I know, it’s been two years since my last post… well it will be in four days. I promised my wife I wouldn’t blog again until I finished my book and it went to the editor in Ireland earlier this week. And now you are wondering why I type so slow.

It was a non-fiction book and the research and editing killed me… almost.

But back to a time sensitive issue that really only affects people who live in St. Albert, Alberta, Canada. but I am wondering, since our city council seems to have no fiscal restraint or intelligence, are other cities run like this? Two of my children have moved away from St. Albert in the past two years and I have to be honest, if I found a job in Florida or Texas, or even Ireland (that damn editor is really selling the place to me, thanks Ger!), I might be tempted.

Now my kids who still live here are going to flip out on my willingness to abandon my grandchildren… but half of them already left and isn’t my sanity worth anything? I am old, I don’t have much time left on this planet, I should be removing stress from my life, not piling it on. But every time I hear about local politics I am left dazed and confused.

We have a wonderful park here in St. Albert called Lion’s Park and it is just outside of the downtown core and right on our river. It’s pretty sweet.

I hate how cities piss away tax dollars on stupid things they are never going to do and nobody wants… like library studies to expand the library… I think we did that 8  or 10 times before we have a vote and the people voted 2 to 1 against adding library space… but this council did it anyway.

in 2018 they pissed away probably $70,000 on a study to do something with Millenium Park but Millenium Park is beautiful natural forest and wetlands. there are wonderful hidden ponds in the trees that supply residence to so many different animals. I never understood why we were even looking at that. On top of not needing another park, it is literally touching Lion’s Park so it really had nothing to offer!

The problem we face now, despite all the public consultation in 2018, the project did not go through… but it looked great…

I was in favor of this project under the condition that the city could afford it. 90% of the old forest stayed and nothing touched the natural wetland area in the forest.

The problem lies in the fact that this council decided to borrow over $20M to remodel this park in 2024 but with no public consultation and with a design I had never seen before (can anyone see another $70,000 consulting fee disappear for this new plan?)! On top of everything, this new plan destroys 60% of the natural forest and 100% of the natural wetlands. I have no idea how they could convince the province of Alberta to allow this project with a park right beside it, another one on the other bank of the river, but I put nothing past crooked politicians.

Let me guess, they hate being called crooked? I will try to be clear here then… I don’t give a single shit about your feelings when you steal tax dollars without asking or even consulting taxpayers (approving a $20M borrowing package to fund a park that nobody was consulted on is tantamount to theft in my world). Theft is a crime. I am okay with calling out crooked people who spend our money with total disregard for common sense or the taxpayers best interest.

Let’s look at the new plan…

Over half of the trees are gone… both natural wetland areas are gone… for a mere pittance of $20M. And it’s not like this council has a surplus they are looking to spend, they are planning to borrow over $20m at these crazy high interest rates. These people all need to go for a long walk off a short dock and wake the hell up!

You can check out the St. Albert Says website for links and data as well… the second reading of this delusional plan is coming on April 1 and this organization is working to get the required 8000 signatures before March 29th!

Please help them if you live in St. Albert. And please remember that this council tried to sneak this one past us and burden out children with another $20M in debt (you know if would cost $25M by the time it was complete). This will be something I will be talking about profusely during the next election cycle.

I do not want to say goodbye to this park without a fight. Lion’s park is under-utilized and there is a gorgeous park right across the river that is virtually never used.

If you want to read more about this lunacy, there is a great website dedicated to saving the natural park area or at least getting the public involved so these fascists don’t get away with stealing $20M and destroying a beautiful natural area without consultation with the public who will be paying for it for the next 10 or 20 years.

www.stalbertsays.com

If you are from St. Albert, please fill in the volunteer form and email or call to see how you can help this cause (that I think is great).

If you don’t live in St. Albert, please feel free to leave your comments below. Let me know if you think I am over-reacting or outright nuts. That book took a toll on my sleep and my brain, it’s possible that these trees should be bulldozed for the greater good and maybe $20m is a great deal. And thanks for reading this far. You are awesome.