The hot button topic of late has been the road conditions and whether or not every piece of available equipment was on the road. First off lets get the facts while this may seem to be an abnormal winter, historically this has been a normal and regular occurrence since P.G. was first settled so nothing new there, however the freeze-thaw cycle this year is well above normal. The city unions were in a contract dispute with the city and there was definitely a decline in road maintenance due to the strife. People use Kelowna and Kamloops as examples of good road clearing however this is a false representation as P.G., the only major city in B.C. to get large amounts of snow, so snow clearing is a bigger issue than any other big city in B.C. so in many respects we are unique.
It is also known that the city has done a lousy job on public relations concerning the city streets and snow clearing/removal and whenever I asked at city hall I was almost always directed to the website to get information there, which is extremely difficult for the average person to navigate at the best of times. Also some areas did not get roads plowed until after the third heavy snowfall making the roads virtually impassable in those areas. Add to that many of the sidewalks all over are currently unusable due to thick ice, no gravel or salt and pedestrians are being forced to use the roads which brings up a whole other issue.
My question for the city council is "Why is the vast majority of city council quiet with only three councillors asking questions, and why is the rest of the council staying silent?" Use whatever excuse you want. You were voted in by the people of the city to represent them yet you have remained by and large silent in the eyes of the public and that does not bode well for you. Why have the city managers not been held accountable over snow clearing? Why do we virtually get everything from social media about city issues instead of from city hall? There are way to many whys and not enough answers. So the ball is in your court mayor and council.
Dean Soiland
Prince George
