Bullying in Our Village

I'm sure most of you are now aware of that hateful web page that was written anonymously about our little village, and then shared on Facebook.   I regard that page as straightforward bullying!   I felt very badly for those folks singled out for that undeserved wrath on that page!

I will not respond to any of those comments and allegations because they do not deserve a response.  But I was most offended by the venom directed  at our Village office staff and Public Works who work very hard to make our village the best it can be.  I have seen these folks work many hours of unpaid overtime, work all night, or get up from a Sunday family dinner to address a concern within the village.

Their work to improve this little village is very dependent on finances and resources available.  I admire their enthusiasm and dedication!  These are not the people to be bullied for the work that they do -- not that any person should be bullied!

This is all I'm going to say on this - so I've asked my son to close comments on this post.

New Commenting System

Howdy folks!  Rhys here.

As you may know, I help my Dad with the technical side of his blog - I make sure things run smoothly and that the blog looks good.  And part of it is reviewing all comments made on his blog.

I've mentioned before that the commenting system used here since Ray started Write Ray! in 2010 is far from ideal.  We've been looking for new solutions, and, starting today we're going to be trying a new commenting system called Disqus.

Disqus is used by a number of different websites, including the Rocky View Weekly.  This system will (hopefully) allow us to keep better track of comments, and have more accountability for everyone -- this means that anonymous commenting on this blog will now be disabled.

As always, I will be monitoring all comments made on Ray's blog before they are published.  If you have any questions, you can leave them below or on Facebook!

To "Pho Chu Yeung"

I am answering "Pho Chu Yeung," who criticized the Village of Beiseker quite severely through the Village's Facebook page.

I was hurt by the accusations made by this (supposed) Beiseker resident, whom I have yet to meet.

• "[Beiseker] has no full time fire department."  I think we've addressed this first concern in my blog post a few days ago.   One anonymous commenter and I have discussed that a little further on that blog post, too - please scroll down to get those comments.
• "[Beiseker] has no ambulance service."  Beiseker is in the same situation here as every other Alberta municipality.  The ambulance services right across Alberta have been taken over by the province!  The service which we joined (The Kneehill Ambulance Service in Three Hills) was disbanded and is now part of the huge mega system run by Alberta Health Services.  We have little or no say on how this new entity operates.  Please refer this concern to the provincial government.
• "We haven't fixed a "hole" in the middle of town for a year."  Over the past few days I have driven every street and laneway in Beiseker, and I have yet to find the hole to which you refer.  Please give us an address of the nearest property so we may check out your concern.
• "The Town should be audited."  Actually, the Village of Beiseker is audited every spring by an independent auditor.  Those findings are published in a report presented to council usually in April.  The provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs is also informed of the results of that audit.  More information about the annual audit is available to all rate payers at the Village Office.

I hope this clarifies a few of the issues brought forward by Mr. or Ms. "Yeung."   Remember, every council meeting is open to the public.  They are held every second and fourth Mondays of each month in Council Chambers.  The meetings begin at 7:15 p.m.  If you wish to address council at one of those meetings, you must register as a delegation a few business days before the meeting.