City Notebook: A forgivable tiff, or an irreparable fracture?

By COLLIN GALLANT on August 26, 2023.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

The peanut gallery at city hall is still digesting what happened in Monday’s city council meeting. But it’s clear a showdown between Mayor Linnsie Clark and the rest of city council is not peanuts at all.

After months of pointing to the council’s procedure bylaw as a key legislative priority in the mayor’s public crusade for better government and her somewhat scholarly obsession with protocol and process, it wound up with council stripping away the few special powers a mayor in Alberta enjoys.

Earlier in the night, all eight councillors acted together to shut down a line of questioning.

Some Hatters may see it as Clark continuing with a campaign pledge to hold administrators to account – she first gained popularity with the public promising to get to the bottom of how Invest Medicine Hat was operating, you may recall.

Hatters have a good strain of mistrust of so-dubbed “unelected bureaucrats,” but this was a few city managers since the election.

Many will look at the obvious fault line that appeared on Monday night as a potential reason for a perceived lack of action so far in the council term.

It’s not hard to name examples of all nine getting stuck in the mud on an issue.

However, it’s hard to see a path forward on a number of Clark’s top issues.

One would hope for some sort of civil conclusion to all this. Political fights have been known to disappear from time to time, if all parties agree.

But, if not, where does that leave “Strong Towns” – an issue clearly owned by the mayor? Or, her position for community rinks in a rec facilities planning report that’s to be debated on Monday night? Or, further organizational review? Or, a “wellness” initiative set to launch this fall to tackle social issues?

Frankly, growing numbers of Hatters wonder why all aren’t more advanced so close to the two-year anniversary of the 2021 election. Monday’s agenda also dealt with cats, deer and how councillors receive email.

And how about a utility review? Public backlash has simmered all year over rates since January. And the public just opened their bills in August.

Will any council member take over that issue and own it when it may be unwinnable at this point?

It’s not unprecedented. The event centre debate was concluded 10 years ago this month when Ald. Graham Kelly took it under his wing amidst the “under the bus” controversy that essentially sidelined Mayor Norm Boucher.

That’s the last time there was such an open disagreement between a mayor and rest of the table.

Of course, Hatters had lots of opinions of the council groups that so often cited their congeniality from 2013 to 2021.

See you Monday.

Clip and save

This edition features the last city advertisement detailing announcements, permit applications and official notices from the municipality. The city is ending the practice.

Weekend fare

Cooler weather is setting up a stellar series of weekend events in Medicine Hat and Area.

– Porchfest returns with live music at popup venues all over the Southeast Hills on Saturday afternoon;

– Ribfest takes over Final Bridge and First Street in front of city hall;

– The Battle Creek Massacre bicycle race, Saturday, in Elkwater;

– The Echodale Cornfest fundraiser takes place at the farm on Saturday, 3-7 p.m.

A look ahead

Council meets to hammer out priorities for the long-awaited recreation department’s long-term facilities plan on Monday in a council of the whole meeting.

A new report on the state of Medicine Hat’s roads, bridges and sewers is on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting of development and infrastructure committee.

100 years ago

Withholding documents and refusing newspaper requests by the UFA government was an affront to democracy, the News stated in an August 1923 editorial.

The stated reason for dismissing inquires from a variety of newspapers was officially described as a move to cost savings, but several United Farmer MLAs openly complained about press attempts to undermine the government.

“(It is) a reversion to the evasive tricks of an organization of political shysters and can not be too strongly condemned,” was the News’s position.

In District Court, Ronalane resident G. Dorohoy was charged $200 for operating a still.

Canvassing was underway in the Medicine Hat district for farmers to sign on to the wheat board agreement. The local branch of the United Farmers was having great success, the News reported, while the Chamber of Commerce lent support.

Meanwhile John MacFarland, the manager of the Alberta-Pacific Elevator Company, resigned from a provincial committee developing the pool stating the scheme would “never work.”

An Indiana cinema patron “died of laughter” at the mid-point of a silent feature, with the cause of death stated as “apoplexy caused by mirth.”

Collin Gallant covers city politics and a variety of topics for the News. Reach him at 403-528-5664 or via email at cgallant@medicinehatnews.com.