Red Deer is Process Oriented, not Results Oriented. The City is shrinking. Residents are moving away, the population decreased by 905 residents in the last year. While Blackfalds grew by 700 residents. Businesses like Greyhound are moving to Gasoline Alley in the County as are retailers, hotels, restaurants and accounting firms. Red Deer is smothering in red tape.
The question is why?
There are lots of reasons, taxes, levies, access, transportation, recreational centres, and cost of living to name but a few. There are answers, solutions and compromises, but there lies one area of concern. It is the process.
The City of Red Deer is more “PROCESS ORIENTED” than “RESULTS ORIENTED”. Concentration on procedure can sabotage the intended result and the wood burning boiler issue was a prime example. The city brought the issue to their Environmental Advisory Committee in 2013 and initially the members voted to allow but regulate wood boilers. The city bureaucracy took it no further for a year then after new members were appointed on the committee, the city brought the question back and recommended outright banning boilers and the majority voted in line with the bureaucracy.
Within minutes Councillor Harris, realized something is not right. We do not like loud trucks but we do not out right ban trucks. Councillor Wyntjes and Councillor Mulder was contacted by a businessman within the city with a boiler, after the bureaucracy said there weren’t any in Red Deer. The issue was brought back to council, revisited and regulation was approved.
This was a 2 year process, the boiler application got lost in the system, the question was brought back to committee for a vote until the desired result was gained. It took a city businessman and 3 councillors to correct a potential injustice.
Politicians are usually more Result Oriented and the bureaucrats are more Process or Procedural Oriented. It all comes down to who is in charge. Apparently it was the bureaucrats who ran the show with the boiler but 3 politicians took a stand.
I can come up with other examples like Hazlett Lake but I am concentrating on the 2017 budget, in this column.
City council is comprised of politicians, and would like to get re-elected so they set up a process, that geared towards surveying the public in what I would call leading questions, and comments, but not flexible in regards to input and timelines.
The budget can be cumbersome, unwieldy, highly geared to specialists and beyond the purview of your average citizen. Luckily we have groups who have a keen interest and knowledge about these things. One group, made up of specialists and ordinary taxpayers, called “Red Deer Taxpayers Association” has taken up the cause to keep citizens from paying too much.
Red Deer Taxpayers Association, has information, background, comparables and thoughts for council and President Jason Stephan wrote to city council an open letter:

“ We understand that you will be deliberating our City’s 2017 operating budget this upcoming January, commencing on or around January 10. These are challenging economic times for many businesses, individuals and families in our community.

The Red Deer Taxpayers’ Association would be grateful if we could be granted an opportunity, if possible in open chambers, to make a 20 minute power point presentation (with perhaps 10 minutes for questions thereafter), anytime during the week of January 9 – 13, in respect of challenges and trends in respect of our City’s operating expenditures impacting our City’s taxpayers. This presentation will be respectful and fact focused.

While this may be a departure from past practices, this Council has the authority to enable our Taxpayers’ Association to make a short presentation, and it would reflect well on this Council if it was open to hearing a diversity of views on the facts, even if those views oppose or challenge the views of some members of City council and City administration.

Being mindful of your busy schedules, please let us know of a 30 minute time that would work during the January 9-13 time period, and we will strive to accommodate.

This letter was sent to council, city staff, members and media personnel. I thought that in these difficult times, shrinking population, shrinking revenues and being an election year, that the politicians would jump at the opportunity to learn and be better able to represent their constituents. But I forgot about the formidable process machine.

A few councillors responded with interest and appreciation. Councillor Handley offered some more flexible alternatives and forwarded the letter to Legislative services.

They responded with:
“Thank you for your email inquiries to members of Council.
City Council approves a budget guidelines for Administration to follow and as part of that direction there is direction on the public participation process. This year, specific to the operating and capital budget, we had a budget open house, a budget booth at The City’s Let’s Talk at the mall event, an on line budget survey, and budget bus that provided opportunities for the public to provide input into the building of our budgets and plans. There is also an opportunity for the public to provide comments via e-mail or in writing to Council on Administrations recommended budget prior to Council deliberation. Council asked for the public input to Administration’s recommended budget in writing and public presentations were not part of the approved process. These comments are provided directly to Council for their consideration as they discuss and debate the budget. If there are specific questions our budget team will also respond directly to members of the public.
Copies of the operating budget binders are available at City Hall, Collicutt Centre, Red Deer Public Library Downtown Branch, and G.H. Dawe Community Centre Branch. There is also additional information on the city’s website at www.reddeer.ca/budget. We have asked the public to submit their feedback by4:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 22 so it can be included in the agenda for Council. Comments can be made on the forms provided at the above locations or via email at [email protected], all of which Council will receive in their agenda packages
Here is the link to the entire Budget release: http://www.reddeer.ca/whats-happening/news-room/recommended-2017-operating-budget-released–.html
The operating budget dates are set from January 10 to 20 and the public is welcome to attend and hear the debate or watch on line at reddeer.ca.”
Why not listen to people who are experts and may know more than most politicians and bureaucrats? Experts who represent by their very name and mandate the very people who will be paying for the decisions made in this budget? They will be listening to bureaucrats for hours and days during the budget process, all the people are asking for is 30 minutes.

If the process does not allow this and a few councillors travel a circuitous route to listen and learn, I hope the councillors get due recognition. Even more importantly I hope the process changes.

Most residents are more interested in the results than the processes. The results are not appearing very healthy, when you hear Red Deer shrank by 905 residents, 10% vacancy rate, 9% unemployment, second highest crime rate in Canada, business closures, and the bad news goes on.

Why not show some flexibility, strive for better, and maybe learn a few things. It is only 30 minutes. What could it hurt?