Council continues its plunge into chaos

Medicine Hat council is continuing its deep dive into the already shallow pool of Hatters’ patience after more than a year of complete lunacy at city hall.

But instead of listening to constituents, courts and the privacy commissioner in acknowledging the wrong it’s committing against the community, council is set to continue alienating itself from residents.

Whether you are a new Hatter or a hardened political observer of local politics, few have ever seen such chaos in an elected body. It is only by happenstance that Coun. Darren Hirsch can state he’s never been a part of such dysfunction in 30 years of public service. That’s because Hatters didn’t give him that chance when he sought and lost his bid to be part of former Premier Alison Redford’s government in 2012.

The revolving door of senior staff, constant reorganizations and the shell game being conducted with finances as city hall seeks to restructure the hard fought for municipal Heritage Savings Reserve have Hatters’ heads spinning. The latter issue involved over a decade of debate and was campaigned on during elections. Now changes to the reserve fund are being forwarded by Corporate Services Committee members councillors Cassi Hider and Allison Knodel. Neither of whom appear to fully understand the difference between the city’s and similarly named provincial fund let alone the history of the municipal one.

Yet, with a provincial investigation into municipal operations looming large, councillors are continuing their unabated march toward ineptitude in its ability to deal with big governance issues of the community.

Three years into this term, the concept of council bearing any responsibility for the dysfunctional state of local government in the Hat is more elusive than Bigfoot. And they appear more resigned than ever to hand off responsibilities to unelected officials.

Instead, the problems with the city are the chattering classes and isolated troublemakers that have been leading Hatters down the road of “false narratives.”

One can only imagine what could possibly be the correct narrative.

On an Aug. 22, 2023 Facebook post, Coun. Knodel stated, “respect is the ultimate priority and is essential for work to be done.” It’s high time council realize respect is a two-way street and start showing some to its constituents.

If there are big decisions which can’t wait until the next election or the completion of a provincial investigation into city operations, the minimum expectations for councillors should be to ensure they have the backing of Hatters before proceeding.