Editor:
Thanks to Jon Whelan for his excellent letter to the Outlook (Jan. 22) concerning the way Banff is “governed.”
His statements hit the nail squarely on the head and I agree. I feel compelled to further add to the litany the following:
1. Banff is increasingly being ruled by decree rather than by dialogue and democracy. Council and administration tell Banff citizens what they are going to do rather than ask for their meaningful input and proceed from the grassroots upward. This only serves to alienate the population and bolster their belief that their opinions don’t count. Public open houses are mere lip service and window dressing in an all too much a fait accompli system. This only breeds contempt and resentment. There is a failure to realize that these officials are elected to serve the public’s wishes, not serve their own agenda. People are tired of their dissenting views being dismissed and vilified. We refuse to be snubbed any longer.
2. Closing down Banff Avenue and other streets for special events that serve little more than to disrupt traffic movement and erode the serenity for residents and visitors alike.
3. The potential for yet another costly pedestrian bridge in the very location the public told council to put it in the first place.
4. Allowing sidewalk vending despite it being considered an eyesore and adding congestion to the sidewalks. Sidewalk eating, especially along Caribou Street, makes for very congested walking.
5. Not showing more concern for the proliferation of chain stores.
6. Converting Muskrat Street (and potentially others) to a designated bike path from a fully functional residential street and removing more parking from the pool.
7. Proposing a parkade on the forested property at the corner of Lynx and Wolf Street that amounts quite literally to “Paving Paradise to Put up a Parking Lot.” This area needs to remain a greenspace buffer between the built up part of town and the more tranquil river experience.
8. Angle parking which is hampered by blind spots backing out and increasing the potential for serious accidents.
9. The use of the demeaning kindergarten cops with their annoying little crossing guard ropes at intersections along Banff Avenue last summer. They are an insult.
10. Imposing scramble crosswalks that only serve to impede traffic movement rather than make it more efficient. One is compelled to wait through three cycles instead of 11. Many people just cross when the light turns green anyway.
12. Closing off Bear Street to traffic, thereby relocating traffic congestion from one spot to others. You don’t improve flow by stopping up the pipe.
13. The pay-parking debacle.
14. Removing so much needed parking from Central Park during the Wednesday market.
15. And the grandaddy of them all, the epitome of ridiculous absurdity – the Banff Town gondola scheme. This one is sheer insanity on all levels.
16. What next? I shudder to think.
With all these gaffes and undoubtedly more to come, how can we tolerate such mismanagement? The next municipal election cannot come soon enough. Let ballots and more plebiscites be our bayonets.
Mark Bowes,
Banff
