Process:

           An Exercise in

         Public Exclusion 

 
 

What has NOT been done?

  •      There have been NO large scale advertising campaigns to alert Edmontonians as to what the city’s plans are, only ads for the Open House and the City Transportation and Public Works Committee meeting information. 

  •       There have been no direct mailouts to citizens in affected communities offering either information, directing them to the city website or soliciting comments and input

  •       There has been no direct notification to residents whose homes could potentially been expropriated or significantly impacted by this route – up to 260 homes

The Summary of the Public Involvement Process, prepared by Kaleidoscope Consulting and dated May 1, 2008, highlights the efforts that have been undertaken to involve the public in coming to the decision on West End LRT routes.  Public involvement has taken two paths – Open Houses and a Stakeholder Advisory Committee .  Both have experienced major flaws.

 

1. Open Houses:

 

Three Open Houses were held on April 15, 17 and 19 in different areas of the city.  While other transit open houses were held much earlier in the process, these were the only ones regarding the LRT expansion proposal specifically.   These Open Houses were to be the only general public involvement prior to City Council’s vote on May 20th.

 

120 attended the April 15th meeting at the School for the Deaf and 100 attended the Covenant Christian Church meeting on April 17th.  240 people attended the Open House held at St Rose on April 19th for the communities along 87th Avenue between 170th Street and the river. 

 

Issue with the Open House Process:

 

Based on 2005 Census Numbers, a total of 19,708 people live along 87th Avenue between the river and 170th Street in the neighbourhoods of Lynnwood, Elmwood, Parkview, West Meadowlark Park, Laurier, Meadowlark and Jasper Park.

  •      Total of 0.01% of the population of that area attended the meeting

  •       In the Report to Council, it is reported that residents who attended the meetings were clear on what was being proposed and why.  At no time is there any mention of what percentage of respondents actually SUPPORTED the recommendations

  •       Issues raised at the Open House were wide ranging as citizens struggled to process the enormity of the implications of the recommendations and the lack of specific details available on the route

  •       The Transportation Committee of City Council was to have voted on the proposal a few weeks later.

2. Stakeholder Advisory Committee:

 

A stakeholder advisory committee was originally established to look at High Speed Transit in 2004.  The Committee was made up of volunteers from various communities.  

 

Issues with the Stakeholder Advisory Committee Process:  It is important to note that these are criticisms of the process, not the people involved.  Various community members on the committee devoted many volunteer hours to this project.

 

  • Committee Members Are Critical of Process:  (from May 1st Report)
    • 5 out of 11 either disagreed or strongly disagreed that the process was worthwhile
    • 4 out of 11 either disagreed or strongly disagreed that the planning team considered committee input in the development of options
    • 6 out of 12 either disagreed or strongly disagreed that the committee process was effective and appropriate
    • West LRT opposition heats up, Edmonton Journal April 12
  • Changing Mandate: The mandate changed over the course of the committee, making focus challenging
  • Inconsistent Membership: Stakeholders were community volunteers, many of whom changed over the time period of the committee
  • No real voice: The committee members were given no voting privileges and performed only as ‘sounding board’ for transportation officials
  • Lack of community consultation or feedback: While some Committee members reported back to Community League executives and some put information about meetings in newsletters, there was no formal or regular process or requirement in place to either provide updates to every resident or to solicit input from their broader communities.  In fact, we have been told they were explicitly discouraged from doing so until after the recommendations were made public
  • Extremely limited scope: Concerns raised in Committee, including community impact and alternative routes, were said to be ‘outside the mandate’ of the committee which was focused primarily on engineering criteria of most direct route, relative cost and ridership
  • Insufficient Reaction Time:  The Open Houses were held mere weeks prior to when City Council is expected to vote, clearly not enough time to generate meaningful input or to allow communities sufficient time to react

 

3. Citizens Rules and City Rules: 

 

Rules for Citizens: The City of Edmonton has numerous land use restrictions in place to regulate development.  This area of Edmonton is under the Mature Neighborhood Overlay which puts additional parameters around land use. To renovate a house in a Mature neighbourhood, for instance, you must get permission from your neighbors and the Community League President.  To replace a playground you must canvass the entire neighborhood.   

 

City of Edmonton Land Use Planning: Edmonton has recently developed a document on land use planning entitled Focus Edmonton:Working Principles for Land Use Planning, July 2007

 

Edmonton "honours and encourages a sense of neighborhood pride through open, informative, participatory and proactive consultation processes for land use and development decisions."

 

Why different rules for LRT planning?   With the West LRT proposal, the City of Edmonton is proposing to spend $1.7 billion of taxpayer money, expropriate people’s homes and businesses, irreparably alter the face of mature and thriving communities, and have major impacts on the environment and landscape.  Based on the Open Houses and the Stakeholder Committee, can we honestly say that the City of Edmonton is adhering to Focus Edmonton's goals?  Is this the best process for developing and promoting such a massive change to our city?

 

What Can I Do? 

 

If you don’t believe this is how major public policy decisions should be made in the City of Edmonton please contact lrtplan@edmonton.ca  and City Council at  City Councillors (Entire Group) to have your voice heard.