Democracy Not Quite So Healthy In Lantzville

In response to a 'Letter to the Editor' they ran praising the democratic bent of Lantzville council , I submitted the following letter to the Nanaimo News Bulletin and, as usual, they edited it heavily, especially the part about reading more of the adventures of Lantzville council on this blog and requesting comments from their readers on same.

Dear Editor,
Before Mr. Forshaw gets too excited by the democratic spirit which he perceives to be emanating from the District of Lantzville (Lantzville council listens to its citizens, May 27/08), I regret to have to inform him that, on the really big issues, democracy continues to be an elusive quantity here in our semi-rural community. One clear example would be when the majority of the current council, without debate or any substantive amendments and, despite 89% of those expressing an opinion (94 submissions) being opposed for a variety of reasons, adopted our new, very pro-development, Official Community Plan in September of 2005.
If you want to read more about the undemocratic nature of the District of Lantzville council and senior staff, go to my Blog, 'Chutzpah', at http://vigilantz.blogspot.com. Sadly, they are far from unique in this respect and this is what happens when an apathetic public abdicates their responsibility and allows the politicians/bureaucrats to set the agenda for them. In any event, I'd love your comments!