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.