Shout out to San Diego!

That's where the pipe was sourced to repair the watermain.  San Diego, California.  Can you believe that?!  Well, yes I am sure you can.  Calgary was completely unprepared for the disaster that has befallen the water system feeding the entire city.

Leaky pipes

After initially announcing the whole thing would be "done and dusted" in three to five days, it took them three days to actually find the leak and uncover it.  How the mayor could make such an announcement when they hadn't even found the pipe was pure negligence and incompetence.

When I heard three to five days, I immediately said, that means it'll be at least two weeks.  Next thing we know, she announces that oops, another five hot spots had been unearthed and the whole repair will now take three to five weeks.  In my world, make that a minimum of two months.  

Now, Gondek has officially declared a 'state of emergency', so, the entire summer will mean no watering anything and all pools closed.  All the kids who rely on splashing around in a city pool during their summer holiday will now not even be able to turn on a hose to cool down.  So, so sad and all because the city has neglected its infrastructure for years and years.

Her Wokeness

First she tried to blame and province and the feds for the break.  Then she had to apologize because it was entirely a city problem.  Her excuse was that the pipe still had 50 more years' service and should not have broken.  But it did and that's because no inspections were carried out because, because....??  Oh ya, she was spending $2.8 million on a task force to re-brand Calgary's motto from "Feel the Energy" to "Blue Sky City".  In her world "energy" is a bad word; "sky" is better. 

$2.8 million!

So far, there is no clear word on what caused the problem?  However, the city has known since 2004 -- 2004! -- that the outer concrete sleeves of some of the major waterpipes were alarmingly susceptible to breaking down -- including this main feeder.

Calgarians are owed a full explanation, but they're not getting one from Gondek.  However, she has announced a formal review of how exactly the break happened, which will report.....ah.....whenever it reports.  Talk about closing the barn door after the horse has bolted!

The mayor says the panel will be made up of "experts" from academia, the water industry, water utilities management, engineering and government entities focused on infrastructure and resilience.  If we already have all these august, highly-paid experts, my question is, "What in Gawd's name have they been doing?"  Obviously fiddling while Rome burned.

Gondek's PhD in Urban Sociology makes her prone to things like panels and committees.  That's one of her problems.  

And of course, the panel will need to hire outside consultants, says Gondek.  Whaaaaat??!!??  My next question is, why?  With all the internal "experts" no consultants should be required.  However, in order to get (well) paid, the consultants will have to paper over the cracks and exonerate staff -- especially Gondek because she signs the cheques.  

So, basically, it's all an exercise in butt-covering and white-washing.  The other day she actually said, "I know Calgarians want to know how this happened and so do I."  Those last three words are a clear signal that finger-pointing and white-washing lie ahead.  Count on it.

Other luminaries like water "services" director Nancy Mackay, director of capital prioities and investment Francois Bouchart and Calgary Emergency "Management" Agency deputy chief Coby Duerr are busy running around giving briefings to anyone who'll listen, but again, what have they been doing?!!  There's gotta be a few million in salary dollars handed over to these folks, but still the pipe burst.  That's inexcusable.  Heads should roll, but won't.

Well-paid dunderheads "managing" Calgary's water mess.

Frankly, what did we expect from Her Wokeness and her ludicrous "climate emergency" agenda.