Yes you can fight city hall

The perception that you “can’t fight city hall” is nothing new, but it certainly has become an even more prevailing attitude among local citizens of late. We hear it in the coffee shops—and see it in the poor turnout for municipal elections and at many public meetings.
But a group of local residents proved Monday night that you can, indeed, fight city hall—and hopefully their success in preserving the Nelson Street park as “green space” will spur others to take more interest in issues and decisions affecting their lives or neighbourhoods.

Some in the group, who call themselves the Nelson Street Park Coalition, have been fighting the issue for years. And it would have been very easy to just throw in the towel when the push to develop the property into housing lots came back before town council yet again.
They did not, however. Instead, they attended meetings, wrote letters to the editor, and circulated a petition that eventually ended up with 760 signatures. They made compelling arguments in a rational manner, without it degenerating into name-calling and petty comments that too often mar other municipal debates.
Even when council voted 4-3 back on March 24 to proceed with rezoning the property, the coalition did not give up—convincing the committee of adjustment to vote unanimously against the rezoning, which ultimately led Mayor Roy Avis to change his mind in favour of the residents.
Obviously, not every group or coalition will win its case. Bitter feelings exist to this day over the axing of the town bus service more than a decade ago. Deep wounds still fester over council’s decision last fall to hold a byelection to fill a vacant seat, rather than appoint the first runner-up.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether public outcry will force Greyhound to maintain its bus route to Thunder Bay, or at least get a third party to take it over.
The point, though, is that grousing over coffee, or staying home from meetings because of a “why bother” mindset, doesn’t accomplish anything except make our community the real loser.