Dear Editor:
In light of the recent happenings at city hall regarding the $59-million loan from city reserves to support various city projects, I would like to offer my analysis.
This mayor and council have been working together for a number of terms. Very few new people have been elected.
When Betty McIntosh resigned from Voice, a local municipal voters' group, in 2010 she stated that as a member of this group, she was not privy to many of the decisions/information of the council in that she was not politically aligned with the majority of council. To me, this is a form of intimidation, and Betty succumbed. I honour her honesty.
As a student of and participant in formal organizations, these behaviours frequently occur.
The majority of the group adopts perspectives in line with their political and philosophical perspectives.
When others want to challenge, they are ostracized, forcing the upstart to align or be ignored.
When this continues over time, the organization becomes dysfunctional. However, the members of the group do not recognize this; it feels so familiar. I feel this has happened at city hall.
The concerns and needs of the taxpayers are not foremost in the workings of the majority of council.
They are locked in their own dance of dysfunction. I hope that the mayor and council would take the opportunity of the loan issue to really listen to the citizens and taxpayers of New Westminster.
June Harrison, by email
