The Edgemont Community Newsletter
The electronic version of the Inside Edge is supplied by the publisher in a format designed for printing. The pages are not in sequence but all information and advertisements are contained in the document.
A PDF reader is required to view these files. If you do not have one, please click the "Get Adobe Reader' or Sumatra logo below:
ECA President's Message
(January 2012)
Happy New Year to you all! I hope that this is a great year for you! I’m going to kick my President’s Message year off with a rant, which I always enjoy.
I hope you do too.
In June I attended a conference for people representing their communities and their Community Associations (CA’s). Mayor Nenshi challenged us to question if and how we truly represent our “constituents”. I took that to heart, and addressed it recently in my message in the Inside Edge. During that process, I contacted the City about their rules / guidelines regarding Community Associations. The only reference they could find was a directive stating that CA’s should be consulted regarding Development in their communities. There are also the License of Occupation contracts which allow CA’s to fund, build, maintain and operate facilities on city land while the City retains ownership. It was clear that some clarification was needed, and something needed to happen to kick off the debate, to move this subject up the agenda with the City. Then the Ramsay Community Association vs Councilor Carra battle erupted, with Councillor Carra refusing to deal with the elected Board of Directors. The debate was on. Excellent!
During this brouhaha a Calgary Herald poll reported that 61% of respondents feel that Community Associations are still relevant, a sentiment not shared by Mr Dougall Cameron, a Herald reader who responded to the article with “Carra is merely trying to represent the voice of an entire community, not just those who have time and energy to populate the board to advance their own personal agendas.” (Calgary Herald Sep 30/11) Ouch! On the other hand, the Herald also reported that Community Associations are providing an estimated $22 million worth of volunteer service to the City. “There are 147 independent community associations in Calgary involving about 20,000 volunteers,” says Leslie Evans of the Federation of Calgary Communities. (Metro Calgary, Sep 27/11).
“Ald. GianCarlo Carra’s dispute with the Ramsay Community Association draws attention to the fact that these volunteer boards are elected by their membership, not the public at large, and therefore may not be truly representative of their communities”, writes the Herald editorial board (Calgary Herald October 4, 2011). Not so excellent …. Now I’m riled up, and I’m going to share my rant.
At a grassroots level, and Community Associations are about as grassroots as it comes, people have their point of view represented by keeping in touch with those who take on “public” office, be they MP, MLA, School Trustee or Alderman (all paid) or Community Board Member, Parent Council executive, et.al. (unpaid). CA boards are elected annually, so opportunities for meaningful input are not far apart. While partisan politics tends to run to dogma along party lines, CA politics runs to pragmatic. I can tell you that I’ve never seen anyone who wanted to join the Board of Directors turned away, so your position can be well represented, and, Mr. Cameron, I can also tell you that the people who get things done on the board aren’t sitting about with time on their hands. They are people who believe in community, and they make the time. Asfor personal agendas, I don’t know anyone who is totally altruistic, but I know a lot of people who are honest with themselves and others as to their motivations.
I resent the implication by Councilor Carra, and by Mayor Nenshi in gentler terms, that CA’s don’t have the resources to participate meaningfully in the planning process, particularly, it seems, in situations where the Boards express a different view. “Nenshi refused to weigh in on Carra’s missive, but said community association volunteer boards, which are elected by membership but not the public at large, can be faced with difficult planning matters, which involve thorough analysis, surveying their local residents, and then devising a point of view.” By Richard Cuthbertson, Calgary Herald September 27, 2011
“We have to figure out ways they can be more effective in bringing the voice of their neighbourhood residents to the fore without us pretending that they’re some other level of government,” Mayor Nenshi said (Calgary Herald, Sep 27/11). Clearly some people don’t feel that CA’s are effective or representative and that could provide reason enough for them to disregard CA input.
I can’t help wondering where this is all going, and I have an idea that it’s going to be very important in the very near future. The City is undertaking initiatives to curtail urban sprawl, to create a leaner, more efficient and economical infrastructure. I can’t argue with that – no one wants more taxes. Of course, the eminent sensibility of a project is inversely proportional to its proximity. What if one project was to involve increasing the population density in our community? Keep in mind that Edgemont is now considered an inner City community. Shawnee Slopes, which currently has a population of 1510, is fighting a plan to rezone some Recreational land to Residential and add 1600 homes. Granted, our green space is, for the most part, a bit too far from flat for economical development. Still, it’s not impossible. If the City is about to deal with a number of these projects they are going to find more than a few CA Boards that don’t see eye to eye with them, AND if they have reservations about CA’s to begin with, AND if CA’s have no guaranteed role, this could be “interesting times”.
Communication, between Edgemont residents, the ECA Board, and our elected representatives is going to be more important than ever. Keep in touch. I’d be interested in hearing what you have to say about this or any community-related topic.
The Annual General Meeting is on April 11. This is a chance to hear what’s happening in the Community, make your voice heard and chat with Board members, neighbours, and, hopefully, Councilor MacLeod. Based on recent history, you even stand a better than 50/50 chance of not being strong armed onto the Board. I hope to see you there, or at least hear from you sometime soon.
Elaine Scobie, President