By David F. Rooney
Mad about taxes, City spending patterns and ‘so-called municipal waste?’ Or do you think things are great just as they are?
Wherever you stand on all things financial you deserve to be heard by Mayor David Raven and members of City Council. And the best way to make sure they hear you loudly and clearly is by attending the Town Hall Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, January 14, at the Seniors’ Centre starting at 6:30 pm.
The meeting will focus on the Draft 2014-2018 Financial Plan that was released to the public on December 10.
That sounds kind of dry perhaps even dull. But it should liven up if residents and taxpayers who attend ask the right questions… questions like:
- Should the City sell the golf course?
- How much more expensive fire-rescue equipment can we afford to purchase?
- Should the City reduce its street-cleaning operations?
- How about reducing its funding of community groups?
- City beautification… do we spend too much money on that?
- Or how about doing away with the social development coordinator’s position? Should we get rid of that?
These are, for the most part, spending questions emanating directly from the results of the City’s so-called customer-satisfaction survey last fall. They aren’t the only ones, either, so click on the link and acquaint yourself with the full range of spending cuts Council can say are publicly supported.
Council will certainly be paying close attention to the survey results received from 943 people. Take a look at the survey results and come to the Town Hall meeting prepared to find out what Council’s thinking about.
Think about this as you consider coming to the meeting: one of our more cynical City Councillors has bet me $100 that it will be attended by fewer than 50 people who are not employed by or affiliated with City Hall. He might win. At the City’s last Town Hall meeting, held Oct 26, 2012, only 44 people showed up — 11 of those were City officials of one kind or another and two were children.
