Niagara Region
NANCY REYNOLDS/Special to Bullet News
Former Niagara Falls city councillor Volpatti recalls the days of the A and B teams – when city council answered to then-mayor Wayne Thomson and there was a visible council split.
She sees a reincarnation at the regional level.
There are many splits at that address.
A well defined group of long-time regional councilors rarely fail to claim the high ground and condescend to newer, perhaps less entrenched councilors.
They may forget it might take new eyes to see the shaky spots in the structure.
New folks may be less likely to maintain the out-dated status quo.
They might even have warm feelings for burdened taxpayers who finance two layers of municipal governing, seemingly without choice.
They also might be less likely hang onto their council jobs with claw-like ferocity.
Volpatti is new to the regional scene but she owns years of good municipal decision-making at the local level. She was a fine part of the city council A team and regional folks anxious to write her off should beware.
Perhaps she sees that regionalism has never really jelled.
The cracks of parochialism and even party politics are still visible.
Rural communities wander around at the edges of debates on major servicing, some of which they will never have and perhaps don’t want.
They watch decisions that limit or channel their land and their money. This is the urban-rural split.
Then there is the north-south chasm. “St. Catharines gets everything and we all pay for it” is the cry that greeted regional government and still is heard today. Truly the issues that face St. Catharines do not relate in Fort Erie.
Niagara Falls has always been “the other city.” Welland and Thorold had an industrial base. Niagara Falls lives tourism. Once again future directions differ greatly causing one more split.
There was a moment when the province could have forced togetherness on Niagara. At inception they might have removed local councils causing all of Niagara to get it right or perish.
Selina Volpatti
That moment is long gone because today politicians fight to win and to keep their positions.
They have been known to fight with no holds barred.
They campaign dramatically to keep their power base whether or not it serves people best.
Yes, Selina, there is an A team and there is nobody from our town with enough history at the regional table to make the cut – but it doesn’t hurt to try.
You go girl.
4 Comments on "REFLECTIONS: A and B teams at the Region? You better believe it"
I have never been in love with Regional Gov’t. Time to split it up! A total waste of OUR money!!
Her history on the A team was not stellar. She supported tax hikes on multipel occasions throughout the years; voted in favour of development projects that failed and cost the city thousands in staff time, legal fees, and reputation; and fought against capital funding for groups like the Boys and Girls Clubs amongst other boondoggles. Yet her she is referencing the A & B teams that was akin to a civil war between City Council and was almost as destructive for the city. What remained from that war was a tale of two cities – a Niagara Falls where in one corner we see shiny towers that gleam like beacons of lights – only to turn a corner and see large parts of the rest of the city living in a type of depressed poverty. What a legacy!
I am a geek who reads the minutes of regionsl council and I don’t think Volpatti attends enough meeting to know if there is an A & B team!
This is somewhat off topic, but when I hear about Selina all I can think of is the double billboard she bought near at Thorold Stone and Stanley at the end of the 2006 election that had the huge glamour shot on it. I cant get that visual out of my head – happy halloween.