So it happened again: The second of five
planned days of service cancellation throughout the City of Guelph. On Friday
July 9, no facilities were open, doors were locked on City Hall,
libraries and their books were shut up tight, and, oh yes, there was no garbage
pick-up.
Once again though, it seemed that the news
reached deaf ears and blind eyes, at least that’s how it was described by
Guelph Mercury reporter Scott Tracy in a post on the 59 Carden Street blog. “I was out for a bit Thursday night and the affected area is
between my house and downtown,” Tracy wrote. “I stopped and told about 10 people who already had their
bags out or were in the process of putting them out. None of them had any clue
what I was talking about and a couple of them seemed to think I was lying about
there being no services today.”
Little did they know, apparently, that Mr
Tracy is a man of impeccable moral character, but again the debate raged: just
how exactly, given all the avenues of communication available to the City of Guelph, did the
message not reach wider? More still, how detached are these people that Tracy mentioned,
that the news of the so-called “Karen Days” only reached them once it was told
to them by a random stranger on a walk through their neighbourhood?
So in an effort to tackle these questions,
I decided to put together this quick civic engagement guide. Use it well, and
you just might not be the one caught putting out your garbage for a truck that
never comes.
1) Read a Paper – As curmudgeonly as Andy
Rooney is, he was right a few years ago when he said that he didn’t think
anyone that didn’t read a good newspaper should get the vote. Of course, Guelph is hardly Toronto with its
several different daily newspapers to choose from. Still, we do have two solid
newspapers in the Royal City, and if you’re too cheap to pay for the daily, there’s the one that
comes to your house twice a week for free. That’s right, the only reason the
Guelph Tribune won’t come to your house is if you ask it not to be delivered
there. And here’s the kicker: each Trib usually features a two page spread of
City news and updates, directly from the horse’s mouth so to speak.
2) Listen to the radio – Of course, modern
commercial radio isn’t faring that much better than their cousins in print, but
still, for locally relevant bits of news and information, you can’t do much
better for accuracy and immediacy. And again, the City typically buys air time
to update citizens on important news and information, like what days your
garbage might not be picked up. So tune your dial in to either 106.1 FM, 1460
AM, or check out your community radio at 93.3 FM.
3) Visit the City’s Website – Yes, the City
of Guelph has a website. And everything that you might ever need to know
about where to do what and talk to who and when is as close as your nearest
internet browser. Did I just blow your mind? I thought so. If there’s an
important new piece of information the City thinks you should know about, it
usually ends up in a press release right there on the main page. And if that’s
still not enough for you, check out the city council’s schedule so that you can
lodge your complaints in person. Or if you think you can do better than the two
people currently representing you on council, find out how to file and run for
office yourself this fall.
4) Keep reading Guelph Beat and Guelph
Politico – Like my man Shaft once said, I may have to put you down, but I won’t
let you down.
-guelphpolitico.blogspot.com
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