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Citizens speak up

Let it never be said that the people have no voice in politics.

Let it never be said that the people have no voice in politics.

While no decision has yet been made by Lacombe City council, City administration, after obtaining extensive feedback from the people of Lacombe, has recommended that council make no change to the type of garbage bins used in the City.

An overwhelming 81% of those surveyed by the City, that’s four out of five people surveyed, who currently have a dumpster would prefer to keep it rather than switching to a roll-out style bin.

Even those in the pilot projects who used the roll-out bins, the vast majority of whom found the bins to be not at all unmanageable, said they would rather keep the large, dumpster-style back-alley bins.

Yes, it would appear that Lacombe’s back-alley dumpsters are here to stay, at least for now.

Although not the only change proposed in the original Solid Waste Roadmap, the decision to change the type of garbage bins used was certainly the most controversial. And, when the recommendation was given by administration at the Sept. 23 meeting, the majority of its packed gallery gave an audible sigh of relief.

Lacombians will have to wait until Oct. 15th to hear a definite ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ from council regarding the recommendation, but several councillors have already voiced their support for it.

It just goes to show that speaking up can make a difference.

Many people say that it is futile to get involved with politics as a civilian because speaking up never makes a difference. Nothing could be further from the truth and Lacombe’s Solid Waste Roadmap situation could not be a better example of that.

Politics only truly work the way they are supposed to when people get involved and make their voices heard.

Councillors who make the decisions that shape communities are elected to do what is best for those communities and represent the interest of the people. How can they know what those interests are if the people don’t speak up to let them know?

They can’t.

Council, the people, and City administration all need to work together to make the process work.

This is exactly what happened here in Lacombe. City administration did their job by engaging the people of Lacombe and hearing what they had to say. Citizens of Lacombe did their duty by speaking up and making their voices heard.

Now it is up to the Lacombe City council to do their job too. Council has heard the recommendations, seen the stats and now we patiently wait their decision to come in a few weeks’ time.

Councillors for the City of Lacombe, this is your chance to do your duty and truly represent the people of Lacombe.

When the vote happens on Oct. 15th, do the right thing and make the decision the citizens of Lacombe clearly want you to make. A voice this loud is not one that can, or should be, ignored.