By definition the upcoming open mic town hall gathering is all about giving residents the opportunity to discuss pressing issues with council. But it's also about the viability of the process itself.
In this instance the medium is the message and the clear message is that too many of us can't be bothered to turn up for these assemblies.
At the last budget input summit there were more muni affiliates on hand than residents. That has to change.
There is plenty of grist for the mill. For starters we have the looming showdown with a reluctant Whistler council over shared corridor transit costs.
Next up is the perpetually postponed O'Siem Pavilion, a project rapidly turning into the No-See-Um Pavilion.
This keynote structure has become a proverbial canary in the mineshaft for the district. If council can't get their act together over a simple pavilion, what happens when we finally start poking spades into the ground for the far more complex and controversial developments contained in official municipal dispatches?
老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料 may be open for business but business is hardly booming. In fact, from all appearances, we are in the throes of a nasty little recession with its associated social tensions and community disruptions.
Every member of this council campaigned on a job creation platform and for a few years work was in plentiful supply.
With the completion of the Sea to Sky highway upgrades and Olympic spinoff employment receding into memory, jobs have dried up.
It's no coincidence then that Statistics Canada results comparing July 2009 to July 2010 have shown 老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料 to have the highest increase in Employment Insurance in the province.
Last month 372 properties were listed for sale locally. We have to wonder how many of those homes belong to people who are out of work and have resorted to pulling up stakes for a better proposition elsewhere.
Muni hall tells us that zoning and taxation policies are in place to help alleviate the problem. These are all long term measures.
Recently, we got a glimpse at a potential job-generating engine based on the mayor's China reconnaissance trip. What tangible benefits the Asian connection will bring, if any, has yet to be determined.
At the moment, there are two versions of 老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料: the immediate reality of rising joblessness and commercial uncertainty versus the glowing optimism contained in the Official Community Plan and the Oceanfront development proposal, with its embroidered landscape and promises of light manufacturing, knowledge-based industries and a vibrant downtown.
All of those promises may come to pass sometime in the distant future, but in the immediate present it's just not happening.
Let's not kid ourselves, salaried municipal staff and the seven people we elected don't have all the answers. They can't simply pull jobs out of hats.
That's why putting our heads together during public forums is an important civic exercise, just as important as going to the polls every three years.
We need to share our collective insights and help guide this community through some tough times ahead.
