Banff’s hoteliers are giving local politicians a favourable review for their performance in the second quarter of 2011.
It’s the second council scorecard since the October municipal election, in which Banff Lake Louise Hotel Motel Association (BLLHMA) considers whether council’s votes generally reflect its policy positions.
“On balance, it’s a favourable review of how council looked at issues from the perspective of the commercial sector,” said Darren Reeder, the group’s executive director.
“There is increased communication and a willingness to understand what business needs.”
While most of council’s decisions received positive feedback, the issue of proposed regulation of franchises in the townsite was met with opposition from hoteliers.
Specifically, council was given poor marks for voting to seek legal advice on whether they could implement legally defensible regulations to control franchise restaurants.
Reeder said BLLHMA believes council is doing its due diligence in what it can and cannot do to create or enforce regulations surrounding franchises and chains.
“However, the issue for the BLLHMA remains: why does council feel the need to impose further business regulation in a down economy?” he said.
“Unless council can demonstrate the economic benefits and tradeoffs associated with regulatory intervention, decisions could be made today that have unintended consequences for the commercial sector down the road.”
Individual councillors are marked with favourable checkmarks, or red Xs, which indicates how mayor and council voted on issues from March 14 to June 27 that did or did not reflect BLLHMA’s views.
With the exception of Councillor Chip Olver, they were also given a bad rating for their decision to provide garbage hauling and janitorial services to Parks Canada in Banff National Park.
Parks Canada decided to sole-source the contract after using a private firm for the previous 13 years.
Reeder said the Town of Banff should have stayed on the sidelines until a public tender process confirmed whether there were any other interested parties.
“Council should have stepped aside and allowed the public tender process to confirm whether or not a private operator had the capacity to respond to this opportunity before proceeding with negotiations with Parks Canada,” he said.
Council’s performance is also measured against its own list of strategic priorities.
They received good grades for financial and operational performances, visitor experience initiatives, as well as for policy and government, with the exception of proposed franchise regulations.
A top mark of A was awarded for the municipality’s delivery of municipal services and work on a sustainable public transportation system.
Council’s work and decisions on waste diversion and reduction, as well as the land use bylaw and diversification of revenue streams, earned them a B.
Reeder said the B grade for the land use bylaw is a reflection that no decisions have been made yet.
“It’s a reflection that council hasn’t got into the minutiae yet,” he said.
“We may have a little different opinion on this going forward, but we do continue to have good two-way discussions on our concerns.”
Mayor Karen Sorensen said this is one group’s opinion of council’s performance, but she appreciates the report card and learning what’s important to BLLHMA.
“I also appreciate they use priorities as another measure for grading us because that’s how we evaluate ourselves as well,” she said.
