Dear Editor,
It has taken me some time to subdue my anger and also control my laughter in regard to the ECA Review issue dated Jan. 23 pertaining to ‘County reeve must take course’.
Here we have a ratepayer elected to council, was chosen as country reeve, not once but twice, who feels he can run off at the mouth without any repercussions.
At a county meeting, he inferred to a local plumber as selling inferior products. At the same meeting, he reprimanded an elderly gentleman for using the word “damn” and then he himself used the word “bull___t”.
He referred to a group of taxpayers with the same phrase Don Cherry used “You people”, (our group of taxpayers trying to invoke constructive change to Halkirk Wind II), and then suggested this group has cost the county a lot of money.
No! The county council has cost the county a lot of money because they appear to be unwilling to listen to the taxpayers.
The reeve wouldn’t allow a lady taxpayer to finish her verbal presentation to county council, stating she could hire a lawyer to address the issue with the county.
The reeve has referred to a volunteer lady taxpayer as a “housewife somewhat”.
Now to right all these wrongs he has to take a course in ‘sensitivity training’. Wow! This sounds similar to the old saying “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear”.
When I was informed that one of the lady councillors stated to a taxpayer, “We are elected and we can do whatever we want”, I thought ‘those taxpayers will have no representation for their county concerns’.
It appears some of the county council and administration are of the same mindset of, ‘Do What We Want’.
Where is their Code of Conduct?
I used to be proud of being a former employee (14 years) and a taxpayer within the County of Paintearth but not so much anymore.
With all this bureaucratic rhetoric and the fact this county council wants to make our county, without resident consideration, the red light district (windmill lights), of our province is embarrassing, to say the least.
As the cartoon character Daffy Duck would say, “Despicable, simply despicable!”
Don Coulthard,
Halkirk, Alta
