Wed. July 18 2012: Mayor Katz concerned about “big picture” of public consultation, after giving Parking Authority failure a pass

Summary: City council put saving their bureaucracy from a humiliating redux ahead of their own commitments on public consultation, and voted 13-3 to expand parking hours and fees Downtown and in the Exchange District.  But it appears that Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz and Coun. Harvey Smith, who voted on opposite sides of the motions today, are in agreement on something. Things. Will. Change.       That is small consolation to the downtown residents and busineses who were    cheated  by the tactics of the Winnipeg Parking Authority, which managed to draw only 10 people to the public meeting in March after  - running weekend newspaper ads no one noticed - perhaps because the term Parking Authority was nowhere to be found.  - claiming there was no reason to invite Biz members to see the final proposal.  - using social media once (half a business day before the event).  - providing misleading charts and information ( and ignoring the 3 year wait for lot spaces in the Exchange) that was furiously challenged by those who attended. Yes, despite all that, the majority of City Council decided "1974 methodology" was good enough for them - excluding Coun. Smith, Ross Eadie and Mike Pagtakhan. Keep in mind that Pagtakhan's ward is directly affected by this, yet Jenny Gerbasi, who is chief of the "listen to the local councillor" choir, turned her back on the inner city, and her own constituents (in, for instance, South Broadway), and failed to hold the bureaucracy accountable yet again. To be fair, she had lots of company. You can listen on this podcast to the detailed speech we made to hold councillors to their ACTUAL WORDS when they ordered meaningful public consultation after our previous speech to them about the WPA.  Afterwards, we have the exclusive comments of Harvey Smith about the possible problem with the Biz's involved; his opinion of the WPA's   sponsor at council, Scott Fielding; his follow-up with the WPA brass; and what innovation of ours he thinks its about time for.  Then, Mayor Sam Katz exclusively explained his goal - it was actually to get as many members of the public involved in civics despite his support for the WPA, but then made a surprising admission about recent discussions with other City Hall insiders. HINT: it spells the end of  bureaucrats using the excuse "you can't make people come".  *********************** How did the MSM reflect the speech to Council on social media? Bartley Kives ‏@bkives Activist/cable-access host Marty Gold now here to oppose downtown parking changes. Says it should be no surprise he's at ‪#wpgcouncil Meaghan Ketcheson ‏@CBCMeaghanK Marty Gold taking loud swipes at city/parking authority and mainstream media about public notification on parking authority meetings‪ Bartley Kives ‏@bkives Gold, whose favourite bugaboo is public consultation, lambastes Parking Authority's efforts to get feedback about higher rates. ‪#wpgcouncil Joyanne Pursaga ‏@pursagawpgsun Host of Great Canadian Talk Show says some streets will be "gridlocked" as result of drivers circling for spots. Meaghan Ketcheson ‏@CBCMeaghanK Gold calls public consultation pathetic. Says no one supports parking authority rate changes.  Bartley Kives ‏@bkives ‪#wpgcouncil Gold claims "not one member of the public" supports higher rates. Says WPA underestimated # of off-street parking spaces. Joyanne Pursaga ‏@pursagawpgsun Gold demands delay of parking changes, more public consultation. ‪ Bartley Kives ‏@bkives ‪#wpgcouncil "This is what breeds voter cynicism," Gold says.  No questions for him after 11-minute speech. *********************