ospica to MacDermid and to Parker. I did this ride for more then 10 years in the summer months. No bike lanes but found traffic very accommodating

On left turns I got into the traffic in the left turn slot. I rode most of the time away from the gutter where all the glass, tacks and debris would accumulate.
Cheers

Mrs Merrick: If you indeed work for the whole community…..why pander to the minority? Shouldn’t the opinions of the majority be taken more seriously?

I just walked home and most of the streets I was on had no cars on them at all. Better get rid of the streets cause no one is using them!

Ridiculous? Yep. At any given moment, any particular infrastructure or service in our community might be wel used or not used at all. That’s the way it goes in a community. It doesn’t mean that we don’t need those services.

And WHY are people so against cyclists ahveing a safe place to be???

Posted on Wednesday, August 26, 2015 @ 6:01 PM by Mercenary with a score of -1

Mrs Merrick: If you indeed work for the whole community…..why pander to the minority? Shouldn’t the opinions of the majority be taken more seriously?

———

Let’s face it, this is what she wants to do, it’s her pet project, it has nothing to do with what the majority or a small minority wants. This is self serving politics at it’s finest.

You work for the community as a whole do you Jillian? So you are concentrating on 500 or so of 85,000. And willing to spend $500,000 for their bike lanes.. So then to be fair to the community as a whole that equals out to $84,000,000 ish on the rest of us. Awesome. Can’t wait to see what you decide to spend that money on to help us drivers ;)

PVal you do know that all the kids under 16 only ride bikes . I think there are a few more kids than 500 . This isn’t about Ms. Merrick , this about the biking community , all kids under sixteen and safety for all .

“Mrs Merrick: If you indeed work for the whole community…..why pander to the minority? Shouldn’t the opinions of the majority be taken more seriously?
———
Let’s face it, this is what she wants to do, it’s her pet project, it has nothing to do with what the majority or a small minority wants. This is self serving politics at it’s finest.”

I speak not for Merrick, only myself… but I believe working for the community includes speaking up for those with many opinions and desires even if they may stray from the staus quo, the majority or the naive… i don’t believe our world has ever been improved by sticking to things simply because they are what we know.

I want decision makers who explore and advocate for change. Even when it may not be relevant to me. Even when it may challenge me.

Let us move forward.