Many things are lost for want of asking

Such was the case at last night’s council meeting as Councillor Pallesen read a statement that she or someone had posted at 5:00pm to our Cranbrook Guardian, (referred to as ‘the blog’ by the Councillor), under our post on ‘The West Entrance’.  For those unfamiliar with the background behind this story please read “The West Entrance Under Budget Deliberation" and "The West Entrance".

We can only imagine how each administrator and councillor was feeling as Councillor Pallesen asked why Citizens for a Livable Cranbrook had information she didn’t have.  How did Citizens for a Livable Cranbrook know when neither she, nor Councillor Scott knew?  Each Councillor at the table must have wondered – did one of their fellow members of Council give out information they shouldn’t have?  Each administrator must have been thinking the same thing.  For a Councillor by suggestion, to call into question, the integrity of fellow members of our City Council and city administration and to place them in such a position publicly is embarrassing to say the least.  It was equally difficult as a member of the gallery not to be able to provide the simple answer.

Councillors Pallesen and Scott never asked us why we had that information and they obviously had not asked the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. We wonder why the question was asked in this public way and what the true intent was.

After the budget surplus discussion and the difficulty we had in understanding these councillors’ positions on a project that was started last fall and on which they were now being asked to consider again, we went to the Ministry and asked to see the plan.  At no time did any administrator or councillor provide us with information.  The information we received is public information – there for the want of asking.