Coun. Brian Skakun is up to his old tricks again by throwing city workers under the snow plow to boost his popularity.
He posted pictures on Facebook of snow removal equipment sitting at city yards in the early evening and made comments about what he saw.
If Skakun had bothered to check the city website, he would have found out that the afternoon, evening snow removal shift only uses six pieces of equipment, compared to the 21 working on the morning, early afternoon shift and the 22 that work the night shift.
Skakun insists he supports city workers but he's the first one to humiliate them to score some cheap political points in his desire to convince the public that it is he, not the mayor or the rest of his council colleagues, who cares most about city spending.
He later changed his tone on Facebook with the most half-hearted, insincere apology you'll ever read.
"I have been asked to not give the City Crews (sic) a hard time over the snow removal issue," he wrote "I have never given them a hard time and support the work they do. They only follow orders."
Wrong. He has given them a hard time before. Just last summer, he circulated a photo he took of a city crew doing some road maintenance on the Peden Hill portion of Ospika Boulevard and asked why this was happening since the whole section of road had been paved the year before. Only after he caused an online buzz did he bother to find out that the contractor's insurance was covering the minor repairs at no cost to the taxpayer.
Mayor Shari Green has only been a little better in her handling of the public outrage over (the lack of) timely snow removal.
A heated email exchange she had with a local resident writing to complain about the snow removal in her neighbourhood was circulated widely on Monday.
The conversation starts politely, with the resident asking for the mayor to revisit recent changes made to the city's snow removal policy. Green's cordial response points out that city council increased the snow removal budget this year, all of the city's equipment, plus available rental equipment, is working and the city's snowfall has been 50 per cent more than normal so far this winter.
The conversation falls off the rails from there.
"Our roads are horrifying, and regardless of how responsive you claim the city is being, it is not good enough," the resident wrote. "I have spoken with Brian Skakun and Lyn Hall tonight. Brian, in particular, has a very different story than you have told me with regards to how much equipment has been responding to the snow this winter. I would suggest you have a conversation with him, as he seems to have more information than you do."
Anyone who follow local politics knows the fastest way to raise the mayor's blood pressure is to tell her that Coun. Skakun is on the ball and she's not. Green's response is as shrill and strident as her first response was calm and respectful.
"I am well aware of what equipment is available and my statement is correct. Have there been mechanical repairs of equipment along the way this winter? Of course. Right now, every piece of equipment is working. That is what I said. Did work crews do their best? Well, you would have to ask their union president that, now that the contract is settled, their work seems to have improved. I would hate to think they used job action to receive a wage increase and put road safety in jeopardy to do it."
And so it goes, ending with a shot about "unrealistic expectations of some" while "others are thanking me for the city doing its best in a heavy snowfall."
Meanwhile, Coun. Cameron Stolz has been the cool-headed, rational one, offering useful information on his Facebook page instead of getting defensive or making political hay. He posted where the crews were working, which streets they'd be doing on the upcoming shift and the working status of the equipment. He also seems to be the only one suggesting long-term solutions, in this case attaching plow blades to garbage trucks, something he saw in New York.
Residents are concerned about streets in general and the streets they live and drive on in particular. They should share those concerns, firmly but politely, with city representatives. Venting at city staff and politicians won't clear the roads any faster, but neither will political grandstanding or getting mad and blaming everyone else.
