City’s open house takes ‘racist’ turn

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This article was published 29/03/2023 (1001 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Brandon has “paused” future public engagement sessions for its new city plan following a confrontation on Friday described by city manager Ron Bowles as “highly charged and racist.”

Friday’s open house at the West End Community Centre was one of several scheduled events across Brandon the public was invited to attend to learn more about the city’s plan to develop and grow over the next 30 years.

But the normally civil open house format took a turn for the worse when several people showed up at the community centre accusing the city of wasting tax dollars on “unnecessary” bike lanes and walking paths, and of attempting to implement a “15-minute city” plan on the population, among other concerns.

At least part of the confrontation was recorded in a 30-minute video taken by Rick Macl, owner of The Shed Cannabis Store on 19th Street, and posted to his Facebook page: Rick in the shed.

“We already know what’s going on. This is not a hidden agenda here. We all know about this 15-minute city thing,” Macl can be heard saying in the video to Brandon community planner Sonikile Tembo, who has been hosting the open houses.

“You guys can’t even keep the roads up to snuff, and you think you’re going to add a bike path and take care of that, too?” Macl says in the video.

Bowles asserted in a written statement on behalf of city administration Tuesday, that comments made to city staff during Friday’s open house were unacceptable and took a racist and sexist tone.

“Unfortunately, on Friday night, a couple citizens of our great community took advantage of our community’s openness,” he said. “City staff were treated inappropriately with racial and age-based discriminatory comments. The city will continue on the pathway to establish a city plan that represents our entire community, not a fringe group or [a] racist few.”

The Sun was unable to make out any specific racist comment made by Macl, though several voices overlapped in the video, often inaudibly. Macl’s voice is the most noticeable during the video, which generally did not record many faces. Several other voices can be heard in the room, with the video showing mostly feet and legs lining the walls.

Also clear is the voice of Tembo — a person of colour who took the brunt of the harsh questioning — as she tries to explain the basic tenets of the city’s plan and dispel misconceptions. She repeatedly invited those in the room to share their comments with the city through the survey process.

“I am concerned you are doing something illegitimate underneath this plan,” said one woman who expressed uneasiness that under the city’s plan, her movements within the community would be restricted, again alluding to a 15-minute city plan that several in the group asserted was being implemented in large cities across the country.

Another person believed that, under Brandon’s growth strategy, the community might be divided into quadrants, with expensive new hospitals built in each area that could be accessed on foot or by bicycle.

At several points, Macl expresses feeling bad for “the poor girl” — presumably Tembo — for being alone at the community centre when faced with several people who “have concerns” with the city’s plans, and wonders why the city was not more prepared to have people on hand to answer questions.

On Tuesday, Bowles and Mayor Jeff Fawcett confirmed that Coun. Shawn Berry (Ward 7) and Coun. Bruce Lueeubke (Ward 6) also attended the meeting, and came to the defence of the city plan, attempting to engage those in attendance in conversation. Berry can be clearly heard defending the city plan in the video, stating it “helps us with growth as we go forward.”

The video in question was reposted by the host of a local Facebook page dedicated to supporting the so-called freedom convoy movement, who has been outspoken about his dislike of the 15-minute city concept.

Resident Grant Hamilton, who has been a proponent of improved walking and biking paths in Brandon through his non-profit group Bike Brandon, said the idea of a 15-minute city is essentially a rule of thumb that urban planners like to keep in mind while looking toward a city’s future growth.

“If you’re living in a place that you should have close convenient access to, you know, the place you work, the place you grocery shop, restaurant services — 15 minutes is a nice round number,” Hamilton said.

Bike Brandon had been organizing an engagement session for Tuesday evening through the city’s Kitchen Table Conversations Toolkit, to bring other like-minded individuals together to brainstorm ideas for the city. That event was similarly cancelled, however, due to concerns of being targeted by conspiracy theorists.

“In our case, it was people who are committed to a safer and more convenient cycling in Brandon. But even that group — we had a Facebook event for it — it was starting to be talked about as a target for these conspiracy theorists,” Hamilton said. “It’s disappointing that people who are really deluded by a nonsense conspiracy theory can have this kind of disruptive impact on other people.”

Speaking to the Sun on Tuesday, Macl denied attempting to intimidate any of the city staff, and expressed concern that people “blow stuff out of proportion.” He further stated that he felt bad for the lone city staffer who was there before what was essentially a hostile crowd of about 35 people, according to his estimation.

Macl was also apologetic because he can come across as “intense.”

“Yes, I am a hard pill to swallow. And I am a very open and loud talker, and I talk really fast. That’s my ADHD.”

Fawcett, who has seen the video, said the confrontation came as a surprise to city staff and to Tembo. The mayor expressed his own concerns that a vocal segment of the population was misunderstanding what a city plan is meant to do, and that offering people the freedom to choose whether to drive their car or ride their bike or walk to local amenities has nothing to do with taking away freedom of movement.

“If you lived across the city, to visit your parents? Like my goodness, that’s never even crossed our minds. It’s completely irrational that you couldn’t go see someone in the city. It’s just irrational.”

Tembo declined to comment on the record when reached by the Sun on Tuesday.

Fawcett said the city is still determining what its next steps will be with regard to the open house schedule.

» mgoerzen@brandonsun.com