EDITORIAL: We own the iceberg
by Brandon Mayer
Apparently, there are a lot of issues worth hiding in this township. Here in North Dundas, some members of our municipal council criticize the flaws and misinformation perpetuated by social media, but council nevertheless relies almost entirely on social media and the internet to communicate critical messages to residents. Even online, that communication is minimal, unclear, and hides things from the very people whom council is supposed to serve.
The front page article of this issue of the Times is about a meeting that took place last week – a public information session regarding the Township’s recreation strategic plan. A rather inflammatory social media post by Birket Foster is likely how many residents found out about the meeting. The March 3 social media post reads “The meeting to vote on closing the Chesterville arena, town hall and library is tonight… Tony Fraser where was the community discussion on this?” This post – which is inaccurate – led to two main outcomes: a strong rebuke from Councillor Matthew Uhrig, and an outpouring of outrage from many Chesterville residents who would be upset to see these facilities close. However, they won’t be closing – to do so has always been an available option, loosely discussed, but it has never been a seriously considered plan.
The March 3 meeting was not, in any way shape or form, a meeting to decide on whether any Chesterville facilities would close. It was a way for members of the public to be kept informed of the recreation and culture strategic plan, and perhaps provide some input. Whether or not public input was actually sought or valued at the meeting is a good question, but either way, the collection of data from a meeting that was advertised solely online results in skewed data.
Consider this example: if I wanted to conduct a study to find out what percentage of the North Dundas population knows how to work a record player, I would need to ask a sample. But if my sample doesn’t represent the residents, on average, then my results will not be accurate. One easy way to skew the results would be to ask my survey question only on Facebook. It can be easily argued that younger people are more likely to use social media or to engage with social media posts. It’s also less likely that younger people know how to use a record player. My study would therefore find that less people know how to use one, vs the actual number.
The Township’s method of communicating everything via the internet is overtly biased in this same way. There are certainly North Dundas residents with no internet access. Some Council members vilify social media due to the misinformation it spreads, but then trust social media to deliver choppy information about critically important issues. For lack of a more elegant term here, I must say… pick a lane.
Mail is the only way to truly reach everyone fairly. Public meetings are scheduled well enough in advance that the Township could reasonably put out a notice in the mail 4-6 times annually with important facts about upcoming meetings, and key points about critical issues. This would make it so that if someone posted something inflammatory on social media, it would have little impact, because the already-informed public would shut it down instead of pouring gasoline on the fire of outrage as a result of being ill informed.
People will argue that we don’t have enough money in this township to directly mail information. That’s nonsense. We spend millions on roads, salaries, public works, recreation, and more. Last year, we spent a whole day of staff wages cleaning out the disorganized Township office. A direct mail out of a one page flyer would barely be noticeable in the Township’s budget. Is it just easier to keep everyone in the dark, and use social media to give tidbits of information while making residents who have real concerns or even good ideas seem crazy?
I’ll make this somewhat personal: The North Dundas Times has contacted the Township on multiple occasions over the years to suggest that our print media would be a great way to reach every single resident, not just those who use social media. While the Township has certainly advertised things such as job postings in the past, we are always told that notices about public meetings and other key issues will be put on social media and the North Dundas website only. Considering the money spent on other things, I have always wondered why there is such resistance to keeping people informed. A quarter page space in our paper would cost about 3 cents per resident. Meanwhile, I’m paying nearly $4,000 in property taxes this year, but not a dime of that (or rather, 12 cents for our family of four) can be used to keep us properly informed. In addition to the opportunity to advertise, in 2022, when the current Council was elected, all five members were informed that we would gladly take submissions from them regarding current local issues, and print them at no cost. We have yet to receive such a submission.
In a popular analogy, a picture of an iceberg is shown, with a large part below the water surface (the behind the scenes stuff), and a small part above the water – what we see or know. This is definitely a good analogy for how poorly we are kept informed here in North Dundas. The frustrating part is that no matter how much of the iceberg we get, we own the iceberg. The whole thing. Bought and paid for with our tax dollars.
I’m a grateful that at least two members of council seem to have a strong desire to tell North Dundas residents the whole truth. One in particular has informed me that he intends to go public with some key information in the near future – information that Township staff may not want released. Let’s just say that the “$260,000 solar panel problem” may be much more than a rumour. And if officials really started talking, there would be much more to it than that. The trouble with social media is that when one thing turns out to be false, it casts doubt on everything else, keeping the Township safe from scrutiny. Taxpayers deserve to know more, and there are easy ways to make that happen. It’s our money. It’s our iceberg. Stop only letting us see the surface.