Letter: Council showing contempt for residents by ignoring reality

By Letter to the Editor on June 20, 2024.

Dear editor,

If there was any doubt by citizens that Medicine Hat council’s antics have transcended simple incompetence and into sheer contempt for Hatters, Coun. Shila Sharps’ unbridled soliloquy attempting to portray city hall as the true victim should set them straight.

In her four-minute disgorgement at the last council meeting, Sharps at least portrayed a modicum of self-awareness in prefacing her comments by stating, “Some people aren’t going to like this.” But the fact this is coming from Sharps, a candidate who rode high on the wave of Hatters’ discontent with how city hall handled the Orka/Invest Medicine Hat scandal, should be seen as what it is: A complete and utter detachment from reality.

Hatters don’t require a degree in architecture to appreciate the designers of city hall wanting its main entrance to be open and welcoming, while placement of its media table in the chamber represents the physical embodiment of journalist’s oversight role in society. City hall’s main entrance is now barricaded from the public while the media have been relegated to the rafters.

Coun. Andy McGrogan’s portrayal of the discontent of Hatters being but from a noisy few shouldn’t outweigh the negligent behaviour taking place at city hall, and which seems determined to shift blame for their own inadequacies on the public.

In my opinion, this council is dangerous to the future of Medicine Hat and, as such, should not make any major moves until they either regain the confidence of Hatters or after the next election.

Alex McCuaig

Medicine Hat

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