By Steven Sandor

EDMONTON JOURNAL

When Mayor Andrew Knack told the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce during Thursday’s State of the City address that he didn’t support the idea of bringing city workers back to their Downtown offices five days a week, he had a surprising ally.

And that was Cheryll Watson, the chair of the Downtown Revitalization Coalition. She said the current state of Downtown is simply too unsafe to end the city’s work-from-home allowances that have been in place since COVID.

Watson said she has heard terrible stories from members. Just a couple of days ago, two Downtown Revitalization Coalition members’ staffers had to dodge a large piece of concrete that was thrown at them as they were leaving the office. Watson herself saw feces and blood smeared on the stairwell leading to the Loblaws in the Ice District. She said another DRC member told her that someone spit in their face as they were getting off the bus.

She felt that Knack’s rose-coloured portrayal of Downtown recovery “lost the confidence of the room” on Thursday. She said that, yes, it’s the mayor’s job to point to aspirational goals for the city, but that it’s also his job to acknowledge the current hardships. And she said his speech felt like all aspiration and not a lot of reality.

“I felt that it was almost like Andrew was out of touch with the reality of the situation Downtown,” said Watson. “And, recognizing that almost 80 per cent of people sitting in that room were Downtown business owners, I think he really missed the mark by painting such a rosy picture of what an incredible, blissful, sunshine-and-rainbow city we’re living in right now.”

She said that Knack should have also acknowledged the role the surviving members of the Downtown business community have done to try and make the core more vibrant.

Watson said that the Downtown Revitalization Coalition had sent his office some suggestions on some steps that could be taken to make Downtown feel safer, like a Safe Walk program with peace officers. She was disappointed that none of these policy points were raised by the mayor.

Watson feels that the mayor and council are disconnected with Downtown issues “because they’re not experiencing it.”

She said it’s time for Knack to stop “denying the reality” of what’s happening Downtown and in the transit system

To that end, she’s issuing this challenge to Knack and the 12 members of city council. For one week, each would need to use transit for all of their trips — to city hall and back, to all of their meetings, to the ribbon cuttings. If they are telling Edmontonians that ETS is safe and reliable, they should live by those words and make the pledge to not use personal or staff vehicles for a stretch

She said it might give councillors and Knack the chance to see what they’re asking Edmontonians to live with in terms of social disorder.

She said the city could also extend a transit offer to its employees.

“One of the ideas we were wondering about, what if every single employee got free transit, and was encouraged to use transit to get to work?” said Watson. “I wonder if they would all have a different perspective on the environment.”