Granum

                                                       1993/2008

“Any mail?” Chris asked
“Just the tax assessment,” I said, waving the white envelope at her.
“So, how much do we owe,” Chris demanded.
“I haven’t opened it yet,” I grinned, still waving it at her.
She grabbed for it, tearing it out of my hand, and ripped it open. I grinned.
“This can’t be right,” she muttered, staring at the white paper page in her hand.
The grin left my face.
“What is it,” I asked, quietly.
“See for yourself,” she cried, angrily, thrusting the paper at me.
I took it from her, and then read it carefully.
“But this is ridiculous!” I cried. “Taxes can’t go from $800.00 to almost $1200,00 in just over a year!”
“Tell that to the Town Council!”
“I think I’ll just do that,” I said, nodding. “What time is it?”
“12:30, why?”
“Hmm. It’s too late to go to the Town Office today,” I said, disappointedly. “They close at noon. But I’ll be there bright and early tomorrow morning. Count on it!”
I threw the tax notice on the kitchen counter and stomped off into the living room.
I didn’t know it yet, but my visit to the Town Office the next day was to be the beginning of a new endeavour on my part.
I was going to become an activist against brutal taxation!

An hour before noon the next morning I was in the Town Administrator’s Office.
“Can you tell me how come taxes on a sixty-year old house made of cinder blocks merits this kind of outrageous taxation?” I asked, tossing the tax notice on the large light oak desk piled high with ledgers and papers.
A tall, middle-aged, brunette, sat behind the desk.
“Good morning to you, too,” she grimaced, picking up the paper. She gave it a quick glance, and then handed it back to me.
“Well?” I asked, quietly.
“It could have been a lot worse,” she said. “Council wanted to raise the rate to 40 mils, but I tried, and succeeded, in getting them to keep it at 37.”
“Mil rate?” I queried, puzzled.
“Yes, the mil rate,” she repeated, impatiently. “Approximately $37.00 per $1000.00 value of your property.”
“But that’s outrageous!” I cried.
“Maybe. But everybody’s assessment went up this year, and anyway, there’s nothing you can do about it!”
With that, she returned her attention to the papers on her desk. There was a small, satisfied grin on her face.

A week later while shopping at Costco in Lethbridge we stopped at the food court for lunch. A man sitting at a table next to us kept staring in our direction. Finally, uncomfortable under his gaze, I placed the Coke I was drinking on the tray and then turned to him.
“Do I know you?” I asked.
“I’m Frank Simmons. We don’t live too far from each other in Granum,” he said, smiling.
“Well, Frank Simmons, do you always stare at people while they eat?” I asked, smiling back.
“Sorry about that,” he apologized. “It’s just that I heard you were mad about your taxes, and frustrated because you can’t do anything about it. Is that true ?”
“Things sure get around, don’t they?” I grimaced. “Yeah, I’m good and mad, and I am trying to find a way to beat the Granum powers that be, you betcha!”
“There is a way, you know,” he said, lowering his voice.
“You’ve got my full attention,” I grinned. “What is it?”
“Go for a dissolution study.”
“What’s that?” I queried.
“Take up a petition to turn the town into a Hamlet.”
“I’m lost. Care to explain?”
“It’s simple,” he replied, leaning toward me. “There has to be a minimum of 1500 people to make a town. Granum had that many in its heyday, so it became a town. Once it becomes one it remains so, that is unless it is taken over by the Municipality, in this case Willow Creek. Or, a petition to do a dissolution study is sent to The Minister of Municipal Affairs and is granted. In that event everything is put on hold until the Edmonton people finish their study.”
“And then what happens?” I asked, keenly interested.
“Well, if it turns into a Hamlet there is no more Mayor and Council to contend with, taxes go down to the Willow Creek rate, which is about 16 mils, and Willow Creek does everything that we are paying through the nose for now, including the work of the Town Administrator. The only difference is, we are governed by people not living in Granum.”
“That’s a plus in my books,” I growled.
“Anyway, I gotta go,” Frank said, standing up, picking up his tray, and heading for one of the garbage disposal units nearby.
“Will you sign the petition?” I called after him.
“You bet,” he nodded. “You bet I will!”
“What do you think, Chris?” I asked, turning to her. “You haven’t said a word.”
“I was taking it all in,” she said.
“And?”
“I think it’s a great idea!” she agreed. “You should write to Edmonton and get all the information you can on it, and then we’ll see if there ’s anything to it. If so, we should do it without wasting any more time than necessary!”
I was very thoughtful on the way home. A fire had been kindled inside me. I could hardly wait, if what I had been told was true , to get things moving.
I would write my letter to The Minister of Municipal Affairs as soon as I got home, and fax it that very night.

“Well, Chris, I got the information I need to start a petition,” I beamed, waving the brown envelope from the Municipal Affairs Department in Edmonton.
“Close the door,” she ordered, “and then tell me all about it.”
I closed the door behind me, as ordered, and then pulled the thin sheaf of papers out of the envelope.
“See?” I said, still grinning. “A petition paper sample, an affidavit, and instructions on the proper and legal way to take same. I can type up some copies and start immediately!”
“Excellent,” she smiled. “Why don’t you do that instead of standing there talking to me? Go!”
“Okay, I will,” I laughed.
Without further ado I went to my room, sat in front of my word processor, and then began typing copies of the petition paper. When I had sufficient to hold the names of 30% of the town’s population, I made a few copies of the affidavit just in case they were needed.
Finished, I left the room, told Chris I was going out to try to get signatures, and then left the house.
Hours later I had 76 names. Tired from all the walking I decided to call it quits until after supper.
Continuing to collect names, however, became unnecessary. That very evening, the night of the Council meeting, several members resigned. As a result, Edmonton was called in to clean up the mess, and to see if a Dissolution Study should take place.
It seems that Council had us so deep in dept they could no longer see their way out, so it was suggested a study should be asked for. Three members resigned because they didn’t want anything to do with it. The mayor then resigned in a huff. That left only one member. She stuck it out until the Municipal Affairs people got here, and then she had no choice but to step down.
Finally, after a couple of town meetings with the Edmonton people, a vote was taken. It was decided we should remain a town.

Everything went smoothly for a while. The mil rate dropped considerably when the new Council took over, the huge dept was being paid off bit by bit, and people began to relax.
A couple of years went by. The new Council decided to pave the streets. The streets had been paved years before we came to Granum, but for some silly reason Council at that time, headed by the same Mayor now in office, had decided it would be prudent to tear them up. Prudent for what reason escapes me, but there it was. Now, the same Mayor with a different Council wanted to pave them again. True most of the money would come from infrastructure grants, but not all of it. The residents would get stuck with a goodly chunk.
Paving began, and before long our streets were no longer made of gravel. However, the cost went way over budget and again the town’s approximate 400 people were stuck with the bill!

Money, it seems, was again being spent on frivolous, unnecessary projects, and soon we were in debt to the tune of approximately $600,000! That was a heavy load for 400 people! I decided it was time to ask for a Dissolution Study again. Within two days I had enough signatures to request Edmonton to do the Study.
However, I made one mistake: I allowed The Department of Municipal Affairs to send a copy of the petition back to Council. They, of course, saw to it that enough names were erased, for one reason or another, to make the request invalid.
And so my second attempt at making things easier for Granum and its people was quashed.

                                                                  1997

People who had bought acreages were being gouged through mandatory water meters. They had to pay a certain amount whether they used the water or not. That plus very high taxation, up to 10 mils higher than that of surrounding towns and villages the same approximate size, caused them to express their anger verbally.
One such person in particular, and I, got together to discuss the possibility of petitioning for a Hamlet again. Soon two others joined us. We decided that it was the only way to go, as Council was, as usual, deaf to the concerns of the people. Still we hesitated.

Budget time again. Taxes went back up to 27 mils. Everybody was angry. As a group we decided it was time to do what we considered necessary. On a bright sunny weekend the four of us went out gathering signatures. Before long we had more than sufficient to petition The Minister of Municipal Affairs with. Monday morning, then, the four of us went to a lawyer’s office in Fort MacLeod. She was instructed to make certain that a copy was not to be sent back to Council, as they had ways of eliminating enough names to kill the petition, not necessarily honest ways, and that it should be sent by the earliest possible Courier Service.
When everything was packaged to go, and it was time to pay, I cleared my throat.
“How much?” I asked, slightly worried.
“It’s usually $100.00,” she replied, “but hell, you guys have been shafted enough! How does $40,00 sound?”
“Great,” I said, as we all relaxed.
We ended up giving her an extra $10,00 for the delivery, and then made our way to a restaurant across from the Law Office, where we toasted each other for a job well done.

Council was not happy. We had moved quickly, and without warning. The only inkling they had that a petition was being taken up was after the deed was done, so they didn’t have time to go door to door and try to stop people from signing.
However, once they did know they went out in force and knocked on doors. They told people if the town became a Hamlet the bank, the post office, the school, and even the hotel would be taken from us. In some cases one councilman even ordered old people to sign a paper stating they wanted the town to remain a town!
The result of all this harassment by Mayor and Council caused some to ask that their names be stricken from the petition. They were told that it was too late; that the petition was already gone to Edmonton. They were also told not to listen to the lies being circulated by Council, that none of it was true .
People in Granum are funny. They tend to believe anything Council tells them. They don’t seem to realise politicians on any level will say anything to remain in office, or in this case, to keep their town a town.

It took months for the Municipal Affairs people to come to Granum. In the meantime, all expenditures were put on hold.
Eventually, they came, a vote was taken. The Council had spread their fear tactics well, and the people voted to keep the town a town.

However, on the bright side, taxes went from 27 mils to 19.8 or thereabout. People were happy again, and soon a new Council was sworn in, Mike Sherman became Mayor, the debt got paid down, except for one debenture, which would have been paid in its entirety by 2010, and again things became peaceful.
Certain people couldn’t leave it alone, however. The town’s water supply became an issue with some, and soon we were in dire straights again!

                                                                  2007

“They played their cards well, didn’t they Chris?”
“Yeah. All those meetings they had claiming things would be different if they were voted in, the promises they made, etc., got them in. I feel sorry for Mike. No Council is perfect; they can’t please everyone, but his was the best we’ve had in our 15 years here.”
“True. As for this administration, well we know what he was like the last time he was in. The mil rate was a whopping 37, and we were about a half-a-million in debt!”
“I know. I think a certain resident was partially responsible for his getting in, too.
“Oh, yeah, that one went door to door telling people that the water situation was bad, that we were going to run out, and the Mayor wouldn’t do anything about it! The fact was it was all being taken care of. Mike and Council had it arranged with Willow Creek, and the best part was infrastructure money was being put away to pay for it. By the time Willow Creek was ready to proceed there would be enough money in the bank to pay for it! Or most of it!”
“The person didn’t believe it was going to happen fast enough,” Chris nodded.
“But then, I think it was done on impulse, more than anything,” I suggested.
“Well, that impulse could lead this town back into deep debt, and another Dissolution Study,” Chris sighed.
“Please! Don’t even think it! I don’t want to have to go that route again!” I groaned.
“Guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” she grinned.

The first month or two in office one of the Council members resigned, claiming ill health. A by-election was held shortly after and a well-known member of the community was elected. Shortly after being elected she, too, resigned. Another by-election was held, and a man who had been part of the group of four gathering signatures for a Hamlet years before, was elected. It was a runaway as he was the only person that ran.

                                                                  2008

Nine months, almost to the day, the bomb fell on unsuspecting residents. New assessments brought homes and property up to city values. The mil rate should have been adjusted to remain the same or less, but instead Council chose to increase it, raising taxes from approximately 23% to a whopping 80%, depending on the property and home.
Residents were furious!
And then, the new budget showed $250,000 expenditure for a new water pipeline. The Sherman Administration’s plan was cast aside, with the claim it had no merit!
Now with this debt placed upon the shoulders of the approximately 400 and a few residents, plus the brutal tax increases, the people of Granum seethed!
Still, there was another straw to be placed on the camel’s back: Outside watering was forbidden for an indeterminate amount of time due to, and I quote, “Turbidity.” Turbidity?
Now people couldn’t water their lawns, gardens, etc. The talk of a Hamlet Petition became rampant.
I was all for it!
One day I strolled over to Mike’s place. We talked about the town’s situation.
“Is there anything that can be done about it, Mike?” I asked.
“Not much, Victor,” he replied. “I suppose the tax increase could be appealed with a petition signed by 10% of the people. It is a bylaw, and a bylaw can be appealed that way. However, I doubt it would do much good.”
“Then I guess it’s going to have to be the big guns,” I sighed.
“I’m not against that, Victor,” he said. “Willow Creek doesn’t want us, but they’d have no choice if it went through.”
“I’ll have to think on it,” I nodded. “I’ll be in touch.”
“Okay, Victor,” Mike called after me as I moved toward the street. “Let me know.”
I turned, grinned, and then headed for home.

Several people in town were talking Hamlet. I decided to wait and see if any of them would actually start a petition.
As of today, July 22/08 none have. At least, none have gone door to door.
“The hell with it,” I thought. “Like always, Granumites will grumble for a while, and then roll over.”
It had been that way with the three petitions I had taken up over the 15 years I lived here. When it got right down to the nitty gritty, and the final vote had been taken, most of those who had signed voted against having the town dissolve. I wasn’t sure I wanted to put out the effort on what would probably be a losing battle again.
In one attempt at changing things years before a certain member, in good standing with the community, poured sugar in the gas tank of Chris’s van, and then crawled away like the thief in the night that he was…still is!
Within the last couple of days two old ladies approached me, one in the bank, and one in front of the post office.
“Haven’t you got something we are supposed to sign?” the one in the bank asked with a sarcastic grin on her face.
“You want to sign something?” I asked, unperturbed.
“I’ll have to ask my husband first,” she laughed, leaving the bank.
The other old, really old, biddy, a newcomer to the town, came out of the post office and accosted me.
“Why don’t you move out of town!” she cried, angrily.
“I was here long before you, lady,” I grunted. Her face flushed. I thought she was going to have a heart attack, so refrained from further comment.
As stated, both of these women were total strangers to me. I can only surmise that a certain Council member is going around discrediting me to these silly people. An effort to destroy any attempt on my part to get enough signatures should I decide take up a petition? Maybe.
Or perhaps I’m being paranoid.
It has been my experience that most of those in Granum, with small town political ambitions, are the dirtiest of fighters. Fear mongering through whatever lies come to their sick little minds, badgering the older people into voting the way they want them to vote, etc., is par for the course with such.
The next few weeks should shape the future of Granum, but for the moment the furor continues to rage in this our tiny town of 400 and a few people!
The people have the power. Will they dare to use it?
I’m inclined to doubt it! I’ve been at this kind of juncture in Granum’s history a few times now. People don’t change!
Granum, in my opinion, will continue to be administered by tiny town, spendthrift, tax grabbing tyrants, until all small towns in Alberta are designated to become governed by their various Municipal Districts.
Until then, unless the people stop allowing themselves to be manipulated by such, Granum, will remain for most of its residents...a town of seething unrest.