I would like to take issue with the comments of Rory Ian White in terms of his letter in the Dec. 2 issue of The Morning Star.
I take no issue with the statements of what he represents as the fact in his letter. I only take issue with facts when I personally witnessed events contrary to how somebody is representing the event as having taken place.
Mr. White’s complaint was that Mayor Akbal Mund was not being as aggressive as he should be in dealing with the Ministry of Transportation pertaining to the Stickle Road quandary.
Specifically, he took issue with Mayor Mund’s statement of, “They aren’t giving us a light or reducing the speed on the highway so we have to work with them.” That is the quote as Mr. White wrote it.
He goes on to characterize the provincial stance as, “It’s hardly at the fight level yet, although the bully attitude from our provincial government in this case is very strong. Is this all you have?”
Mr. White then goes on to quote the mayor as saying, “Sometimes you have to come to a compromise instead of fighting.”
To which Mr. White rhetorically responds, “Really?”
Mr. White then goes on to castigate the mayor with presumably rhetorical questions like, “Is this how you serve these people or the people who voted for you, by demonstrating that all it takes is a little push from the schoolyard bully and you roll over and go away?”
There are another 11 paragraphs which I won’t reiterate.
Criticism of a policy or a person is self-defeating if it doesn’t provide a viable alternative to the problem being addressed.
Not once in Mr. White’s letter did I find one constructive suggestion on how the mayor should deal with this issue.
The closest he approaches in addressing the issue which he is concerned about is a reference as to how the 48th Avenue and Highway 97 intersection contains some parallel characteristics, and how that intersection’s situation was mishandled (although he avoids specifics).
I don’t know Mr. White, and I don’t know the mayor, but I do know, from personal experience, what you have to be willing to do as an elected official to achieve results.
You have to be willing to hold your nose sometimes and sit down with somebody who, given the opportunity, would like to tear your face off. That’s a reality of holding political office and finding consensus sometimes.
I wonder if Mr. White has ever held office or been in a mediation scenario where he can relate to what Mayor Mund has to deal with in this situation?
If he hasn’t and he has no viable suggestions for solving the issue at hand, perhaps, he might show more latitude in dealing with the mayor, and how the mayor is dealing with Stickle Road.
Dean Roosevelt
Vernon