Dysfunctional council infighting bad for democracy, civic group says

The divisive city council debate over a half-day Calgary road closure is symptomatic of partisan politics and grandstanding that is dangerously dysfunctional, a civic watchdog group says.

A group of aldermen tried on Tuesday to halt a proposal by Ald. Druh Farrell to close about seven blocks of busy Memorial Drive to traffic for one Sunday morning in August for a pedestrian and cyclist-friendly street party.

The city routinely permits closures on busy streets during the summer for festivals, races and other events, but the opposition to Farrell's proposal — based on the argument that the closure would inconvenience motorists — raised some eyebrows in council.

"What do you think is the motivation?" Farrell replied to reporters. "I don't know. I'll let other people answer that question."

Ald. Ric McIver, one of the opposing councillors, made no apologies on Tuesday.

"We're not here to have a social club; we're here to run the business of the city, and we're not actually required to agree on everything. If we did that we'd only need one person instead of 15," he said.

Better Calgary Campaign, a volunteer group that says it's working to improve municipal government, said it's noticing divisions along ideological and personal lines, fuelled by a desire to score political points.

"I think we are seeing a lot of October 2010 — the next election — playing out on council today," said Naheed Nenshi, a spokesman with the group.

Accusations of grandstanding

Nenshi said aldermen — particularly McIver, Joe Connelly, Diane Colley-Urquhart and Ray Jones on one side, and Farrell, Joe Ceci, Brian Pincott and Bob Hawkesworth on the other — are increasingly voting on agenda items based on who's proposing them, rather than by the content of the motions.

"For them to really be making their decisions on what's important based on what's going to get them press, instead of on what's good for the city, I find that very uncomfortable," he said.

'They're community leaders and they're city leaders and they have responsibility for working things out and they should be doing it and they're not.' —Barb Scott, former alderman

"What we have is a lot of grandstanding, and I don't think that serves the democratic process."

Nenshi believes the rift started over budget discussions this year. Members of council have clashed over issues including recycling, construction of pedestrian bridges and the Memorial Drive proposal, resulting in some delays.

Peter Rishaug, who was part of a neighbourhood lobby group and is now active in the citizens group CivicCamp, said he was disappointed by city council during the west LRT debate.

"It was the ward politics system once again rearing its head, and the individual interests were starting to rear their heads over the public interests and the public policy that should be in place," he said.

Rifts make council meetings longer

"There are 15 individuals, and like any family, you're going to have differing opinions. We can't agree on everything," Ald. John Mar said. "At the end of the day, we have a job to do. We got elected to run the place and make sure the job gets done."

Mayor Dave Bronconnier disagreed that council is dysfunctional, but acknowledged infighting is not productive.

"Most taxpayers that I speak with aren't really interested in the personal snipes from one member of council to another, and certainly I've tried to strongly encourage city council — deal with the important issues that are facing this city," he said. "Democracy has a price. Sometimes it's a longer council meeting."

Former alderman Barb Scott told CBC News that each member of council needs to take more responsibility for their actions if things are going to get better.

"The blame has to lie with all 15 members of council, including the mayor and including each alderman," she said Tuesday. "All 15 members are leaders in their own right. They're community leaders and they're city leaders and they have responsibility for working things out and they should be doing it and they're not."