I sincerely appreciated the coverage of the www.portagemultiplex.com website in the Central Plains Herald this weekend.

Especially the comments from Mayor Ken Brennan after he indicated he had never looked at the website.

“I don’t believe that anyplace where somebody can say what they want and not have to sign their name to it is valid,” said the mayor. “It’s not a concern to me.”

How can the mayor comment on how the website works when he has never been there? Perhaps Mayor Brennan should look at the website and see how many city hall employees have posted comments.

And why hasn’t he been looking for this feedback from all taxpayers ?

When launched www.portagemultiplex.com was the only place where citizens could comment on the project, this should have been the first place Mayor Brennan went to every morning.

He has obviously missed all the people commenting in support of the project and offering constructive criticism. With over 15,000 pageviews to the site, it is by far the leading community to share information on the project. And the Mayor and Reeve should take note of the overwhelming majority of commenters who are willing to stand up and put their name to their opinions.

But I don’t expect Mr Brennan to be an Internet expert. He is the Mayor after all and should have more important things to do.

There are high priced consultants that have already been paid millions of dollars to guide the City and RM though this entire project. Shouldn’t public relations and Internet strategy fall under the job description of these experts?

When construction starts Mayor Brennan is quoted saying

“there’s going to be literally hundreds of people in Portage that are going to be relieved that it’s finally happening.”

What about the thousands of people who have voiced their opposition ?

They are the people you should be listening to Mayor Brennan.

Before this goes down in history as Brennan’s Boondoggle.