The Town of Cochrane’s 2014 budget deliberations are now complete, and when all was said and done, the newly elected mayor and council had managed to trim over $200,000 from the operating budget, saving Cochrane property owners 1.15 per cent on their taxes.
Nearly half of the overall savings came in one fell swoop, when the majority of council members sided with the opinion of councillor Gaynor Levisky that the town should not contribute $100,000 to go toward the future implementation of a transit system in Cochrane.
With the exception of councillors Ross Watson and Tara McFadden, council members Jeff Toews, Morgan Nagel, Mary Lou Davis, Levisky and Mayor Ivan Brooker needed little to no convincing to make the cut, but it was how Levisky worded her argument that poses an interesting question.
Levisky said the reason she felt the $100,000 for transit should be eliminated from the budget was because based on who Cochrane residents decided to vote for in the 2013 election, it was clear that the majority of the community was not ready for a transit system.
Is that true?
If you look at who was elected, Levisky’s observation certainly appears to be an accurate one.
Prior to Oct. 21, 2013, there were rumblings throughout town that suggested the election would be a ‘referendum’ on transit. When you look at the mayoral candidates, it’s pretty clear where each of them stood on the issue. David Smith and Brooker, the eventual winner, said they were not against transit per se, but felt it was not the right time for such a venture. Joann Churchill, on the other hand, felt very differently, echoing the sentiment of former mayor Truper McBride, that now certainly was the time to start planning and investing in a transit system.
During the campaign, it seemed transit was not as big an issue as many had thought it would be. The new pool and the tax balance seemed to horde much of the talk, with transit trailing behind.
We now all know that in addition to Brooker winning the mayor’s seat, Toews was the top vote-getter, neither of whom have made their feeling shy on transit.
So now the talk is over, and action has begun, the first being a $100,000 cut to transit in the 2014 budget.
Are Cochranites tired of the transit debate? Do opponents simply want to ignore it, while proponents see it as a losing battle? Or is it only a matter of time before the transit debate speeds forward once again?
