ROTHENBURGER – City Hall needs to up its game on AAP communications

WHATEVER IT IS the City is doing to inform people about the Build Kamloops money decision, it’s going to have to do better. People are simply too confused about it, if they know about it at all.

I heard Coun. Bill Sarai on the radio the other day decrying some of the negative discussion out there, and the conspiracy theories being bruited about.

He’s right about some of the suspicion and exaggeration. I keep seeing references to fears that City Hall staff will shred response forms instead of counting them, in order to deny the public a proper opportunity to oppose the projects. That might be the most exaggerated of the conspiracy theories out there but it illustrates how strongly some people feel about the alternative approval process.

It’s entirely legitimate to oppose the Build Kamloops projects, as well as the process, but critics should stick to facts rather than embellishing their complaints with idle speculation and conspiracy theories.

And they should be willing to stand up and be counted. Many of them do just that but one group urging a no “vote” in the alternative approval process declines to identify who’s behind it. That’s a very strange approach. How can you believe in something but lack the courage to put your name to your words?

More importantly is the obvious fact that many, many people just don’t understand what’s going on. They think the entire Build Kamloops proposal is up for a single vote. It’s not, of course — there are two borrowing bylaws. Residents can support borrowing for the performing arts centre, the ice complex, or both.

But they don’t know about the forms, or how to get them, or how to vote yes or no on them. The forms, of course, are only used if an elector opposes one or the other project.

I heard from one resident who went to the City Hall reception desk to ask for “No” forms.

“I asked for three forms for me and a couple of friends. The receptionist handed me three forms and off I went. Only to discover later, through social media postings, that two forms are required to be signed for our no vote to count.”

Clearly, this is the sort of thing that needs to be fixed. First of all, again, the two forms are for two parts of the project. You can sign and return both, one of them, or neither. The City Hall receptionist needs to be providing clarity on that.

Look, I’ve said before the AAP is the wrong process, but it is exactly what it is. It’s a process that needs careful explaining.

Where’s all the media advertising, the open houses, the flyers, the daily reminders and explanations? One open house and a ‘Celebration of the Arts’ and a Q&A on the City’s web page certainly help but they’re not nearly enough. The proposals and process should be put in front of us each and every day, with reminders about how to obtain the forms and the 4 p.m., Sept. 13 deadline for returning them.

Coun. Mike O’Reilly said Wednesday the current communications strategy is “what the committee decided,” as if that makes everything OK.

When the decision is made, surely we should all want to feel good about it. If the projects fail, well, at least the best effort was made. If one or both succeed, don’t we want to feel assured that the community really, truly wanted them, not that they slid through unnoticed?

A sultry, sleepy summer is quickly drawing to a close and the Sept. 13 deadline for returning forms will be upon us before we know it. If 10 per cent of electors say no, the projects aren’t dead. They simply must go to a referendum, where voters will have a traditional opportunity to say yes or no.

Granted, the responsibility for communication on the issue goes beyond City Hall. Electors have a duty to inform themselves, and to demand information if they feel they aren’t getting it. City council has a duty to listen to residents when they come to council meetings asking questions. And the media need to put more focus on the situation, with correct information. (I saw a column on CFJC Today recently that mistakenly said there’s only one form for both borrowing bylaws.) But the foremost responsibility is with City Hall.

Between now and the deadline, the communications need to be dramatically stepped up.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.