one to watch...

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This article was published 17/2/2012 (2620 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

City hall duffers

THE best that can be said is the city shanked this one deep into the rough. Two dozen citizens showed up on Tuesday at a city hall committee meeting to present their views on the city's plan to redevelop golf courses it owns.

Dozens more were there to watch. So, what does the city hall course marshall do? He shoos them away — without even a rain check.

On Wednesday, Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz blamed the PR fiasco on everyone from opposition city councillors to the city clerks.

"I don't care whether it's two delegations or 22 delegations, (when people) come to city hall to express their views, some of whom have taken time off work or whatever the case may be, I expect the people to have the opportunity to be listened to."

The problem was, the delegations were trying to join the wrong foursomes. They had been booked to address the property and development committee when they should have been booked to address the alternate services delivery committee. One could try to argue carving up city property for development is the rightful domain of the property and development committee. But no, this is apparently an issue of delivering (or in this case, not delivering) the service of golf.

The rules of city hall, and golf, can sometimes seem arcane.

The scorecard reads this was a subpar performance by city hall. And in this case, being below par is not a good thing. We're watching to see if they mayor's edict improves the city's game when it comes to public consultation. Fore!

— David Connors