Leaders, Greed, and Envy

Effective Leaders 

 Leadership is not something that separates one person from the next in a given organization; instead, it is something that unites them. All too often, it has been suggested that a great leader stands apart from the rest of the organization. It is my belief that such a suggestion can only be made by somebody who has never functioned effectively in a top leadership role. Great leaders are the ones that recognize any organization is a product of all the people within it, and that leadership is based entirely upon the willing consent of those who comprise the organization.

 Genuine leadership arrives from the desire and willpower to become an effective leader. The great ones develop these skills through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. It is unthinkable to suggest that education is not part of the equation. If that were true, then why would every major power, government, or corporation throughout history insist on advancing the education of their leaders? Why would governments and corporations invest so heavily in executive education if it was deemed to be of little value? These questions serve to underscore the universal truth that education is one of the most critical building blocks upon which great leadership is derived.

 Education obviously provides the leader with a more expansive breadth of knowledge and a diverse background from which to consider key issues and devise appropriate strategies. It is also associated with extended critical thought, scientific methodologies, and investment in quantitative and qualitative analysis; skills that are increasingly critical to organizational success.

 The basic precept that leadership requires the consent of those who are being led has a correlation to the willingness of highly educated people to accept the leadership of those who have not made the sacrifices required to attain similar levels of education. This is, essentially, seen by those whom they would propose to lead as a blatant devaluation of their intellectual capital; not well received by investors in intellectual capital. In most corporate, scientific, and leading edge research environments, there are certain minimum requirements that must be met; that mechanism tends to mitigate vast knowledge gaps that, in turn, could create issues in the realm of leadership.

Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience 
~ Jago 

Leaders And Followers 

 The need for freely offered support and a willingness to follow extends not just to the top leadership team, but to everyone in the organization. Fred Smith, founding chairman of Federal Express, once commented that by no means were all of his company’s 260,000 people leaders, nor that they even had the potential to be leaders. But those who were leaders, including himself, depended absolutely upon the rest of the 260,000 to get the job done. This applies equally to any organization. One of the most important dicta of leadership in any military leadership institution is "Do not give an order unless you know it will be obeyed". It is a dictum which speaks to the willingness to be led even in an organization where very severe punishment can arise from failure to follow orders.

 The Arab Spring is a glittering example of what happens when people no longer consent to leadership by an individual or group. The movement is exemplified by people who are willing to pay the ultimate price to abolish leadership that has been unwillingly extracted. The downfall of Tunisia's President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the downfall of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, and the downfall of Libya's Muammer Gaddafi are recent examples of consent refusal. The Arab Spring is not yet over; and submission to leadership extracted unwillingly, it seems, creates an incredibly difficult challenge because, as we have seen, some of these dictators have been willing to unleash tremendous violence in order to retain their power.

The worst tyrants rule with the consent of those they govern – even if that consent is extracted unwillingly 
~ Kets de Vries 

Leaders Are Made Not Born 

 To understand the fallacy of born leadership, the annuls of history provide ample records from which to draw; none more prolific than royalty. In observance of royal traditions, leaders are born. So long as some amount of luck and providence might apply, combined with the best education and training possible, subjects may come to know the blessing of a born leader who receives not only willing consent, but who inspires the confidence of their people. We see this in Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The very precept upon which a monarch, such as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, stands on to this very day, is the recognition of their subservience to God. They bow on bent knee to the Master of the Universe, hence the role of defender of the faith taking a paramount place in the ritual of enthronement for the United Kingdom.

 Upon this threshold of celestial power, the basis of moral leadership is enshrined. One might expect the same for all the Kingdoms of the World, but it has not always proven to be so. When royal leadership has faltered, the cause is most often drawn back to the morality of decisions taken.

"In making judgments, the Early Kings were perfect, because they made moral principles the starting point of all their undertakings and the root of everything that was beneficial. This principle, however, is something that persons of mediocre intelligence never grasp. Not grasping it, they lack awareness, and lacking awareness, they pursue profit. But while they pursue profit, it is absolutely impossible for them to be certain of attaining it." 
~ Lu Bu-wei 246 B.C. Chinese Prime Minister under Emperor Ying Zheng 

Leaders And Corporate Greed 

 In corporate environments, the ethos of leadership control is vested in the ability of top leaders to promote and enrich their followers, this has given rise to the unmitigated levels of corporate greed; a most unpleasant subject finally being taken up by a society that rejects and abhors unchecked greed and finds the growing disparity of wealth to be entirely repulsive.

 The sketch of leadership stretching across the millennia arrives at our current station with some number of challenges. Some who are born of leadership assume it with grace and dignity and surround themselves with those who have worked hard to become great leaders; drawing upon the expertise of such people to guide their leadership. They have learned to use the wisdom of others as a graceful scepter. Some are born of leadership learning only to extract subservience through violence; this serves them only to a point.

 For most of us, the great leaders we know are made and not born... but how do they arise to the top of their career ladders? How is it that some great leaders never arise past a certain level? Is it because their greatness is overrated or could it be due to obstacles placed in front of them by the levers of greed inspired by lesser people? Could it be that a huge rush of great leadership focused on correcting the misguided corporate inequities of the day is, in fact, thwarted by nothing more than the power of greed itself?

The wheel of greed applied to corporate profit, wealth inequity, and political reform

  The relentless pursuit of profits results in a tremendous amount of capital being made available for corporate leadership to disseminate. This leads to vast payouts and typically results in a substantial disparity of wealth. In turn, this disparity of wealth, and the uncontrolled spiral of wealth accumulation, has caused in some part, the necessity for massive layoffs and corporate bailouts. Once the corporate bailouts are placed upon the backs of taxpayers, it incites public backlash.

 Because soft money exerts substantial influence over political campaigns, the legislative branch remains beholden to the influence of the fabulously wealthy. Corporate interests influence political leadership through contributions and, this in turn, has a substantial influence upon elections. This, in turn, reduces the proclivity of incumbents to disassociate themselves from their financial backers. The legislative process becomes obviously influenced, which in turn, links back to the status quo. The entire circle is both repeatable and predictable.

 The core problem is those who profit from the status quo are able to influence what may or may not be done to modify the status quo. In other words, it seems logical that scientific management should entail the quest for logical and empirical facts and embrace their unprejudiced and objective analysis. Upon this foundation, policy and administration should be enacted. This does not occur because of an uncompromising maintenance of the status quo and, more accurately, because of the financial power that holds sway over the status quo. At the end of the day, who is going to vote to give themself a huge pay decrease? This is a question which holds a reply that is self evident and has precipitated much political strife.

There are two levers to set a man in motion, fear and self-interest 
~ Napoleon Bonaparte 

Growth and Envy 

 Another difficult problem with leadership is often uncovered when leadership groups are comprised of individuals with great disparity of ability. This often brings forward the emotion of envy. Not jealousy, as that emotion involves losing something one may already have. Envy, on the other hand, is the desire to have something another person has or feeling as though one does not measure up to another. The age old act of comparing to others creates predictable outcomes, one of them is growth; another is envy.

 Let us first examine growth... upon this pillar we find most of the time tested precepts of great leadership. Valued growth can be sustained by effective leadership mechanisms. All of the actions of a healthy leadership group centre around growth. Growth under the guidance of moral and capable people creates the most cherished outcomes of good leadership.  Rejection of envy and embracing growth facilitates many positive outcomes.

 The flipside is an organization where envy proliferates. This is often caused by failure to build a strengths based organization, exacerbated by leadership teams with substantial qualification inequities. It is, perhaps, more rarified to see this particular state in Fortune 500 corporations or in leading edge scientific endeavors where leadership is assumed primarily from within the ranks of qualified personnel. It is, obviously, more prevalent in organizations where a large disparity of qualifications exist by virtue of organizational design.

 In shaping a strengths based organization, one builds upon individual strengths or passions, attempting to create a balance where each leader is accepted due to their expertise and wisdom related to a specific area of assignment. Ignoring the powerful emotion of envy is almost certain to result in lost capacity due to the fallout from schadenfreude, or the pleasure derived from the misfortune of others; the most aggressive form of envy.

What cowardice it is to be dismayed by the happiness of others and devastated by their good fortune 
~ Montesquieu 

Inspirational Leadership

 A leader is someone who inspires a following. Those who wish to become great leaders are faced with one incontrovertible truth, the road to leadership is one with many obstacles and it requires commitment and sacrifice to obtain the skills necessary to become a leader. Groups will only willingly follow leaders, they will not follow managers without the perquisite skills to be a leader.  While it is true that willingness to follow may be inspired by threats or intimidation, such tactics function to send the best and most promising leaders to seek employment elsewhere. As mentioned above, while it is true that some organizational structures may leverage coercion that requires people to follow leaders, in a free society, such tactics will never succeed.

 On the grass roots level, the budding leader must recognize that a genuine leader never seeks to oppress those who wish to learn from their abilities, but rather, they wish to create success for others. There is nothing more gratifying for a leader than to see their protégés elevated in the organization or even in other organizations. This is the basis of genuine reward for a great leader.

 If an individual desires the following that a great leader has, but the group does not follow them and, instead, follows their chosen leader, the envious person will likely be disposed to attack that leader in an attempt to destroy or remove them. That path results in diminished organizational capacity because followers, and the attacked leader, will often seek to find other organizations or other departments within the same organization that prosper through the bounty of genuine leadership.

The best leaders in the world will fail unless they have the trust and willing support of those around them 
~ Witzel 

 Moral Leadership 

 Understanding yourself, your motives, and your moral compass elevates leadership. One of the self evident truths of life is that there will always be those who have greater skills. The great leader recognizes the skill sets of their followers and they embrace those skills. They draw attention to the special skills of their followers and elevate them as integral components of a more successful organization. The weak leader views this as a threat to their own position. Thus, the two waterfalls of leadership, one filled with insecurity, the other with hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and adherence to certain moral values.

 As has always been the case, the leader given to act based on a strong sense of self confidence and grounded with solid moral values, will be able to take decisive action with relative ease. This is done in accordance with the knowledge that what is right must be acted upon. What must be acted upon should be acted upon without hesitation, and thus a perceived ability to take decisive action.

When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier 
~ Roy Disney

Q&A : More About Bike Town

Statement of Independent Opinion
I wish to point out that this article is of my own creation.  I am merely exercising my right to freedom of speech such as would be the right of any Canadian Citizen.  While it is true I am a Councillor, the viewpoints, thoughts, and information provided herein are of my own creation with no intention of representing the thoughts, wishes, feelings, or policies of either the Council or Administration; nor should it be construed to be provided under the approbation of the aforementioned entities.


Statement of  Bias
I'll attempt to answer the common body of questions to the best of my ability.  Since I am a member of Council and have participated in developing the policy guidance for Administration regarding Bike Town, the reader should be advised of this influence upon objectivity.  I am also not a professional brand development expert, and while I will attempt to explain the academic underpinnings of brand development, I necessarily draw upon the expertise of others to frame some of the responses.


What is the process used to arrive at the Bike Town brand?

A business case was developed by municipal staff in coordination with marketing leaders of regional organizations with international reach.  The decision matrix was supported with quantitative and qualitative data from multiple sources and supplemented with longitudinal data from the Board of Economic Development and Tourism.

One of the commonly used theories centers on a the concept of a brand value chain, you can find a primer here.  A brand value chain offers a holistic, integrated approach to understanding the value created by brands. According to the model, brand value creation begins with the town's marketing activities and capacity. Marketing reach then influences customers who, in turn, affect how the brand performs in the marketplace and is ultimately valued by the consumer. Three important multipliers moderate the extent of transfer between these value stages: the program quality multiplier, the marketplace conditions multiplier, and the consumer sentiment multiplier.  This concept is leveraged from financial brand theory and is obviously adjusted for tourism.

There is a large literature base surrounding brands.  Some practices have an anatomy consisting of general procedural understandings and rules that speak to explicit or discursive knowledge.  The skills, abilities, and culturally appropriate consumption projects (tacit, embedded knowledge or how-to) also form a pillar of the knowledge base.  There are emotional commitments expressed through actions and representations relative to the brand, and there are usually common practices across brand communities that may be compiled into thematic aggregates to track how consumers realize extended value beyond the value the brand is designed to create. 

Research also illuminates practices that seem to have a physiology that interact with one another and function like apprenticeships by endowing brand participants with cultural capital.  This is a catalyst to produce a repertoire for insider sharing and it generates consumption opportunities.  Theoretical and managerial implications may offer avenues for building and nurturing brand community and enhancing collaborative value creation between and among consumers and the organizational brand.  Ultimately, these concepts in modified forms combine in a brand matrix that is leveraged by the brand leadership team and the municipal staff who work with the Bike Town brand.

There is no lack of science involved, although it is rarely presented in such terms.  The vast majority of theory generated by branding research may be accessed from peer reviewed resources openly accessible via various academic online resource search engines such as EBSCO.  These resources are available to the public at the Devon Public Library.  While the study of branding is worthy of a dissertation or a thesis for graduate business students, such levels of academe are not typically central to municipal decision making.  This is especially true in smaller municipalities where fiscal constraints compress the ability to maintain staff with these particular skill sets as full time employees.  

Instead, experts such as Roger Brooks of Destination Development International, who have already accumulated the academic knowledge and practical experience are consulted.  This is done to maximize municipal benefit with minimal cost.  Essentially, it may be thought of as a form of outsourcing the overhead required to establish advanced academic knowledge and experience relative to the science of branding.  The municipality is able to advance the brand cause, wrap decisions in advanced theory, and shine it up with practical branding experience.  In Devon's case, that experience, notably, was with other municipalities such as St. Albert, and numerous cities throughout North America.  You can review the Destination Development International Case Histories by clicking here.

Who was involved?  

Municipal staff, members of the public, and key stakeholder group representatives were involved.  More details and a presentation about Bike Town are available online at the Town of Devon website.

Did the Council issue an invitation to the public to participate in the branding exercise?

Council provides policy decisions and authorizes specific actions for the Administration to undertake.  Issuing invitations, coordinating meetings, and handling specific event planning activities, such as coordinating an exercise, would fall under the purview of Corporate Services.  Operational activities such as these constitute prohibited activities for Council under the provisions of the Municipal Government Act (MGA).  Parts 5, 6, and 7 of the MGA are most relevant to understanding the roles of Council and Administration and may be consulted online via the Queen's Printer.  Nevertheless, Council may direct administration to carry out policy, which may obviously include the nature of communication between the municipality and the residents.

What other options were considered as a brand?

Over twenty options were considered.  Bike Town was selected based on a scientifically constructed brand decision matrix.  After rising to the top in the brand decision matrix, supplemental information was considered.  Some of the supplemental data includes information from the Government of Canada, for example, tourism.  Tourism is an activity that generated over $74.7 billion (2008 data), some 2% of Canada's GDP as reported by Industry Canada.  Tourism employed over 660,000 Canadians and supports restaurants, hotels, cultural events, sporting events, and a variety of small businesses.  Sports tourism is the fastest growing segment in the tourism category.  Bicycling is the fastest growing channel in the sports tourism segment. 

How is branding funded without taxpayer dollars?

Corporate sponsors typically fund various events that lead to increased brand awareness, as was the case with Kraft and TSN.  People may voluntarily contribute time, which may be considered "in kind" contributions.  Brand awareness is accelerated via media interest and can be captured through activity in various outlets such as traditional print media, radio, TV, the internet, and strong results in the social media space.   The Cyber-Journal of Sports Marketing has a primer that explains why corporations engage in sports marketing and provides peer reviewed sources that may be consulted by the reader, including Canadian studies.

What measurement tools and/or methodologies are being utilized to determine the financial benefits of each event?

Software for economic modeling, such as IMPLAN, is available at a significant cost.  Devon does not currently own this software.  Accordingly, we reached out to regional partners and the City of Leduc provided Devon with access to their economic modeling hardware and software.  Interviews were conducted by members of Devon's Economic Development and Tourism Board during Nationals.  The report is available to the public and was part of the supporting quantitative data set used in the Bike Town decision matrix.  I will point out that this report is not easily accessible online... I threw a few queries into the Town of Devon website search box and couldn't find the document.  To address this, I will be introducing a notice of motion called 'Public Board Documents' to be filed as notice of motion 11-14-11.3 at the proximal Council meeting.  The Public Board Documents motion may be viewed by clicking here.  The Public Board Documents motion, if passed by Council, will direct administration to add links to these documents in order to enhance transparency and, frankly, to make it easier to find these important documents on the Town of Devon website.


Determining the economic impact of events is a function of an Economic Impact Assessment (EIA) study.  While I noted that economic modeling software can be used to generate very granular assessments of the economic impact of events and/or activities, I recognize that citizens want to know more information about the financial benefits derived from events like bike races.  To that end, I have conducted my own research in order to determine what that entails.  I have learned that there is a standard formula commonly used in EIA's.  The formula is comprised of four data points, two of which are subjective and require further investigation, two of which are empirical and require data collection without special resources outside of manpower.  The formula is as follows;


EIA Multiplier x Number of Tourists x Number of Event Days x Average Spend = Benefit


There is substantial literature regarding this and I will forward some key documents and resources to our staff so they can begin the process of determining the best number for the two subjective data points, namely, the EIA multiplier and the average spend.  Average spend is lower for Devon because we don't have a suitable quantity of hotel rooms to capture stays, a situation we hope to rectify soon.  Our multiplier will necessarily be lower than Leduc or Edmonton due to limited ability to capture room nights and certain limitations regarding non event consumption activities like dining or movies.  Our task is to find the best number possible to use in our calculations.  As you can see, using this formula, an event such as the Provincial Bike Races probably had about 100 tourists (this includes entrants).  Using a conservative number for the EIA multiplier (1.5) and assuming 100 tourists, a 2 day stay, and estimating an average spend of 50 dollars per day, the economic impact would then be as follows: 1.5 x 100 x 2 x 50 = 15,000 of direct economic impact to the community.  


I suspect the numbers are much higher, but I used these as an attempt to offer a very conservative estimate.  For example, the average spend for a municipality like Leduc or Edmonton would probably fall into the 175-225 range due to their ability to capture the totality of room nights.  As such, assuming a mid point of 200, my estimation of 50 slices off 150 per day to adjust for zero room capture within the daily spend estimate.   That said, we do know some people stay in our hotels.  Accordingly, the estimate of 50 can easily be argued as falling on the conservative side of the estimating range.  


Looking at the same formula using the input of 200 as an average spend would result in a substantially larger economic benefit.  That formula would be... 1.5 x 100 x 2 x 200 = 60,000  Suffice it to say, the room night value on the average spend is tremendously important.  On the other subjective side of the equation, the economic multiplier of 1.5, was once again, taken at the low range of estimates.  This multiplier, for many municipalities, is set in a range much higher... from 1.7 to 3.0 and, again, I have used a low estimation as an attempt to overcompensate on the side of fiscal conservatism.  That said, it's interesting to note that if we use an estimate of 2.25 and examine the calculation, the economic benefit jumps from 60,000 to 90,000 - for one event.  Arguably, an overcompensated formula (to the downside) places the case for cost recovery for the total sum of investment to date... at one event.  This is why it's important to measure these economic benefits, with consistency and accuracy, so they may be articulated in a logical, open, and transparent manner, to the residents of Devon.  


In order to understand, with greater precision, the economic benefit of our events in Devon, I have crafted a notice of motion as part of our ongoing process improvement strategy entitled 'Economic Impact Assessment Metrics' to be filed as number 11-21-11.5 and am planning to introduce it at the next meeting of Council for debate at the subsequent Council meeting.  You can read the EIA motion by clicking here.


Data used to arrive at this formula were taken from numerous resources, but the key resources are: 


The United States Sports Academy: A Review of Economic Impact Studies on Sporting Events
LINK

Economic Impacts of Tourism: A Handbook for Tourism Professionals
Illinois Bureau of Tourism
LINK

Once the appropriate formula inputs are determined, it would be logical to place a simple interface on the municipal website under the Economic Development and Tourism heading so that groups or organizations planning events may use the tool to determine the potential economic impact of their events upon the community and to increase transparency into the value of the events this municipality works so hard to deliver.  I believe the numbers will be both realistic and valuable to our community.

How is Bike Town encouraging residents and tourists to shop locally?

Event participants, support staff, family, and spectators purchase goods and services in close proximity to their events; bike races are no exception.  The prestige of the event directly correlates to non-participant visitors.  Larger events like Canadian Nationals or Provincials typically involve more teams, numerous support personnel, additional organizers, more volunteers, as well as family and fans.  The local economic activity is supplemented by regional economic impact such as hotel room nights captured by regional partners in Leduc and the greater Edmonton region.  Since many Devon residents work in the region, an acceleration in regional economic activity benefits the Devon workforce, in turn, creating more economic resources for Devon residents to use locally, thereby creating additional economic capacity to support shop local initiatives.

Shop Local     

An interesting study relative to the economic impact of bicycle races can be found at the League of American Bicyclists.  This study has a substantive bibliography consisting of a an extensive list of resources that speak to everything from municipal benefits to health benefits and environmental benefits of bicycling.  A Google search of the 'economic impact of bicycle races' returns about 116 million hits, so it's safe to say this is a topic that has widespread global interest.

How many tourists have attended the bike races?

Since bike races are not ticketed events and do not have points of entry to provide gate metrics, exact numbers are difficult to quantify.  This is a great question, and I will ask the Council representative and the Chairman of the Economic Development and Tourism Board to raise this at their proximal meeting to explore options to quantify this.  This information is also a critical data point for conducting an economic impact assessment.  This is another great question and it requires a solid answer if we are going to have reliable data sets to calculate the economic impact of these or any events.

What is the total revenue the Town of Devon has generated from entry fees, sale of promotional material, corporate sponsorship not including the $25,000 from Kraft that is dedicated to the Mountain Bike Skills Park, or anything else I may have missed?

Entry fees are typically part of the revenue stream of the organizations that host the event; they are typically used to offset their organizational costs.  Promotional materials are usually entered in the chart of accounts as marketing, advertising, or promotional expenses.  Corporate sponsorship investments are typically directed to event sponsorships or teams.

Total Costs (this was a very lengthy question, but I'll address it as a question that is essentially a total cost of ownership (TCO) question.

Resources used for TCO were drawn from within the existing departments and budgets without creating remarkable budget variance.  Onetime extraordinary charges were associated with intellectual property management.  Remarkable a.k.a. 'material' impact on the Town of Devon's amalgamated fiscal budget is roughly considered to be approximately $50,000 dollars.  In this case, the overall expenses were substantially less even when considering all associated expenses including labor, promotional material, multi-use event equipment, and so forth.  Many of the items that people may associate with the Bike Town brand are deployed for many other events and serve multiple-use roles in keeping with widely accepted tenets of fiscal responsibility and organizational efficiency.


Whenever items of a material level arise in the day to day operations of any corporation or organization, the top level leadership is informed of these impacts.  When various actions of an administration fall within the operating budgets of various departments and do not impact approved budgets negatively, they are deemed to be within the purview of day to day operations of those departments.  Such is the case with smaller items such as the purchase of a couple dozen t-shirts or similar items used for promotional purposes.  In the case of the Bike Town brand, virtually all the expenses fall into this category and would not be of substantial impact such as to warrant the direct consideration of Council, the same would apply in any corporate structure or organization.  


To increase the transparency of budget versus actual expenses, I have introduced a motion to increase visibility by formalizing a quarterly budget vs. actual report that indicates variances in the municipal financial budgets.  The motion is designed to generate quarterly reports that will be formally submitted to Council.  The intention is to provide Council and the public with a better sense of the fiscal condition of the municipality on a quarterly basis.  Since the budget of the municipality is a matter of public record, these reports along with the annual report belong online so as to be easily accessible to the public.  This motion is known as the 'Quarterly Reporting Motion' 11-7-11.1 submitted at the most recent Council under Notice of Motions for consideration at the proximal Council meeting.  You can review that motion here.


Finally, since items purchased in support of Bike Town have been captured as expense entries in our accounting software, these ledger entries may be reported.  I do not know if all the expenses can be captured with a single report, that would be a function of how it was entered.  In other words, if somebody bought a dozen t-shirts for Bike Town, and on the same bill, they purchased promotional items for, say, the hockey arena or the swimming pool, it is likely that would have been entered as one item and posted to promotion expenses.  It would be difficult to report these out of the software with accuracy.  Once we have to send people back into cardboard boxes to audit individual paper receipts, track all the minutiae, and then create a report for it, we have to call into question the concept of activity based costing.  In other words, are we going to spend 2,000 dollars in manpower hours to report on 500 dollars of expenses.  In the oil patch we call that a hundred dollars waiting on a dime.  It just doesn't make sense to do it, but the point is well taken.


That said, I'll inquire to see if we might be able to generate an accurate report that contains the hard costs expended for the Bike Town initiative.  Soft costs, like labor hours, would probably be more difficult to ascertain as I am fairly confident the accounting methods used, while in compliance with generally accepted accounting practices, are probably not set up with a "job costing" feature.  I don't work in the accounting department for the Town of Devon, but I do know accounting software inside and out.  In other words, it is unlikely that the finance department tracks employee hours in this manner.  To do that, employees would need to either make a hard copy record of time they allocated to each task or element of work, which would then have to be entered and a ledger entry created to post these expenses against specific jobs.  They could also employ a bar code scanner and "swipe" in to each job with a portable IR bar code scanner and a notepad.  I am familiar with this because it is quite common in the manufacturing industry and I am deploying this technology in my factory.  This kind of accounting practice, however, would be extraordinarily uncommon in a service related industry like municipal government.


A Few Personal Thoughts on Democratic Values
I have read words that imply or create what seems like innuendo that Council has acted in an undemocratic manner where Bike Town is concerned.  Like any Veteran, I am deeply committed to the virtues of democracy, and like any Veteran, I swore to fight for democratic principles and to pay any price for it, up to and including my life if necessary.  I'm not going to back down from that core value because it defines who I am as a person.  I can assure you that I have no intentions of ever engaging in undemocratic actions or undertaking any work or project for purposes that would undermine the foundations of our democratic form of government.  


On this Remembrance Day, we will dedicate the new Veterans Way, a project I helped facilitate.  I'm very proud of this new honor for our Veterans and I want to salute all our Veterans and their families.  Borrowing words from history, I am able to convey my sentiments by telling you that in war there are no unwounded soldiers.  And as we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  


Some of our citizens have set down the challenge to answer the questions they have.  I believe it's a matter of honor and respect that I should pay, in full, my diligent and honest effort to reply to their questions and craft it with respect and care for the great people of Devon, all of whom I am enormously proud to represent.  


I have thought a great deal about these questions since I read them in the paper.  I'm happy these questions were asked because I have now gained a substantially greater appreciation for the tremendous amount of work it takes to answer what might seem like a short question. These questions were not short, they were substantive.  And once I started peeling the layers of the onion back and became introspective... I considered the questions with the utmost care.  


I have a great deal of respect for people who are willing to challenge things, to ask the tough questions, and to demand answers.  I believe they are the very backbone of our democracy and they cause all of us to continually seek to raise the bar.  


Bravo!  Thank you to everybody who asks the questions and challenges the policy.  This is the very foundation of what makes democratic government great.  Out of these questions, I have so far crafted two notices of motion for Council consideration to improve the way we do business.  


Everybody has the right to be heard... and they should be listened to.  


Respectfully,


Gord Groat

Hitting the Mark

Offshore Wind Generation

According to data from the UK National Grid, production of electricity from wind reached the marker of 10%  during September of 2011, largely from the largess of Hurricane Irene and thanks to Scottish Wind generators.  The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change reported a change in quarter 2 (Q2) that was 120% more than Q2 a year ago.  That substantial year over year renewable gain in Q2 translated to over a 3% gain in national energy provision.  That's a significant gain and one worth noting especially when we see 10% of the UK's entire energy requirement being met with renewable energy.  That's a huge accomplishment and worthy of emulation.

Dr. Gordon Edge, RenewableUK's director of policy, notes that producing nearly 10% of the national energy needs is a clear demonstration that renewable energy can play a huge role in supplying national energy needs, but also, in building jobs and contributing to a low carbon economy.  In fact, the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has created a roadmap (downloadable .pdf), a laudable document that outlines precisely how the UK will make the shift to clean renewable energy, laying out specific technologies and targets along the way.

Scottish Undersea Turbine

But it's not all peaches and cream, as Dr. Edge points out, as the renewable energy sector approaches around 13% of the UK's national power the bottleneck will become difficulties tying into the aging grid infrastructure in the country.  This is a problem that exists in every developed nation and inevitably, it will become an issue for Alberta. 

When the UK hit the 10% mark in September of 2011... at the peak time, 1860MW was being generated - largely from Scotland - and accounted for 4.7% of total generation at the time.  That's impressive by any standard of measure.  If, according to the National Gird, wind power directly feeding into the low voltage local electricity networks by smaller wind farms is taken into account wind generated about 10% of Britain's power during the 24 hour period. 

Solar Capacity added to a Bridge in London

We can accomplish that right here in Alberta.  But it takes courageous leadership, intellectual vision, and solid planning.  In fact, the biggest challenge we face in Alberta is not how to acquire energy nor how to increase renewable production, the challenge is how to rethink our transmission infrastructure.  A viable strategy to shift to renewable energy should be incorporated or associated with every new energy infrastructure plan.  Are we up for the challenge?

Gaddafi : One Cold Night Over Lockerbie

As the guns close in on Gaddafi, there is a sense of vindication for years spent battling terrorism, Mr. Gaddafi was always situated at or near the top of the list, head of the class, numero uno.  Success battling terrorists is almost always, seemingly, rather obfuscated.  Yes, it's true that acts of terrorism tend to seem sparse, but when they occur, they are always quite traumatic and emotionally charged.

Witnessing the devastation of terrorism is difficult for all of us.  We are all witnesses to such harshness and heinous acts... it's called the evening news.  Knowing your own friends or your family members have suffered under the harsh fist of terrorism, that's a bit different.  My friends were among those who died aboard Pan AM Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.  I was going to change my flight plans to fly back with them.  But for a whim, my life would have ended on that fateful day along with my friends from Syracuse.

I've always watched Mr. Gaddafi with a great deal of interest, perhaps the word scorn comes to mind, for I know of the countless murders he has arranged.  The killing was something he happily funded and orchestrated in the name of terrorism; for the sake of terrorism itself.  He didn't have a cause of nationalism to hide behind.  His actions were the actions of a state sponsor of terrorism. 

Gaddafi had only a mask to wear in order to sustain his power and control over the wealth of the nation.  To the extent he hurt or killed Libyans, to the extent he held them back and kept them suppressed emotionally and economically, I don't think it was or could ever be measured with any degree of accuracy.  The extent of his killing in international environments, again, was poorly measured with little accounting of the mountains of misery Mr. Gaddafi has provided humanity across the globe.

Finally, as we stand on the verge of liberating Libya, I am relieved and hopeful the final blow to this cowardly regime shall be dealt with soon.  It is time to end the nightmare of Gaddafi.  But there's one thing I hope for, perhaps with foolish optimism.  I hope Gaddafi will not be killed.  It is my most ardent wish that this person who has brought forth so much indignation, suffering, and desperate pain should have to endure the remainder of his life in an existence opposite his heretofore opulent lifestyle. 

His life as a virtual absolute monarch... those days have terminated.  I detest the idea that he would somehow meet a sudden, quick, and painless death.  The notion that a round of ammunition might cease his physical thoughts and life without knowledge of violence or pain is unbearable.  I'd like for him to live, and under what conditions he should live, I dare say, should be determined at the pleasure of the Libyan people.  Yet I fear the story of a rogue bullet and the sudden liquidation of Gaddafi's life.

That they might forgive their master is unlikely, and that they would grant him a swift and dignified death is equally unlikely.  That they might deal Mr. Gaddafi a life fitting of his unique brand of despotism could, in fact, be well in line with the teachings of ancient ways... May he come to know that his legacy, like all things examined under the scrutiny of light, shall be laid bare by the unrelenting course of truth and exposed for precisely what it is.  

The overarching goal should be that Gaddafi does not die waving a machine gun in the faces of opposition soldiers, lest he dies with the thought that he was an honorable death, the way of the martyr.  For a man who built an empire of violence upon lies, deceit, and terror; no fate could be more horrific than to be denied martyrdom.

Consider the horror he might feel under the light of the truth.  Perhaps there will be justice for those who died when the Clipper Maid of the Seas was blown up one cold night over Lockerbie.  May change bring peace.

Colombia - Land of Emeralds and Gold

Gold and Emeralds

Raw Emeralds at the Mine

Many people have known, for centuries, that the finest emeralds in the World come from Colombia.  If you are in a museum in Europe looking at crown jewels, the emeralds came from the mines of Colombia, probably Muzo or Chivor. 

Entrance to an emerald mine

It might be interesting to take a closer look at the emerald mines, since most of us are accustomed to seeing only the finished product in a ring, or a queens crown.  To this day, the mines that produced the emeralds for Europe's royal households are still operating.  So I thought I'd post a little article and a few photos so that you could see where these emeralds come from, what the mines look like, and get a sense of how it all happens.

The standard operating procedure is that miners pay a tribute to the person who owns the mine.  They enter the mines and work for themselves.  They can sell the emeralds to people who travel to the mines, but few people take the long drive through winding mountain roads to arrive at the mine sites.  Instead, most of the miners take their emeralds to the major market in Bogota where emerald buyers converge from around the World.  Many come from major diamond houses in Europe to buy emeralds and, in fact, some pay with diamonds.  This creates an interesting market where inexpensive diamonds can be purchased in the emerald markets!

Museo del Oro

Those who do drive to the mines are able to conclude their business directly with the miners.  The people who do this typically cut and polish their emeralds and mount them in jewelry that can be found in many of the high end jewelry shops in major cities like Bogota, Cartagena, or Santa Marta.  Another major resource of Colombia is gold, and there's a national museum called the Museo del Oro where some of the best examples of Pre-Colombian gold art can be found.  It is a national treasure and well worth seeing.

A Chillin Porch in Colombia

We also tend to think of Juan Valdez and coffee when we discuss the beauty of Colombia, so I thought I'd put a few coffee photos in here too.  Just so that you can see that Colombia has every variety of coffee imaginable.  The reason Colombian coffee is the best quality in the World is due to the climate and the soil.  This is no different than the Rheims region of France where the best Champagne is produced.  It's about the climatic conditions and the soil. 

Coffee Cherries

Finally, perhaps a photo or two of the colonial architecture and the beaches of Colombia.  Colombia has three colors on the flag, gold, red, and blue.  These colors have significance insomuch as the gold represents the natural resources of Colombia, the blue represents the fact that Colombia has both Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and the red is for the blood of the patriots who bravely defended Colombia and have created the longest standing democracy in all of Latin America.

Beach on the Atlantic Side

The beauty of Colombia is surpassed only by the magnificence of the people.  Consistently, in the United Nations study on where the happiest people in the World live, Colombia is always near the top of the list probably because the Colombian people are very happy in general.  They don't seem to need all the material wealth we have in order to be happy.  I think it also has to do with the tremendous climate and natural wealth of great food, great weather, and every possible kind of climate imaginable within a few hours drive.

So take a look and enjoy some of the photos, I think you'll find Colombia is a very beautiful place.  I know that I've come to love Colombia in a very deep and profound manner.  I love everything about Colombia.  And sure, I recognize there have been difficulties, but what country doesn't have challenges?  The point is this, one can be happy no matter where you live.  But if you happen to live in Colombia... you've got a huge basket of reasons to be happy!

Botero

Canadian Dental Professionals Making The World A Better Place for a Few Hundred Orphans in Colombia!

What did Kindness in Action look like?  Thanks to my good friends at Kindness in Action for sending me some photos!  Kindness in Action is an awesome group of Canadians!  They are a service society made up of incredible people from the Dental professions who are motivated by a belief in the dignity of all people and their right to basic human needs.  They are a non-partisan and entirely volunteer group whose primary focus is dental health.  OK - so the last couple of sentences are pretty much right off their website.

But here's what I think.  My own unedited opinion.  I think they represent the best in all of us, no matter what country we come from!  They're the kind of people who enjoy life and enjoy making somebody else's life a little bit better when and where they can.  It's really amazing to know such fine people! 

How did I come to know them?  Yeah, you guessed it, my dentist & hygienist are part of the group.  They ran into some visa hassles at the last minute, and being the shy, introverted kind of guy I am... I sent an email to the President of Colombia asking for help!  My friends will tell you I'm not exactly shy in that regard. 

Other people got in the game - there was a Senator in Colombia, the Canadian Ambassador in Colombia, the Colombian Consul in Ottawa... everybody pitched in.  And yes, believe it or not, the President's personal secretary answered my email and offered to assist too.  We had it happening from every which way - and it all worked out.  And guess who it worked out for - a few hundred orphans in Colombia.  Excellent!

For my part, I just wanted to do what I could to help.  It was very little of course, I can't provide dental care, that's for sure.  But I do know enough to believe that sometimes, when you write the leader of a country, they will actually answer.  Perhaps not personally, how could they... they've got millions and millions of constituents.  But when people know you are trying to do something for the right reasons, in this case, to help provide dental care to a cool group of Colombian orphans, you know what... people will step up to the plate and help out. 

Somewhere in the President's office, somebody read that e-mail and sent it on to the President's personal secretary who, I'm guessing, mentioned it to the President himself and within a couple of days, we had help from the top!  Everything seemed to start clicking along and it all came together.  And make no mistake about it, I wasn't a key player in any of this.  It's always a group of people who come together to do something fun, something to help our fellow humans.  This is as real as it gets!  I was just a little tiny cog with the audacity of hope and a belief in the good heart of the Colombian people, no matter what their position or station, I love them.  And I want you to know how cool they really are, that's why I'm writing this post.  I also want you to know how cool your fellow Canadians are... the Kindness in Action dental professionals represent the best in all of us.

And here's the best part... anybody can do what I did.  When you're trying to do something to make the World a better place, people can sense that.  They can tell when the feelings are genuine.  Yes, even politicians can be cool!  So this just goes to show that when we take off our partisan colors and act as humans interested in helping our fellow humans - good things do happen.

So I thought I'd post a few photos thanks to these awesome Canadians who were kind enough to share them with me.  For my part, I'm just repeating the wonderful stories, like the little boy who was terrified and cried because he didn't want to get a shot (in the mouth no less).  Now let's face it, none of us like that experience either!  But the little boy made his way through the treatment.  Seeing that it was not so bad, he went around the clinic for the rest of the day holding the hands of the other orphans and reassuring them that it was going to be OK and that it really wouldn't hurt (at least not much).

In a World full of bad news... as they say in the press "if it bleeds it leads" - I thought it would be cool to share a good story.  One that should make us all feel proud to be Canadians... and guess what, even more, one that should make us all proud of our fellow humans who are ambassadors of goodwill.

Thank you Kindness in Action - for all you do.  And thanks to everybody who played a part in making this all a reality.  So many dedicated volunteers, so much work, and guess what, even a little help from a few people who would otherwise have been dealing with the fuss and muss of politics and bureaucracy.  Well guess what, everybody got to feel good about this!

And a special heartfelt thanks to all my friends and family in Colombia for being who you are... the kindest, happiest, and most wonderful people you could ever want to meet anywhere in the World.  And of course, I pay my deepest respect to the personal secretary to President Santos and, yes, to President Santos himself.  I believe he is a good and decent man who is trying to do what is right.  Every politician takes a kicking (don't I know it and I'm only a municipal politician in a small town in Alberta).  But no matter how big or how small we are (and I'm about as small as they get) we are really just as human as anybody else.  We love, we laugh, we hurt, we cry... we are you and you are us.  We are all in this together.

God Bless Kindness in Action!  

God Bless Canada!  

Viva Colombia!  

President Juan Manuel Santos