Whether you like what he said or not, give Lac La Biche County Mayor Omer Moghrabi credit for choosing not to sit on the political fence.
When asked for a response to last Thursday’s police events that forced school lockdowns and saw suspects in a stolen vehicle racing through busy downtown streets, as a police helicopter flew overhead and RCMP crews covered the ground, the mayor didn’t fall back on cliché and common distractions often voiced by political leaders trying to ‘spin’ difficult events to a more favourable flavour.
“One bad apple ...”
“Blown out of proportion ...”
“By the way, do you know about our 150 great fishing lakes...”
The mayor didn’t do any of those things to gloss over the issue at hand.
He didn’t pull any punches. In fact, he put the gloves on.
The uptick in crime isn’t unique to the Lac La Biche community. Thefts, break-ins, drug issues are very common across Alberta, but Lac La Biche County’s mayor isn’t falling back on the overall statistics either. He doesn't want to wait to see what others will do. He wants to make changes, and he wants to start them in his home community.
His response is refreshing. It may not be politically correct to tell criminals they will be ‘hunted down’ by the law if they bring their criminal ways to the community ... but we get the feeling that the mayor doesn’t care about soft feelings and politics on this one.
He’s got his sights set on reducing crime and making criminals pay for the toll they are putting on his community. He’s a big fan of policing and enforcement and he wants to see more of both.
If residents have been feeling the same ... now might be the time to get involved. Political correctness aside, political momentum seems to be taking over.
