Dear Editor,

I remain very concerned about the letter signed by Township Councillors Ferguson, Fox, Long, Bateman, Dornan, and Ward and sent to the ALC Sept 9, 2009, as well as to numerous other individuals, including City Mayor Peter Fassbender, MP Mark Warawa, MLA Rich Coleman, MLA Mary Polak, Roberts Bank Rail Bank Corridor Partners, then Chair John Tomlinson ALC, and both local papers.

In their letter, they stated, “We believe the mayor has misrepresented the wishes of both the vast majority of the citizens of the Township of Langley and their properly, democratically-elected council. Three times, the majority of council has endorsed this overpass project.”

After attending the ALC forum Monday, Aug. 30, where I estimate there were more than 300 people and 40 people spoke against the overpass, I once again ask, “Where is this support of which the six councillors wrote in their letter to the ALC?”

The letter goes on to say, “Further, an independent public opinion poll was done, and the vast majority of Township residents expressed support for the project. As the majority of Langley Township Council, we feel it is vital you know that the community supports this overpass.”

During my presentation to Mayor and Council on Sept 14, 2009, I raised serious concern regarding this letter and the councillors stating large public support for the overpass.

The fact is that the Township data collected was considerably less than the numbers collected by numerous local volunteers. We collected 527 petition signatures opposed to the design of the overpass, 417 individually signed letters to the ALC expressing their opposition to the design of the overpass, and 580 answers to a one-question survey.

The councillors’ letter went on to say, “In the future, please consider all correspondence from W. Rick Green opposing this project as merely his personal thoughts and opinion. He does not represent the will of the duly-elected council nor the tens of thousands of citizens of the Township of Langley who support this overpass.”

At the ALC forum, Mayor Rick Green received a standing ovation following a call from Donna Passmore to thank the mayor for this support.

Being that no one spoke in support of the overpass, where are the tens of thousands of citizens who support it?

At my presentation on Sept 14, 2009, I asked councillors to apologize to all recipients of their letter, unless they could produce supporting documentation/data for ‘the tens of thousands of citizens of the Township of Langley who support this overpass.’

At the meeting August 30, 2010, I asked if the ALC had received a letter of apology for misrepresenting the numbers. All of the commissioners shook their head no.

A year has passed, and the six councillors who signed the letter that was sent out to all levels of government owe Langley and all the individuals they sent the letter to an apology for misrepresenting the facts and numbers regarding the public support for this project.

It is a disgrace, and I wish there was a system in place to hold them accountable, as I believe they should be fired.

Unfortunately, we will have to wait a year, until the next election, to remind them of how they let their constituents down by misrepresenting the truth.

Sonya Paterson, Langley

[Note: The editor comments at his blog, Editor’s Notes, at http://tiny.cc/ehh4e ]