Dude, watch your response.
It seems Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran has raised the ire of many local Facebook folks by the way he responded to a resident wanting to know the status of John Hindle Drive and the widening of Highway 97 through part of the city.
In his request to Basran, who he referred to as “my dude,” Easton Doran said work on nearly every major road project in Kelowna is “diminishing” his quality of life.
And he said he’s “disgusted” by what he feels is the city putting Kelowna’s economy first, tourism second and residents last.
“Colin Basran, want to weigh in, my dude?” Doran asked.
So Basran did. But many didn’t like his response.
He told Doran the two road projects asked about are being managed by the province.
“But if it makes you feel better to bag on the city, I’m happy to be your punching bag,” wrote the mayor. “Sorry I’ve made your life so miserable over the years.”
Basran signed off saying: “And I’m not your dude.”
Well, when the response—without Doran’s original email attached for context—hit Facebook, the you-know-what hit the fan.
“What an a**hole response,” fumed Kathy Charlesworth. “(Basran) definitely needs to be called out on this one.”
“Wow, that’s awful. Someone who is an elected official should know better,” exclaimed Ashley Palmer.
Others called Basran “unprofessional,” “arrogant” and “condescending.”
“How rude and defensive, mixed with sarcasm,” wrote Juanita Straub.
Another writer, Sam Nichol, called Basran “an entitled moron,” who delivered a “typical douche response.”
And the criticism went on…and on…and on.
The mayor did find one defender however.
Pat Fountain liked the response.
“If I had to listen to/read comments from every whiny little b***h with their First World problems, I’d have a bad day or two also. Get a life,” wrote Fountain.
The exchange between the mayor and Doran—or rather the response to it—illustrates the bind every elected official, and public sector employee for that matter, faces. Whether they like it or not, they are always “on,” always a representative of the organization they work for.
In this day and age of social media and immediate public shaming, flipping off a constituent is never a smart move by a politician, not matter how annoyed he or she may be by the question, accusation or inquiry.
But what Basran wrote was not that bad. It was a direct response to what he was asked. Could he have been a little more tactful? Sure.
I was once told by a former high-ranking city official one of the biggest constraints he faced, given his job, was not being able to swear in Safeway. It may seem like a little thing to most, but it points to a larger issue. The higher your level of public accountability, the higher standard you are held to.
Kelowna’s mayor may want to remember that next time he gets a snarky email and wants to respond with an equally snarky tone of his own.
In other words; take the high road, dude.
Alistair Waters is the assistant editor of the Capital News