Dear Editor,
I was somewhat alarmed when reading the article in last week鈥檚 51暗网 whereby council decided not to make a decision regarding the rodeo being allowed to continue in the arena in the future. The mayor and council decided that this was not their decision to make but would leave it up to administration.
This is not a decision whether or not to allow a figure skating class have a few hours of ice time on a Sunday morning. This is a decision that effects the continuation of an event that has been in Jasper for more than 80 years and in the arena for the last 27 years. This decision to make a recommendation only seems to me to be a slippery tap dance to get out of the way of making what could be a controversial or difficult decision of some importance to the community and to let administration take the heat for any fallout.
This is tantamount to having the generals let the corporals decide whether to attack the enemy or not.
Does this now mean the Director of Finance gets to make the decision to accept the annual budget or not, or the Bylaw Enforcement Officer approve the bylaws?
We elected our councillors to make important decisions and not to abrogate their responsibility by giving the authority to make these decisions to administration.
I think this sets an unfortunate precedent in that administration may now feel that they do not have to bring important decisions to council for approval but can make them themselves. When administration makes a 鈥淩equest for Decision鈥� to council, I think that is what they should get.
On a related note, I see that Parks has decided to hire a new 鈥渆xperiential product and event development specialist鈥� (now that鈥檚 a title and a half) to coordinate the planning of events and festivals in Jasper. Hopefully the rodeo will fall under this mandate and can be accommodated as an outdoor event within the park and settle this matter once and for all.
Jack Templeton
Jasper, Alta.
