Skip to content

Citizens sound off

Lacombians certainly care about how their City is run.

Lacombians certainly care about how their City is run.

They also have no problem letting council know how they feel, as evidenced by the sizeable (and vocal) attendance at the last two City council meetings. And in turn, the City of Lacombe is very good at listening, as evidenced by its recent decision to re-visit the Solid Waste Roadmap.

However, it seems that not everyone agrees. At one of these council meetings I overheard a citizen saying that she felt that few people would give feedback to the City about the Solid Waste Roadmap and another who said that the City had already made up its mind about the issue. I can’t help but disagree. If the City had no intention of revising its plan for the disposal of garbage, it wouldn’t be wasting time and money on a four-month campaign and pilot project to garner feedback from residents.

Had the decision been a forgone conclusion, this City’s back alley dumpsters would already be gone and everyone would be using roll-out bins.

Admittedly, I have not been part of this community long and one could argue I do not have enough experience with council to make these claims.

But, for the short time I have been in Lacombe I have seen the City make great efforts to let taxpayers know what is happening with their money.

Not only that, but the City has also shown that it greatly values the feedback and input of its citizens as well.

At the recent trade show, the City’s booth displayed information about projects the City is working on.

The City also invited citizens to offer comments and ask questions to staff and council during its ‘Coffee with Council’ event. These comments have been collected, presented to council and the information will be used in future decision made by the City.

The City of Lacombe is also undergoing its first-ever citizen satisfaction survey to get even more feedback and find out how the City can better serve its population. Initiatives like these suggest that the City values the opinions of Lacombians very much.

As such, I encourage all to speak up, be heard and give the City the information it needs to make the best decisions possible.