Re: The Problem Is Jim Watson

The public consultations on Public Consultation the City put on last month were underwhelming to say the least. They got it wrong, right out of the gate. Instead of engaging some of the many governance experts in Ottawa or creating a binding policy on everyone in the City, including politicians, citizens and Staff, City staff are establishing guidelines for Staff only.

Public Consultation Guidelines created by powerless bureaucrats for bureaucrats, will be ignored just as they are now. Furthermore, the timeline for it to be completed is after the 2013 Budget is approved (just in time for the election campaign). So there is no way the next Budget will be properly debated.

What has happened to democracy at City Hall? Why are they (Mayor, Staff, Councillors) so afraid of public opinion? Is it because we have such a high intelligence level in Ottawa that they are afraid City Council will be embarrassed? Ottawans are well educated and more connected than ever. This is a government and high tech town after all.

When I attended the Barrhaven consultation on Public Consultation, I recommended the City focus on ‘Tapping into the Collective Intelligence” of Ottawa’s citizenry if it truly wants to be successful in its decision making. The best way to achieve it, in my opinion, is to create a governance model that enshrines public consultation as the first step in the decision making process. Come to us first before moving forward so you have sufficient guidance and a legitimate mandate to pursue a particular course of action. Seems simple, but right now its not happening.

The saddest part of all is the Mayor doesn’t need to engage in opposition suppression tactics like this in order to get his way. All he needs to do is to engage residents openly, transparently and put forward a solid argument. Tell us the truth and I think you’ll find most people will be able to connect the dots.

The dots I’m connecting right now tell me that City Hall has no respect for what Ottawa residents think. They have no desire or interest to engage us honestly, and as a result, we’re not getting the representative democracy we all assumed we would get at election time.