The problem is process

There’s been a lot of chirping in the past few days about the City’s proposed $24 million sale of the Winnipeg Square Parkade to Crown Realty Partners.

Some people are upset at the price. Some object to the idea of selling a money-making asset. And lots more are suspicious of Shindico’s role in brokering the deal.

I’m going to leave most of that alone except to say that I agree in principle with the decision to sell this particular parkade.

But I do have a major problem with the way this deal was rammed through Council today.

How many times have we seen this pattern during the Katz era? A major initiative gets announced, a special meeting of EPC is held to rush the item on to a Council agenda, the Katz majority votes to suspend the rules and debate the item without any advance notice, and by the end of the day it’s a done deal. Policy, procedure and opposition councillors be damned!

However, the balance of power has shifted a bit over the past year (with the election of Orlikow and the defection of Wyatt), and the unofficial opposition were able to block the parkade from being discussed at Council this morning. So what did the Mayor do? He turned around and called a special meeting of Council…for this afternoon.

And while City Clerk Richard Kachur says this is legal, it’s clearly a violation of the spirit of Section 9(20) of the City’s Procedures By-law:

A notice of a special meeting of Council shall, whenever possible, provide one working day between the giving of the notice and the meeting date and shall contain an explanation giving reasons for the convening of the meeting.

The sale has been discussed for months. Negotiations have been taking place with Crown for weeks. The parkade isn’t going anywhere, and continues to produce income for the City. There’s absolutely no reason this couldn’t have waited until tomorrow, or better yet, until Council’s next meeting in three weeks. To rush this through today just demonstrates total disregard for Council process and complete disrespect for opposition Councillors.

You’ve still got your majority Sam. And even if it takes you a couple of extra weeks, you’re going to get most of your initiatives through Council. So spend your energy on making the city a better place, not on playing spiteful games with Dan and Jenny.

The freakonomics of tuition policy

It’s no surprise to anyone who read the Levin Report, but keeping tuition at post-secondary institutions artificially low doesn’t do much to help improve access for low-income students. The Freakonomics blog looks at the question of tuition policy today, in light of a proposed 32% increase in undergrad fees at California universities. The gist of the piece:

The truth is that increasing public college tuitions are not a problem at all. Indeed, the biggest problem in pricing tuition at public universities is not that the poor pay too much, but that the rich pay too little.

Tuition increases are actually a good idea — as long as they are matched with financial aid, including scholarships, for poor students.

The writer, Ian Ayres, offers an intriguing suggestion for tuition reform that perhaps should be considered within Manitoba given the financial struggles of our universities:

For instance, suppose UC Berkeley raised its tuition by $20,000 per year and gave all but its richest students an extra $20,000 scholarship. With the extra money it got from its richest students, it could balance its budget. And, having done so, it would not need to burden students even from middle-class families.

Those of you in the R3P postal code are excused for thinking this might not be a great idea.

 

 

Green lipstick on a blue and yellow pig

Look, I don’t object to the IKEA development. Sure I think the development and traffic plans are complete crap, but I’m generally happy the store is coming to town and I recognize that something of this size has to be built on the fringes.

However, claiming that a few extra shrubs will somehow green a project that’s g0ing to require 78 new lanes of traffic (give or take a dozen) is a bit ridiculous.

And the name is still stupid.

Get over yourself Shelly

St. Boniface MP Shelly Glover calls the brouhaha that’s erupted over Waterbottlegate a “media tragedy.”

And she’s right. Her handling of media interest in the story has been tragically, horrifically bad. Which is a bit surprising considering Glover’s previous work as a spokesperson for the Winnipeg Police Service.

Offering Conservative-branded water bottles to school kids was certainly an error in judgment, but a relatively minor one. The smart thing would have been to just say “I wasn’t aware of the policy. I’m going to work with the school division to come up with an alternate incentive for students to study French.” And then get on the damn phone and sort the situation out quickly.

Instead, she went after the Free Press with service revolver a blazin’, accusing it of media exploitation. This just gave the story legs. Now Ray Simard has had a chance to chime in, dozens of comments have been left on the Freep website, and folks like me are blogging about it. And aside from a few Conservative fanboys who just love it when somebody tries to ’stick it’ to the media, the vast majority of public comment on the issue has been negative.

A simple PR lesson for politicians of all stripes and ages: sometimes the easiest way to make a bad story go away is to simply admit you screwed up, and then get on with your work.

Most voters don’t really care much about minor mistakes, we all make them. But they will definitely remember the time you looked like a complete ass in the newspaper.

The Shoppes at IKEA Promenade Pointe

I had thought that David Asper’s ‘Elms Collection’ was the most pretentiously named new development in recent Winnipeg history, but then I read this:

Fairweather Properties is hosting a sod-turning ceremony next Friday to mark the beginning of preliminary construction work on the Tuxedo Yards development, a 1.5 million square foot retail centre that is being developed at the southwest corner of Kenaston Boulevard and Sterling Lyon Parkway. The complex, which will feature Winnipeg’s first IKEA store, will be called Seasons of Tuxedo, according to a release issued today by Fairweather.

They can’t be serious. I doubt Fairweather’s own leasing agents will be able to say ‘Seasons of Tuxedo’ with a straight face. And everyone in the province will simply say they’re going to IKEA, or to the Outback Steakhouse or Pottery Barn next to IKEA anyway.

I shudder to think of what real estate developers might name their children.

Hyperbole 2.0

Slightly bemused by coverage of the PC Manitoba convention on the weekend.

It seems the media is so desperate for a competitive election they’re willing to completely ignore reality and have suddenly cast the provincial Tories in the role of energetic party of renewal.

But the Sun’s Paul Rutherford takes the cake with this comment:

And McFadyen hit the nail on head describing the party’s future as one of “youth and dynamism.” His emphasis on using online tools such as Facebook, YouTube and Flickr to push the party’s message gives the party an Obama-like lustre.

Sweet Jesus. I have all those accounts too, do I have an Obama-like lustre? How about a musk?

None of Manitoba’s political parties are using social media, or even plain old websites, particularly well. And from scanning the various accounts, it certainly doesn’t appear the PCs hold any advantage over their rivals in adopting new communication tools.

• They’ve made pretty good use of Flickr, if you like photos of politicians talking.
• Only seven YouTube videos in the last year, the newest one being three months old. Contrast that with nine videos from the Manitoba NDP in the past two months.
• Only 135 Facebook fans for McFadyen vs. 180 for Goldie or 535 for Selinger.
• Zero activity on Twitter, despite the fact that it’s been linked off the PC Manitoba homepage since it launched. Meanwhile, Dr. Jon has tweeted 225 times in the past six months.
• No blog anywhere. Again, Dr. J takes the prize as he’s been blogging consistently since 2005.

Opening up a Twitter account doesn’t mean you’ve tapped into the zeitgeist. Having different coloured lawn signs from the sitting government doesn’t automatically make you a “party of change.” And handing out thundersticks at your annual convention…well that’s just lame.

Rockefeller style

City Hall will soon get its 2009 Christmas tree (which is somehow worthy of coverage in nearly all media, but whatever).

A suggestion for future years though, rather than placing the tree right in front of Sam’s Place, why not relocate it to Old Market Square?

It wouldn’t work this year due to continuing renos at the park, but I’d think the tree would be far more appreciated in the heart of the Exchange. Besides, aren’t they looking to transform Old Market Square into a skating rink in the winter? Skating rink + big Christmas tree…hmm…where have I seen that before?

Random thoughts from a drive out west

Saskatchewan highways are better than Manitoba highways.

Alberta highways are better than Manitoba highways.

Two-lane mountain pass highways in BC that are already covered in snow are better than Manitoba highways.

The Calgary Sun is almost like a real newspaper.

Even the Regina Leader-Post is better designed than the Winnipeg Free Press.

Dear Saskatchewan, a few more distance signs wouldn’t kill you.

Despite the economic crisis, Western Canada’s tallest building is currently being built in downtown Calgary. When finished, The Bow will be the new corporate headquarters for Encana. The foot of the tower will feature two public art pieces by Jaume Plensa, who created the Crown Fountain in Chicago’s Millennium Park, which is awesome.

Another fantastic public space is Prince’s Island Park in Calgary. The highlight: the number of people using it for running, walking, soccer, etc. on a weekday. I so wish Winnipeg had a legitimate park adjacent to downtown. Let’s put that on the rebuild list if we ever get wiped out by a big tornado.

Kelowna (metro population 166,000) has high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. People would seriously lose their shit if the City of Winnipeg ever attempted to do the same (even though it wouldn’t be a half-bad idea).

My grandfather was complaining about how the hospitals in Penticton get over-run by tourists in the summer. He recounted a tale of having to wait for 3.5 hours in the ER this past summer for his wife to get attention for a sore shoulder. I was thinking it might actually take less time to fly to Penticton for medical service than wait at HSC.

110 km/h speed limits are awesome. Sorry planet, they just are.

Regina has a Chili’s and an East Side Mario’s. Not only is its economy stronger, but Saskatchewan is even beating us in the chain restaurant race. [Sarcasm Alert!]

Speaking of which, how come our Starbucks aren’t serving those delightful little english muffin breakfast sandwiches?

And on a completely unrelated note:

Can we fire Mike Kelly now?

Short sighted

The WRHA’s handling of the H1N1 vaccinations would almost be amusing if it wasn’t a potential health crisis.

Apparently lineups at today’s clinics are so light that the WRHA has expanded its priority list and is publicly calling for more people to attend. Spokesperson Heidi Graham tells the CBC:

We really want to get the word out because we know there has been lots of media reports about long lineups and so people may be staying away because they fear long lineups.

Heidi, there weren’t just media reports of long lineups, there were actually some really damn long lineups! And I think the word of mouth about the situation was actually worse than the media reports. Seriously, how many times have you heard the words ridiculous, stupid or idiotic used to describe the clinic fiasco in the past week?

Which brings me to an observation about how short sighted the WRHA has been in this whole situation. In yesterday’s Freep, Dr. Sande Harlos said the health authority couldn’t have enforced priority lists during the first week of vaccinations because it would have required extra staff to do screenings.

Yet, the WRHA spends millions on PR staff like Ms. Graham, on its bimonthly magazine, and on trinkets like branded golf shirts and frisbees. This is done in an effort to create a positive image of the organization and foster goodwill with the public.

But all of that is easily undone when you force people to stand in four or five hour lineups (sometimes outside) with their children. Or when you tell them they’re a priority one week, but you might not have any vaccine for them the next. Or when you build up expectations that anyone can get vaccinated, only to backtrack a few days later.

You can spend all you want on PR, but unless you do your core job well then there’s not much point.

What the heck is that?

I don’t like to dump on the paper for making typos, because everyone is guilty of that from time to time. But I think it should at least try to use real words. From today’s Editor’s Bulletin email from the Freep:

Alumnist in space
Students at John Taylor get a chance to talk to astronaut and alumnist Dr. Bob Thirsk today, who is on the International Space Station.

Alumnist? The word does show up 56,800 times in Google, but mostly on message boards and blog posts, and not in any dictionaries I could find. In contrast, the word “alumnus” — the correct term in this case — shows up 4.2 million times.

Even the Freep’s own search engine only spits back one instance of “alumnist” versus 293 of alumnus and 104 of alumna.