4 – WESTMOUNT INDEPENDENT – March 2-3, 2010Mayor Peter Trent replies to Don Wedge‘I cannot see how he can fault me for lacking in transparency’By Peter F. Trent, MayorI was quite taken aback on reading DonWedge’s column of February 16 (“Whateverhappened to transparency…?”, p. 7), apiece that contrasted with his usually evenhandedapproach to municipal matters. Iimmediately wrote a rebuttal that was notfor publication, yet that somehow gotleaked. You are reading the edulcoratedversion.Though clouded with a couple of contradictionsand non sequiturs, the thrustof Don Wedge’s column was that I and ourfour-month-old council lacked transparency.I most strongly disagree withhim. He can fault me (or the city) for beingdisorganized. He can fault me for handlingthe budget the same way I always didas mayor for ten years (and, before that, asFinance commissioner), but I really cannotsee how he can fault me for lacking intransparency. Let’s examine the “evidence”that Don Wedge levels at me and at council:Pot and kettle?“There was even talk of ‘the pot callingthe kettle black.’” By giving this unattributedquote Wedge suggested that I washypocritical: that <strong>Westmount</strong> was as secretivein giving out budget information asMontreal was. He confused two differentWeeklyPresstime: Monday at 10:30 amPublisher and editor: David PriceDeputy editor: Kristin McNeillChief reporter: Laureen SweeneyProofreader: Stella MindorffWESTMOUNTINDEPENDENTLetters & Comments:We welcome your letters, but reserve the rightto choose and edit them.Please check your letter carefully.We may be unable to make subsequentlysubmitted changes. If you do makeamendments, please “redline” them instead ofresending the whole letter. Please email anyletter and comments toindie@westmountindependent.com.Every letter of support helps us with advertisers!We are <strong>Westmount</strong>.things. All cities only release detailedbudget information to the public once thebudget is tabled or adopted. The city of<strong>Westmount</strong> then freely gives any citizenany budgetary information he or she desires.My complaint about the city of Montrealwas of a completely different order.Montreal and the 15 island cities are supposedto be partners in the agglomerationcouncil. I was named to the ad hoc budgetcommittee to examine its budget. My workstarted in mid-December, but I did not getany real budget numbers from Montrealuntil the budget was actually made publicat the time of its tabling. That’s a lack oftransparency. Then there was my publicquestion as to why the agglomeration gotcharged $91.9 million for topping up pensionfunds while the city of Montreal itselfwas only hit with $20.8 million: this questiononly got (poorly) answered an hourbefore the agglo budget was actuallyadopted two weeks later. That’s another exampleof lack of transparency.“The speech and many details of [<strong>Westmount</strong>’s]budget’s components are postedon the city’s website. In fact it is the leaditem. But bold numbers do not replace thediscussion that took place at the final presentationof the previous council’sarena/pool project plan.” What has one todo with the other? The budget presentationand an arena project informationHow Can We Help You?Stories and lettersKristin McNeill: 514.223.3578indie@westmountindependent.comAdvertising & SalesArleen Candiotti: 514.223.3567advertising@westmountindependent.comAccountingBeth Hudson: 514.223.6138office@westmountindependent.comAudited by13,789 copiesOwned and published by:Sherbrooke-Valois Inc., 310 Victoria Ave., #105, <strong>Westmount</strong>, QC H3Z 2M9Fax: 514.935.9241meeting? And what’s the point of discussionif, as Don Wedge himself admitted,virtually no one shows up at budget meetings?And if people want pre-budget sessionsin order to give their suggestions,fine. But we won’t go to that trouble if noone shows up. We could always adoptMontreal’s practice of tabling the budgetand then adopting it – usually completelyunchanged – two weeks later, after debatewith opposition councillors. However, wehave no party politics and so all membersof <strong>Westmount</strong> council have input into thebudgetary process from the beginning.And if <strong>Westmount</strong>ers’ longstanding budgetaryincuriousness remains, it would allbe for naught.Standing committeesMembers of the past council advisedme to scrap the standing committees.Even though I’m the one who kept standingcommittees going in 1991 after MayorMay Cutler (and I) introduced them, Iagreed to get rid of them on getting reelectedfour months ago. If things don’twork out, then we will bring them back.But don’t call this streamlining a “lack oftransparency.” Standing committees wereheld in camera, they often wasted time,they dealt with too much minutiae, andthey slowed things down by adding an additionalstep. Wedge also wrote, “Thoughincomplete and delayed, the minutes ofthose [standing committee] meetings gavesome clues of council’s work.” Well, whyis it any different now? The minutes ofgeneral committee, into which the standingcommittees were subsumed, are madepublic.“The formal mid-month meeting hasbeen eliminated.” This assertion is completelywrong. The mid-month meetingwas only held to approve building permits– plus any other minor matter that was urgent.They usually lasted only a few minutes.Mid-month meetings were neverused for anything major; otherwise, theywould become a way of sneaking importantlegislation by the citizens, as few, ifCorrectionIn “Whatever happened to transpar -ency…” by Don Wedge (February 16, p. 7),there was incorrect information about citycouncil’s mid-month meetings. These specialmeetings are continuing under thenew council, but have been moved to 5any, of them attend. Mid-month meetingshave not changed. The only change is thatthey are held at 5 pm and not at noon. Butwe are going further. We will be debatingmajor building projects in public at themain monthly meetings: something pastcouncils did not do.Don Wedge and a few regular councilgoershave been on about memorializingwhat is said at the question-and-answerperiod at council meetings. They want togo back to written summaries. I am notsure what this matter really has to do withtransparency, as all exchanges are nowaudio-recorded and freely available on ourwebsite. The practice of composing summariesis perhaps more a matter of convenience,yet it can give rise to debates asto the fidelity of the summary. We haven’tdiscussed this in council as yet, but I haveno problem having a public debate aboutit. Considering complete recordings areavailable, the lack of summaries is a prettytrivial matter.“Hardly anyone mentions thearena/pool project.” This is because, ashas been reported, we intend to inform all<strong>Westmount</strong>ers about a new proposal in amonth or so. There are also user, operatingcost and traffic studies underway:studies that should have been done yearsago. If we had simply gone ahead with theplan presented on September 26, 2009 bythe previous council, it is my view that itwould have been handily voted downwhen it came time to seek loan by-law approval.This is why we have sought a radicalnew approach to the design. And, lestanyone think that working with architectsand builders on various schemes beforegoing public is evidence of a lack of transparency,it must be stated that you can’tdesign a building in public. You can getinput once you have something to show.Which is precisely what we’ll do.Thank you for this opportunity to setthings straight. I look forward to the resumptionof Don Wedge’s thoughtful, balanced,and well-researched columns.pm, one Monday per month. The most recentone was on February 15; if there arepermits to approve, the next one is scheduledfor Monday, March 22 at 5 pm.Wedge received incorrect informationfrom a usually reliable source.For Letters to the Editor,please see p. 9
WESTMOUNT INDEPENDENT – March 2-3, 2010 – 5City and citizens’ challenges to achieve Sustainable <strong>Westmount</strong>Civic AlertDon WedgeThe unveiling of some immediate goalstowards Sustainable <strong>Westmount</strong> marks anew reality for the city. It is a small step inthe long march that we have embarked on.Yet clearly the new mayor and councilhave picked up the task that their predecessorshad outlined. Are we, the citizens,as ready?At times, I wonder how serious we are.The world is incredibly wasteful. Governmentscannot agree on stopping climatechange. In the developed countries, childrenno longer walk to school. We poisonthe Great Lakes and thousands of otherwaterways. Automobiles, power stationsand industrial processes pollute the air webreathe as if by right. Basic and non-essentialfood supplies are brought to consumersonly after cross-continentaljourneys.Worst of all, we refuse to recognize thatthere are limits to this destructive path.The End of Oil may over-dramatize the situation,but it is folly to ignore its consequences,particularly on the supply andprice of food that awaits future generations.That is the negative view. In fact, manycommunities have recognized that thingshave to change, and they have embarkedon new ways of living.In the last 20 years, there have beenlocal changes. Smoking in public and privatehas declined dramatically. The notionof public transit is front and centre ofurban thinking. However, the collectivemindset is not yet ready to welcome cyclistsmore decisively.New optimismDespite that, I have a new optimismabout <strong>Westmount</strong>’s ability to move forwardwith Theodora Samiotis, the councillorwhom Mayor Peter Trent hasentrusted with the sustainable developmentportfolio, at the helm.Her participation in the Federation ofCanadian Municipalities’ conference lastmonth and her interface with other sustainabilityleaders from across the countryhas led to her endorsement of <strong>Westmount</strong>’splan.She shared with many peers the criticalnext phase of translating local plans intoaction with manageable first steps.However, I can imagine some peoplewill be disappointed at the scarcity of newdeliverables among the 2010 priorities. Ata second look though, and one realizeshow many tricky issues must still be resolved.Heat loss from homesSome 17 or 18 years ago, I remembertalking to Bruce St. Louis, the city’s directorgeneral at the time, about the enormousheat loss from <strong>Westmount</strong> homesand the dubious economic benefit of tryingto stem it. (The “end of oil” would certainlyprovide new incentives.).It is a complex issue both for the cityand, even more so, for the homeowner. Soare many of the other items on the list. Forexample, water conservation is vital in aglobal sense, but how important is it here?Yet many residents want to be able to collectand use rain water – or reuse “gray”water. Do our laws support them? If not,how much should they be changed, notleast to assure continued health andsafety?There is much work to be done to resolvethese and almost every other issueselected.In fact, Sustainable Development coordinatorJoshua Wolfe’s role in helping theother managers define their sustainabilitypathways is as essential as Samiotis’ rolewith her elected colleagues. I even wonderif one person can provide the support necessaryfor the departments to move aheadat an acceptable speed.Jenny Patton, chair of the Healthy CityProject’s environment committee and sustainabilitypioneer, found this when workingwith Wolfe and Recreation directorMike Deegan to convert the annual highlyattendedFamily Day in the Park into azero-waste event. Their efforts may notshow up on any priority list – and it won’tbe totally reached at this year’s event onSaturday, May 29.Nevertheless, their plans demonstratehow city departments are re-orienting inways that will challenge the population tocooperate.Sustainable <strong>Westmount</strong> will become areality when “good thoughts” are changedinto “good deeds.” Citizens have evenmore to do than the city.Citizen activist Don Wedge’s email addressis dwedge@sympatico.ca.Listed & Sold by the Grants!Spacious semi-detached cottage. Corner lot,original woodwork, wood floors throughout,high ceilings, nice staircase and moldings.furnace 3 years old, roof 2002. Garage.possibility of quick occupation. $985,000Motivated vendor, offers welcomed.Over 25 years experience in the greater Montrealarea. Thinking of selling. Call to compare.Claudio TomassoneAffiliated real estate agent514-928-0897ctomassone@sutton.comGROUPE SUTTON EXCELLENCE INC.Chartered real estate broker
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