Rhino's Ramblings - One Plus One Equals Three
By Robert Thomas - Opinion/Commentary
It is one of those issues which is a two-edged sword and it all played out behind closed doors.
The issue is where is the new joint use or amalgamated elementary school going to be located on South Hill or rather I should say what machinations are going on behind closed doors to arrive at the location?
For those who followed this past Monday night's meeting of Moose Jaw Council there was a decision made which should in my humble opinion be raising the eyebrows of the electorate.
SEE RELATED - New Joint Use School
Additionally what Councillor Froese raised was the question of how did this all come about – what exactly happened here?
For the lay person on the outside what has happened is this somewhere, some place, somehow or someone likely within the administrative apparatchik has devised a strategy whereby the responsibility of developing two new neighbourhoods – Westheath phases 5 and 6 – are now the sole responsibility of PSSD and HTCSD.
Development which will not only see the school divisions - or is it the Province - own the extra 24 acres of residential zoned land but also 100 percent responsible for its development and final sale.
Somewhere the divisions (or is it the Province?) have found millions of extra funds to get into the design, development and the final sale of literally dozens of residential lots business.
In a province where teachers are set to strike largely on the issue of classroom sizes a couple of “cash strapped” school divisions have now somehow seemingly come up with the extra funds to get into the property development business. I do not know about you but to me it all seems a little bit weird.
Especially so because for the most part it was all done in-camera or if you like behind closed doors or for some of you “secret meetings.”
I base some of my opinion on the debate surrounding the 2016 cast iron water main replacement Local Improvement Program where then chair of PSSD Tim McLeod stood up and pleaded poverty on the division’s behalf when it came to having to pay their share of the LIP. They simply could not afford it.
Quite honestly I will tell you more than a couple of people have asked me where are the school divisions getting all of this money? Personally I have no idea.
I will add this proviso as best I know the divisions and the province have not made their final decisions to sign off on the deal approved by Council. Will there be more negotiations or is it all now over? Once again I have no idea.
For myself personally though it is a fair question when the cost of purchasing the land, plus planning and then installing the required infrastructure (including green space development) will cost at a bare minimum $6 million.
Just where is this money coming from?
If I was a conspiracy theorist would it be safe to say there may be a private developer waiting in the wings to step in to develop this property? If so then who? And if there is some unseen suitor in the wings is it ethical to hide them?
Now I will note I have seen NO EVIDENCE as such but if there is a hidden developer I think it is time for the school divisions to come forward with their development plans.
In my opinion if there is – and I have yet to see any concrete evidence of it – some land developer in the background there needs to be full disclosure and now.
This is why I have previously submitted a couple of Freedom Of Information (FOI) requests on the subject.
Nobody tipped me off but from my own personal experience when it comes to new school development something just did not seem right here. There was community involvement but nothing like I have seen in the past.
I think back almost 30 years ago to Rosetown and when they shut down Catholic high school education in favour of a new high school it was very easy for the general public to see the process and what exactly was going on.
Asking questions as media or as a private citizen was easy – in many ways they begged you to ask questions is how I would put it.
But when it comes to South Hill’s proposed new amalgamated school there has been public consultations but after that the entire process seems in this scribe’s opinion somewhat hidden when I compare Rosetown and other new schools I have seen buit over the years.
It is something which has to my mind been brought up by PSSD Trustee Jan Radwanski and most likely one of the reasons he was censored by the board for confidentiality breaches. Read the two stories below for more on this.
SEE RELATED - School Board Trustee Censured/Removed From Board Appointments and Trustee Receives Strong Words From Chair For Presentation
It is all about the location and the process of exactly where the new South Hill amalgamated elementary school is going to be located.
In the open debate you can view on PSSD's web-site Trustee Radwanski brought the proposed school location issue up on more than one occasion and each time was the lone vote and “politely” shut down.
On more than one occasion former PSSD chair Tim McLeod, and presently the SaskParty Moose Jaw North candidate, passed the gavel to address Trustee Radwanski's concerns.
Concerns which saw Radwanski asking about utilizing present space such as Riverview Collegiate and Empire School rather than build somewhere else.
As an aside I also need to point out both Councillor Froese and Trustee Radwanski both served as the Chair of the South Hill Community Association and both have at times from what I see as left wing leanings more in line with the NDP.
But this gets me back to the initial question and that is how did this all come about?
Simply put this is how I see it. The school divisions want the proposed Westheath location but the City seemingly does not so in the end the City stuck the school divisions with the entire two new proposed neighbourhoods. And most importantly all of the costs.
Brilliant. In an age of downloading responsibilities onto municipalities by senior levels of govenment someone has derived a strategy of uploading the entire neighbourhood and all of the costs onto the school divisions and through them the Province.
I say the Province because in the end of it all the provincial government sets the school division's mill rates for propertiy taxes and pays the remainder of all bills. They for the most part call the shots.
Now some are going to point fingers at Councillor Brian Swanson who is also a Prairie South trustee but here is the big problem with that scenario.
Councillor Swanson cannot sit on any City committee that would have influenced what happened here because of the penalty handed down because of the Mosaic Place affair.
Additionally he has recused himself from any committee or group at PSSD that is involved in the site selection so that leaves him out of the mix.
Councillor Swanson may personally support the outcome as he has been a vocal opponent of the City developing Westheath phases 5 and 6 at this time pointing out the City does not need the land for years if not decades but behind the scenes he is out of the picture.
There is seemingly something else going on here in the mind of Councillor Froese. Something which she sees as needing as coming out into the light of day.
With elections fast approaching for both the City and the school divisions this is an issue they may need to address or I am guessing they will be asked about it come November.
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And Now For Something Completely Different …
On another note people are asking me what I have been working on and all I can say is yes I have stumbled upon something and here is hoping the Moose Jaw Police Service is working on it as well.
Privacy and filming in certain areas is a very serious issue.
Here is hoping the good people at 21 Fairford Street West are listening.