If it isn’t waste (and worse) at public works, what is it?
JUST about everyone knows this scene from television and movies.
There’s a man, pants around his ankles, engaged in “the act” with a woman who is not his wife. Suddenly, the wife bursts into the room.
“Honey! It’s not what it looks like!” It’s funny because viewers know that he is, in fact, doing exactly what it looks like.
When is that scenario not funny? When it’s performed at a city finance committee meeting.
This week, managers from the City of Winnipeg public works department were called to defend themselves against allegations raised in a Free Press investigative series by journalist Ryan Thorpe. The series — Red Light, Green Light, No Oversight — detailed the findings of Christian Sweryda, an independent investigator who used Google Street View images to document dozens of unexplained, and seemingly unnecessary, modifications city crews made to traffic-control equipment and intersections over a decade.
The series documented, in meticulous detail, a long list of unjustified infrastructure rebuilds, the swapping out of traffic-control devices before their normal end of life and traffic-light poles repeatedly changed and moved small distances, or replaced with new ones, for no apparent reason.
And how did public works director Jim Berezowsky respond to the Free Press report?
Councillors! It’s not what it looks like!
“We believe there is an explanation for each and every Google picture,” Berezowsky told the city councillors who serve on the finance committee.
If that’s true, it doesn’t explain why Berezowsky and transportation manager David Patman refused numerous requests for interviews, during which the Free Press was willing to share Sweryda’s research.
Berezowsky actually complained during Thursday’s meeting that he wasn’t given a chance to respond before the series was published, ignoring the fact that he was. And if the explanations were straightforward, why wouldn’t he nip the entire oncoming scandal in the bud?
We should assume that some of the issues raised by Sweryda can, in fact, be explained. But the scope and magnitude of the things he uncovered go well beyond a few unrelated concerns into the realm of systemic concerns.
The other problem that Berezowsky and his department face is the clear need for intersection and traffic-signal improvement all over the city.
From poorly designed “black spot” intersections that regularly generate the highest number of serious collisions, to poorly marked crosswalks that put pedestrians at risk, this is a city that has simply not kept up with the desperate need for basic safety enhancements.
A subplot to the Free Press series on mismanagement at public works focused on the glacial pace at which the city was installing eye-level flashing lights at pedestrian crosswalks. The overhead lights are not just ineffective at alerting drivers, they are rather wasteful. The infrastructure to suspend the lights too high to be seen by some motorists is clearly more expensive than installing easier-to-see eye-level flashers.
Despite clear advantages in terms of both cost and safety, the city has fallen way behind in installing them. In total, 158 crosswalks need the new lights and the 2022 budget approved funding to convert a mere 15 locations this year. That is a maddeningly slow pace when you consider the very strong possibility the city has been squandering funds by unnecessarily replacing traffic lights and the poles they are attached to for reasons not yet shared with taxpayers.
And, finally, this is not the first time we’ve been assured by city managers that what we can plainly see is not what it looks like.
Almost three years ago, a Free Press report on workplace misconduct in the city’s planning, property and development department, based on the findings of a privately funded investigator, revealed some building inspectors were working an average three hours a day, and using paid work time to run personal errands and enjoy lengthy lunch and coffee breaks.
Initially, department managers denied there was a problem. When an internal audit confirmed the Free Press report, eight inspectors were fired and seven were suspended. Those same managers were forced to admit they had some inkling of problems, but did not know the full extent of the misconduct when they rushed to defend their employees.
In fairness, there are instances when something the public views as an obvious error of commission are really just a reflection of the challenges of the job. Snow-clearing is a good case in point.
Most residents believe keeping roadways clear of ice and ruts is a simple matter of diligence. In reality, the combination of snowfall amounts, high winds and rapidly dropping temperatures can create ruts that are very difficult to scrape from streets. As such, the ruts are a reflection of our often extreme winters, and not of any particular shortcoming in city services.
In this instance, however, it’s going to be a lot harder for the public works department to fully explain the worrisome pattern that emerged in the Free Press series. If an internal audit, which is now underway, confirms there is a problem, then you can bet it will shake the entire department — maybe the entire municipal government — to its core.
Right now, the last thing that Winnipeggers need is someone at the city telling them that an obvious problem is “not what it looks like.”
It would be much better to explain why it looks that way and what’s being done about it.