I am perplexed at some statements in door-to-door pamphlets
and letters to the editor regarding the folks running for Council seats and
Mayor. Seems like everyone wants to fix
roads and increase economic activity without raising taxes, or even reducing
them, without saying where to cut expenses.
We know this is currently impossible as the city budget and financial
statement indicate little wiggle room.
The Province only funds particular projects in their attempts to exert
control over municipal spending. They
find funds for a municipality with no people,
scattering caribou over western North America and wining and dining LNG
officials, but not for installing badly needed culverts. Many necessary and frequently urgent
expenditures must be covered by our property tax dollars. For example if the RCMP dictates a salary
increase for their personnel it takes an unexpected chunk out of the City’s
spending money.
The pressures of running for office can bring one down to a
lower level where innuendos, labeling and pointing out past perceived mistakes
emerge. To those intent on criticizing
some of those running for office this week, I would suggest they reread the
recent column by our local curmudgeon (Townsman-3 November) and determine
whether they see themselves as an exception to his statement, “Why does an
apparently sane person become involved in such shenanigans? Is it an ego trip? His take on the use of statistics to back up biases is also
apropos. Further, as Aaron Levenstein
has stated, "Statistics are like bikinis.
What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.”
It seems to me that the current Mayor and Council have done
an admirable job of balancing the priorities and warding off the devil (higher
taxes). I would not resent paying
higher taxes to enlarge the contingency fund and maintain and improve existing
infrastructure. It’s a thankless task
being on Council, because the city needs to be attractive for potential new
business entrepreneurs, so
we have to spend to keep up appearances and keep the pipes intact to bring
healthy water in (with fluoride) and
waste out. To paraphrase a common
proverb, “We can satisfy some of the people all the time and all of the people
some the time, but not all of the people all the time.”
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