Thank you. It’s not something we say very often to our public officials. It’s far easier to complain, find fault with, and pick apart the actions of our politicians. And we the public often do so in ruthless fashion, without the proper context or full set of facts.
You don’t agree with a decision or idea? Get to Facebook and rip it apart.
What if we stopped and applauded good work from time to time and recognized the time, effort and commitment that goes into serving the public? What if we spent as much time acknowledging good results as we do chastising the bad?
For what it’s worth I suspect now is the perfect time for such a thank you. To Mayor Chalmers and all of Chestermere Council, and CAO Morton and his team for rolling up their sleeves and doing what we the electorate asked them to do.
The announcement last week that CUI is effectively being disbanded as we know it and brought back in house will mean utility rate reductions of up to 8% for Chestermere families. This is exactly what we asked for at election time, and an enormous amount of time, effort and careful calculation has gone in to doing this correctly. What a novel concept when our elected officials carry out the mandate given them by the people.
It’s not just this terrific news about CUI. We should be dancing in the streets to say thank you for a tax reduction. Yes reduction! Somehow this group of politicians and administrators have managed to do what we were told was virtually impossible by the last group. They have reduced taxes by 2% this year after a 1% reduction last year.
Try and remember the last time a Government at any level reduced taxes? And not just one year, but two? This type of commitment to our families and community should be applauded.
The hard truth is we have much more to do in Chestermere to address some large pressure points. Diversifying a tax base that is nearly 97% residential is a top priority and another legacy from previous governments. Our Council knows this and is working hard to attract industry and job creators by adjusting policy and incentivizing business and industry to set up here. This is an important step in the process.
There will be times when the full set of facts and the thoughtful research reveal our elected officials really aren’t representing our best interests. And we are absolutely correct to hold them to account when this happens.
For now though, let’s actually applaud and appreciate the work being done by Mayor Chalmers, CAO Morton, and the rest of Council and administration. We the electorate spoke up at election time. We asked that our ballooning taxes and utility rates be addressed. And here we are a year and a half into a term and it is happening.
Keep up the good work folks, and thanks for your service.
Bruce McAllister
