A Letter To Mayor Dooley

Mayor Dooley -

I agree with your hesitation to spend $33.000 on the Nelson Identity Project which may end-up filed away at City Hall - like other farmed-out projects of similar intent: the Cultural Tourist and, of course, the $60.000 logo.

Whose Identity?
I now see more clearly what transpired around the Nelson Identity/Brand Project before its oddly superficial treatment in the Committee of the Whole (COW), Nov. 18 - which that performance wasn't. With a backroom-arrangement earlier and the public irrelevant - the COW presentation was a barely-there formality only. To be completely by-passed by Kevin Cormack later in his CBC announcement of the same topic.
With his radio-explanation and eventually a 3rd version in the Nelson Star - this surprisingly the most complete - quite disconnected from the COW-reality: things got confusing for me - I felt jerked around.

Neither in the COW nor the radio-item was a focused attempt made to clearly inform the public. The same public Council and Mr. Cormack supposedly are working for. The public? What public?

The sudden identity-crisis not so much one of Nelson per se but its decision-makers: the Chamber of Commerce, the Tourism Developers - but above all the Cultural Development Committee (CDC) and its now appendage: City Council. Mr. Cormack, too, whose job-description does not include single-handed, proactively getting involved on this level. But there he is! All mentioned in this COW as backers of the identity search, branding urge.

While Nelson is what all these groups turned it into, allowed it to become. That's its identity - that's its identity-crisis! Brand that! Outch! Expecting this one-size-fits-all to fix everything will only worsen whatever Nelson's calamity may be: they officially hand over pesky responsibility to this construct. And Donna Macdonald's CDC.

Assets of interest - but are they brandable?
Provided by Drysdale/Mackenzie - fathers of the crisis - as local examples for possible branding: Railtown, Hall St, Heritage, Nelson Commons (Nelson Commons?), the outdoors and The Most Artistic Small Town In Canada hardly qualify. 
A 20/20 look:

Railtown
More a concept than a reality, even when the new Chamber-of-Commerce/Railway-Station is finished: Railtown as such will be a light-industrial wasteland for years to come.
The inside-out bridge at its entrance and embarrassing artsy overkill along the path towards Nelson Ford won't substantiate an art-brand either.
Not brandable

Hall Street
Few people are walking along Hall now - this won't change, no matter what the M&Ms attempt to change it into. And how much money the City puts into it - somewhere between 2 and 3 mill. As funding this white elephant will take many years - work will  be done unnoticeably piecemeal and take forever. Hall may be an artery to the lake - but with its Front St. dilemma and no direct access to the lake once at the lake: this may work as a generic concept for out-of-town experts but not as a reality here. And, M&Ms, nobody's got married in the gazebo yet - thus hardly will in the distant future.
Not brandable

Heritage
It is not a growth-industry - it's what it now is, can't be expanded. Not to forget that Nelson just recently got out of the heritage-cage, and City Hall admits to having to loosen-up somewhat around its heritage-ghetto mentality.
Which had gone as far as - in 2011 - the Heritage Commission (CHC) through Dave Wahn attempting to have its bylaw amended to the effect of the CHC henceforth vetting every single local development-proposal and only if deemed heritage enough handing it to relevant City departments. Council asleep through this one - I woke them in a COW to this disaster-in-the-making. The clause was dropped. Do we want to go there again? Faux heritage development? Benjamin Moore color-charts forever? Council in Victorian drag?
Not brandable

Downtown Shopping
The pretty much consistent number of empty store-fronts on Baker should have made clear by now that there is only so much money to be squeezed out of so many tourists. Via stuff nobody really needs. Unless Baker goes through a serious end-to-end attitude-adjustment: this is it. In the meantime - I have no problem with shopping at the mall.
Also see post Nelson in Living Color, 1 Dec. 2011 below.
Not brandable

The Most Artistic Small Town in Canada
Even Councilor Macdonald - local doyenne of the body artistic - admits in a Council meeting to this never having been more than a bunch of hooey. Branding it would - frankly - be an easily exposed lie. Not nice! It is telling of something that Drysdale/Mackenzie are not familiar with this particular reality nor that of the Nelson Commons.
What we do have though is all sorts of awkward tree-paintings in coffee-shops and the tired Art Walk. We have Castlegar bargain-basement sculptures up-and-down Baker; Ikea shower-curtains on Baker; the artsy overkill at the foot of Baker. Beyond the lie - nothing of quality.
Also see post Nelson: Plop-Art Plopping (Part 2), 20 Oct. 2013 below.
Not brandable

The Great Outdoors
Well, we do have that and like it - but so have many other places. And that's fine with us - we're not into selling this place to the highest bidder, so that certain interest-groups can take it to the bank more often.
Not brandable  

Seeing that none of these assets are substantially unique (and/or existent!) enough - finding some sort of umbrella-branding to include many or all can only lead to a whole bunch of everything adding-up to one big nothing.

An effective Nelson brand would need the proven-and-sustainable abundance of one unique bigtime asset now - which we don't have - not bits of this and that and possibly in the future maybe.

So what's to brand here?

The Branding Police
Say the CDC - and let's face it: it would be they - decide on a particular brand. Then - in order to maintain and add to it - rules would have to be put in place a la heritage, and we would end-up with somebody watching that nobody oversteps. The comfort of uniformity - the status quo. The branding police! Harperville!

The Cultural Development Committee (CDC)
When the CDC was reorganized a while ago - absorbing the then all-powerful heritage-guardians - we seemed to be on our way to a more balanced decision-making construct in cultural matters. What happened though was that new versions of the CHC and Advisory Planning Commission (APC) became subspecies of the CDC - making the latter more powerful than the CHC had ever been. With Councilor Macdonald - the CDC's prime-mover at City Hall - getting Council to throw major money and major concessions at her group. So now there's no end to artsy-this and artsy-that all over the place: none of it having substance, quality because the oddly insensitive CDC's only goal is getting more and more of that stuff out there - and no overall vision with an economic benefit part of it. Because the CDC has no defined identity. On paper yes - in reality no.
Also see post Nelson: Plop-Art Plopping (Part 3), 29 Oct. 2013 below.

Councilor Kiss in the Star: Large sums of money are being spent without this cohesive vision, she said, referring to the informational signage and lamppost banners downtown. This would be a worthwhile investment in advance of all other expenditures. We should know we're not just putting bad money after bad money because we don't have a plan for how things should look. 
Weeell, Councilor, you have a point with those banners, but those large sums of bad money after bad money are being blown by your colleague's expert CDC only(!) - after having been handed to her by City Council: meaning you personally! Without demanding a precise plan/goal, without any preconditions - period. The proverbial buck stops with City Council. This Council obviously an identity-whirligig - with no individual parts.
So unless Council takes a realistic look at its inbred responses, to then force the CDC to do some soul-searching for the greater (economic) good - or else! - this branding-thing is just so much pricey botox.

Nelson Whatever
I suggest that Council rein-in the CDC, put a plug in the approval/money flow and concentrate on eventually finding a single big, exceptional item - as a Nelson Commons could have been - to draw tourists here as a destination instead of stop-over. 
There won't be an increase in tourists with the players habitually just recycling the same-old, only dressing them up in more-and-more over-the-top adjectives. Growth needs stepping out of one's comfort-zone, taking risks - thinking new and bold and big! 
See also Nelson: Plop-Art Plopping (Part 1), 8 Oct. 2013 below.

30 out of the 33 comments on the brand-article in the Star - thus far and an astonishing response for Nelson - see no point in branding: they agree with the mayor. Hello, Council!!! This is your ignored public!!!
No, Sam Van Schie, in the COW above the mayor was hardly outnumbered by the rest of council. Two councilors were absent in body; two were absent in mind - not saying a word; leaving two not saying much of consequence. But then - all this was orchestrated by Kevin Cormack and Donna Macdonald in advance (Stephanie Fischer, CDC-Chair - very seldom attending meetings - in the audience for this one!).

So Council and CDC - bottom-line: what's there to brand, without you making yourselves appear even more foolish - and embarrassing Nelson! Using our money doing it! 

Mayor Dooley, I also agree with your statement that you like Nelson not having cookie-cutter buildings, and there shouldn't be just one design throughout the whole city.
Individuality,
Diversity -
Yes!

Thank you -

c lao s




This is my 100th post.

Images: Keith Haring 

Kevin Cormack's Identity Crisis

The Crisis - Monday
Committee of the Whole (COW), Nov. 18, 2013
Item listed on the meeting's agenda (available for anyone's viewing on the City's website under Agendas):
The Community Identity Project - to be introduced by Chris Drysdale. No organization mentioned. The presentation Proposed: By Staff and the customary cover-sheet Request To Appear As A Delegation signed by Kevin Cormack, City Manager, who is in charge of putting together meeting-agendas. And is he ever!

When the presentation comes up in the COW, Councilor Macdonald - also Chair of the meeting - marvels that (an unusually generous!) 30 minutes are allocated to it. Council doesn't know where to go with any of it.

There are 2 presenters - again no organization. What these 2 will vaguely - in 10 minutes they say - propose is how to brand Nelson. Listing a string of local support for this, hitherto unbeknownst to Council(?) and the general public: among others the Chamber of Commerce; the Tourism Development folk; the Cultural Development Committee (CDC) - of which Macdonald is Council-rep and wouldn't/shouldn't she know unless(!?!). And - drum-roll, please! - Kevin Cormack! The plot thickens - his name already is all over this one!

The Cure

Website agenda-material says:

Consider the establishment of a Community Identity Project for Nelson, in order to take ownership of how we are perceived, capitalize on our assets, and leverage the benefits that are received from being unique.

To be done in

6 months for all stages

meaning

Completion before high season 2014

costing

$33.000

Not introducing anything new, specific to Nelson - but sort-of intending to tie together the wonderful individual parts/aspects of the City already there here. Like the Nelson Commons - as we know (but they don't?) a basic no-frills condo-complex not even past the building-permit stage.

Limpet-like attaching themselves to the Downtown/Waterfront Plan - without having been invited by anyone. Weeell, maybe Mr. Cormack, even though his job-description does not include originating/initiating on his own but implementing directives and paying bills.

The presenters superficially bring up examples of towns where they've already done their transformational thing (only the done stuff - not any economic benefits derived).

All in all they are unconvincing: they have nothing definitive to offer and reply even to simple questions from clueless Council groping, circumventing. Mr. Cormack's 30 minutes are a stretch!

We are not amused - Council says we'll consider and get back to you. The 2 - clearly having expected more - leave in a state of bewilderment.

All this is embarrassing and should be over and done with but - big BUT...

 

The Drug - Wednesday

On the CBC's Early Morning Edition we have: Nelson's Identity Crisis! While Bob Keating - the CBC area-guy and operating from Nelson - reasonably would have been the one to report this: we only have 1 person representing Nelson - drum-roll again, please! - Kevin Cormack!

Telling listeners that the whole thing is a conscious City-of-Nelson project (NOT TRUE!) - through proactive Council (NOT TRUE!) - dealing with this here Nelson identity-crisis. That the list of transformed towns is (not just Examples of Managing Image - but) a collaborative effort of presenters/City to connect with them comparatively (NOT TRUE) and then conclude: going it the same way is the way for Nelson to go.

There obviously are a lot of witnesses to what is actually said in the COW. Including Mr. Cormack!

While the CBC talks with a few people - ostensibly from a few of the listed places - Nelson never comes up, neither do economic benefits to these already transformed.

The Healer

Even more disturbing here: Mr. Cormack has been going it alone several times now. He also totally ran the Baker-amenities redo - actually Council's job - and the soccer-road redo - actually also Council's job. Totally under the radar.

And - by now predictably - Council allows him to happen. Council - nobody keeping it together - at this point in a Council's run pretty much a lame-duck situation. Unless!

For more on that: see post immediately below.

 

City Council: Consensus by Acquiescence

Council 2011
Before the last municipal election, several councilors - presuming to be returned for another 3 years as a matter of course - express hope that new additions will inject fresh blood, energy, vision - life - into the next Council.

Some would call this downright disingenuous drum-beating by/for the circle of the wise. After all - first - how can you be sure of being reelected, particularly - second - as you in a roundabout way admit not being up to the job any longer! In an off-moment Councilor Kozak refers to a councilor's shelf-life.
New councilors - on top of having to learn the job on the job - carrying left-over councilors for the coming 3 years is an appalling thought. Possibly with no blood to spare, and what if they themselves get anemic in the process and possibly because of listless support from the left-overs. This conceivably well before the end of the coming term! Then what!

Not much what! Look at it!

Except for 1 - all those wanting to go it another round are reelected. Not because of their desirability but because there are only 2 possibles standing-by - and somebody's gotta do it! But these 2 - indeed - promise something new.

Candace Batycki: with the environmentally-friendly picture of her in a kayak on the lake - grey hair aflow - Mother Earth come City Hall. We've got context!
Paula Kiss: young and apple-cheek-outdoorsy - finally a live one! - promising regular cafe-get-togethers with the great unwashed. One of us - could it be!
We read of both directly only once - after a year into their turn - in a 2-part interview - Nelson Daily, Dec. 2012 - and although they may have originated stuff since then: we wouldn't know - they're not telling. By now having nicely blended into Council-Chamber-beige. With get-togethers gone where campaign-promises go after.

In my experience this is the only time ever a media-connect of some depth is established between the public and Council: as a rule Council does not volunteer, and the Nelson Star - primary printed-news provider - as a rule does not probe.

Council 2013
So what does it all look like today with 1 more year to go? How tired is tired now: over 2 years after announcing fatigue? Have the 2 newest members in fact juiced-up Council? Become instrumental in making the group an energetic, cohesive force working for OUR betterment? Are there now strong individual voices, opinions coming from moral commitment? Are there now open debates based on these commitments: leading to consensus anchored in a clear vision? 

Let me count the nays!

For those at City Hall who may tut-tut over these questions - an additional set presents itself: Why isn't the public kept informed - let alone to the contrary? Why is there still next to no connect between Council and the public? Why does Council still not seek public participation in the decision-making process - seeing that its members sought office to ostensibly do for the good of the Whole?


As-A-Whole
Public participation is not allowed in Public Council Meetings and not encouraged in the Committee Of The Whole (COW). The Whole not quite. Having to connect with people other than those on City Hall's 2nd floor can be unpredictable, messy for Council. So - better not!

In meetings councilors may become relatively! animated when topics concern inanimate objects: these are safe. Issues of direct human consequence demanding personal choice - moral issues - are not: they tend to make councilors switch-off.
Example: A while ago - in the same COW - councilors come alive over whether a bit of sidewalk to nowhere somewhere in the hills should be surfaced with concrete or crushed granite. Lusty toing-and-froing goes on forever, with the result: the issue is referred back to staff for further exploration. Outsiders may call this a complete waste of too much time.
Then what has been turning more and more into the City's Onagawa-disaster-relief disaster gets less than 5 minutes from the mayor - and not a word from Council.

In-Part
Council inexplicably-or-not does not have an official spokesperson to communicate inside-goings-on to the outside.
Although this may seem to be Councilor Macdonald - consistently the go-to person for the media. This seemingly based in her consistently having more to say in meetings than the other councilors. Often prompted to do so by the mayor(!?!). So she appears - appears! - to be more concerned by being better informed, prepared. Visibly/aurally - thus printably - present: her strategic points made.
This automatically makes the others seem less concerned or at least less well-informed/prepared. Less than.

Since no strong individual points of view are presented convincingly by any of them: consensus usually comes from let's not rock anybody's boat and just get this over with. City Hall expediency.

Councilors never ever voice a strong opinion outside the Council Chamber either. I mean what - if anything - do you really feel about issues like Tasers, the Nelson Commons? What motivates you? What do you originate? Is what stops you lack of concern or being tired of it all or fear of not being liked on the 2nd floor or possible outside-consequences to personal agendas? Not hearing/reading from them as people directly and clearly inside/outside - we really haven't a clue of what they are doing, could be capable of doing individually. Thus lump them all together as - Council. And that frequently with a negative tinge - deserved or not.

The Whole
City Hall knows that the hard-copy newspaper is the most effective local information-medium. Thus the Council Column in the Star could be the major space for individual councilors regularly presenting themselves decisively, definitively to a wide audience - but no! It's sporadic bits and pieces and nothing of consequence we don't know already. We've been so hard at work and wasn't summer fun!

To make ALL councilors more visible, encourage them ALL to be all-around informed at all times, then participate pro-actively: I suggest designating 1 councilor spokesperson for 1 month - according to a fixed rotation-schedule. Only this councilor deals with news-media within his/her month. Immediately after the 2 meetings also writing Council Columns: high points and in-depth looks at projected consequences of decisions to be made or already made. Coming from the official base and adding a personal perspective.
The Columns always announcing dates of up-coming Public Council Meetings and COWs. Inviting the public's attendance at these meetings and feedback to the Star!

There will be substantial shifting on the 2nd floor come next election - a short year from now. Establishing the connection above will introduce councilors in  clear work-mode to the electorate. The councilors' focused public exposure will make the public feel part of the overall process and just may become the  deciding factor in reelection-bids or bids for vertical advancement. 
While introducing the job in hands-on-mode to potential councilors as well.




So simple! What could be better than: all of us together!




   

Poppies

From red - to white

From death - to life

Peace

Poppies: Sondra Wampler