Dear Editor:
As I drank my morning coffee I read the delightful front page article about Ponoka’s rebranding, and almost choked.
Let me just say that I agree Ponoka is in need of a bit of refurbishing. When the town decided to commission a giant bronze monstrosity of a bronco rider I stood mouth agape but slightly amused at the “shout out” to our rodeo roots. When they announced they were going to rebrand I cheered and mentally clapped at the prospect that my dying hometown would make a strong comeback. However, after reading this article I’m again finding myself once again mouth agape in shock and horror. Coun. John Jacob’s assertion, “You cannot tie the hands of a future council.” is shocking.
Making plans for the future without creating any sense of a timeline or potential budget for which future council’s can build upon is not planning. It’s called daydreaming. Daydreaming helps us come up with brilliant ideas but does little to actually bring those ideas to fruition. My second point of concern is the council’s seeming lack of comprehension to how social media works. Social media, by its very nature, requires little input with maximum output. Ask any 15-year-old with a phone and you’ll find out quickly that maintaining a Facebook and Twitter account takes little time (it’s the stalking friends and following fellow Twitterites that takes time). Staffing to maintain these sites would take nothing more than an individual with some computer skills and creativity.
Something the town may want to consider is enlisting the aid of high school students. I’m not sure if this still occurs but at one time the school had a lovely program called Work Experience where students would volunteer a few hours a week to gain valuable experience in the workforce (to state the obvious).
Maintaining a Twitter account and Facebook page sounds ideal. Don’t let what scares you hold you back. We’re better than that.
Jenneth Mills