In the last municipal election ‘change’ was a hot topic and electors voiced their desire to see that change become a reality; and it did, just maybe not the way folks expected.
While we say we want change, we also don’t want it. For residents who seek to have a stable economy and balanced budget, change brings some serious uncertainty. Sometimes the devil you know is better than what’s peaking around the corner.
Taking a look at the last three years one might feel that the change we saw did not benefit residents. I would say otherwise.
For an individual to make so-called changes in their lives, it takes a serious force of will and action. The same could be said for a small community that wants to see growth. There are two players that help drive change in a town: council and administration. Sometimes one moves one direction while the other wants to keep on the straight and narrow path.
On the political side we did get change. Council fired the CAO of the day and prepared itself to find a new head administrator.
That certainly was the beginning of a new direction in the Town of Ponoka that set off a chain of events no one could ever expect. While the politicians made their intention known they were ready to move forward with residents’ wants and needs, a slow moving barge — set on a specific course — struggled to adjust its speed and direction.
That barge was the town’s administration, which moved so slowly it was clear no one had greased the gears in ages. The status quo it seemed, was more desirable than treading into uncharted waters.
I’m not sure why there was such reluctance to move forward. Was it lack of experience or knowledge? Maybe it was a general inability to see the benefits of something new. A heavy focus from previous councils on having low taxes may have also been a factor.
What residents wanted, however, was to see change. And change came.
For the last three and a half years the town’s administration has gone through some major personnel rotations. Some residents feel it has been a revolving door with new individuals coming in on a monthly basis. The culture and focus was changing and administration did not know how to deal with it.
That is where the real revolution for Ponoka has been and while these past years may have seemed slow and tortuous on the ‘change’ side of things, there has been a marked difference in the culture of town administration.
One only needs to look at budget deliberations three years ago compared to the current year. Generally speaking administration has taken a ‘can do’ attitude when taking direction from council while providing realistic guidelines. Words of warning, caution and even fear are becoming a thing of the past, for the most part.
Granted, administration has its challenges but on the change side of things, much has happened.
Council, while struggling with internal unity, has still managed to make several things happen not least of which are committees with active members who want to see something happen. I speak of the Economic Development Board and the Downtown Heritage and Revitalization Committee and the Recreation Advisory Committee, plus the Ponoka Industrial Development Board is looking at continuing the plans set forth by a recent planning document.
There’s other groups in that list but the point is things are happening, finally, and this next election will be an important one for residents who want to see that initial momentum move faster. As the culture changes, so does the future of Ponoka and right now it’s looking for the better.