If you still don’t know whether to vote No or Yes on the East Hill boundary expansion proposal on November 14 perhaps this will help.

Forget the glossy brochures, the cowardly yellow flyer, the radio ads, the signs, Facebook, the failed forums, the blogs, the websites and all the newspaper ads, but remember this. The City tried to prevent this referendum from happening, even going so far as to using your and my money for full page newspaper ads last August asking us to withdraw our elector response forms.

The Mayor and most of the Council subsequently refused to hold community discussions before setting a referendum date. They have used our tax dollars over the last two months to try and convince us to vote yes, money that could have been used for real consultation with us on the future we want for our city, or to fix potholes, or to support our homeless.

Our infrastructure needs to be fixed. We need to continue to beautify our city and to get an overpass built to properly and safely connect the north and south sides of Cranbrook. There are many lots within our current city boundary that are awaiting development, including Wildstone and Shadow Mountain. We need to bring long-term sustainable industries to our city. We need the time, the energy, and the attention of our mayor and council, and our tax dollars, focused on these issues, not on 9,000 acres of new land.

By voting NO on November 14 you are not sending a signal to the world that we are anti-development in Cranbrook, as some would have you believe. In fact I think it will do just the opposite. It will tell the world that if you come to live in Cranbrook you are coming to a place where its citizens demand that the future of our city will be determined through true consultation with its very involved citizens, and not by real estate speculation. And that is the kind of community that will attract families and businesses to live here and secure our future.

Wayne Stetski