Category Archives: Thoughts

Consider, Municipal, Snafu

Sad State of Affairs

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It is a sad state of affairs when the citizens of Abbotsford find themselves depending on the provincial government to say “NO” in order to save citizens from Abbotsford city government’s out of control and fiscally irresponsible behaviour. Find themselves dependant on the provincial government to force Abbotsford’s municipal government to exercise self control and discipline, to prepare proper operating budgets and to plan rather than scrambling from cash grab to cash grab, from problem to problem never doing anything to solve the problem, but merely haphazardly plastering over problems.

Lamentably that is the position the citizens of Abbotsford are in, dependent on the provincial government to reject city council’s latest attempt to pillage citizen’s already impoverished pocketbooks in order to satisfy city council’s every growing need for cash to pay for their spending addiction.

Like the panhandlers in parking lots around Abbotsford who approach the unwary with their tale of having run out of gasoline with their car “just a few blocks over there” and in need of gas money to get home, but who are in reality seeking money for their addiction, Abbotsford Council is telling their tale for the unwary of having run out of money and needing gas money (a gas tax) so they too can have money to feed their addiction – to spending taxpayer’s dollars.

Like any addict, Abbotsford city council’s addiction has grown worse year by year until they find themselves teetering on the brink of financial disaster.

Unfortunately, unlike the panhandlers in the parking lots whose addiction has left themselves homeless, it is the citizens of Abbotsford who will bear the financial consequences for city council’s addict mentality and behaviour.

Even, as George Peary was quoted in the local paper, “to the point where people lose their homes because they can’t pay [their] taxes.” A position some citizens have already reached and that current economic conditions have more citizens fast approaching.

Enabling an addict, or in the case of city council a group of addicts, by giving them the money needed to continue in their addiction, does nothing more than enable them to continue in their addiction.

We have to stop enabling city council and allowing it to stay in its addiction; stop permitting city council to continue to act with fiscal irresponsibility, to mismanage city operations and to spend taxpayer dollars as if taxpayers have bottomless pockets that city council can reach into to meet their endlessly increasing need for more (and more and more and …) money.

There is no need to wait to the fall and “public meetings” to begin to act. This is a provincial decision.

Citizens can, and should, begin now and often to contact our MLAs (John van Dongen, Michael de Jong) and the Premier (Gordon Campbell) telling them to “Just say NO” and not to further enable Abbotsford’s municipal government’s addict behaviour.

Indeed citizens who know just how worthless an addicts promises and assurances are, may well want to request the provincial government send in the provincial Auditor General to determine the true state of Abbotsford’s financial affairs and operational status.

We must say NO to enabling Abbotsford city council’s bad behaviours and urge the provincial government to say No as well or accept the consequences of our enabling behaviour and pay the ever escalating costs of enabling city council’s spending addiction.

Consider, Media

Nickel-and-Dimed to death.

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The nickel-and-diming to death of citizens by Abbotsford’s city council has moved from finding as many new ways (new fees, increased fees, zealous bylaw ticketing, etc.) to shake citizens down for as much of their cash as possible – to trying to save money by applying the same principles of nickel-and-diming to expense reduction.

This expansion of city council’s nickel-and-dime behaviour was predictable given the financial bind council has put the City in and their refusal or inability to make prudent spending and spending reduction decisions.

Instead of council making sound, financially responsible decisions, council has chosen the nickel-and-dime the public to death approach.

As if closing the Abbotsford Recreation Center pool four hours early on BC Day to save four hours of staff wages was not penny-ante enough, the City compounded this conduct by failing to adequately warn people that ARC would be closing at 6 PM.

I have been swimming at the pools in Abbotsford for nigh on 20 years and the pools have always opened late on long-weekend Mondays and stayed open to their regular closing time.

Sometime between Saturday 10 PM and Monday 4 PM a small notice, hard to notice because it was tucked out of the way, appeared setting out the change in hours. I know that this notice was not there Saturday at 10 PM because several of the regulars I had warned about this change scoured the admission desk and could find no notice.

I could warn them only because staff had asked me if I was aware they were closing at six on Monday.

This lack of notice leaves those returning from long weekend travel (and Monday evenings on long weekends travellers fill the pool) or who attended agri-fair and who want to go to the pool to cool off and relax – to arrive at ARC to find the doors locked and the pool closed. Let us not forget (as the City did) the regulars who, not having been warned, will arrive and find the doors closed.

To save four hours of salaries. Well, four hours of salaries less the admission fees forgone; which on the last night of a hot summer long weekend are likely to exceed the salaries saved. Resulting in it having cost the City money (income) to “save” paying wages. A rather pyrrhic victory on the “saving money” front; but then pyrrhic victories on saving money are all too often business as usual for Abbotsford’s city council.

Council’s inadequacies have placed Abbotsford in a financial bind at a time when it is facing the need to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure to maintain the city’s liveability.

Citizens are not asking for brilliance, merely for competency.

Because unless we can manage to create a culture of competence at City Hall and on City Council we are in real danger of having Abbotsford become unliveable and/or the first Canadian city to go bankrupt.

Issues, Municipal, Poverty, Snafu

Preying on the Poor and Homeless

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Reprehensible, despicable, abominable, anathema?

Anathema, best begins to reflect the contempt I hold those who prey upon the poor in; a behaviour that is unfortunately neither unusual nor that rare in Abbotsford.

I spent time on July 31 paying rent and other bills which left me broke but secure for another month. I could do this because the monies due me were in fact deposited in my bank account.

I spent time on August 1 explaining to a gentleman what the rules were and what he needed to do to get a bed in the shelter that evening. He found himself in need of a bed at the emergency shelter because monies due him had not been paid. Sadly he was not the only person finding themselves in a bad situation because this “employer” had not paid people the wages they were due.

One of the other people who were on this job had been at the shelter when this “employment opportunity” came his way. Had been at the shelter because, with the long hours they were working, he had not returned to the shelter in order not to lose this “job” and the opportunity it represented to earn enough money to be able to afford an apartment and to start to get his feet back under him.

In doing the demolition on what had been the Grand Theatre in the Clearbrook Town Square Mall on South Fraser Way in Abbotsford they had been labouring hard 14+ hours a day to be done by the deadline.

These were not the only two victims who had the rug pulled out from under them once the job was finished. The friend I was sitting beside on August 1 had been telling me about others who had also been left owed a thousand plus dollars of wages for this job. After the gentleman had left my friend gave me a ‘what are you going to do about this’ look – a look he is very good at.

The people hired to do the hard labour during the demolition were homeless or poor in need of the money for rent so as not to join the growing ranks of homeless on Abbotsford’s streets or to get off the streets into housing.

They are each owed $1,000+ apiece and have been told there is no money to pay them what is owed, that they may get 25% of what they earned. Often in these circumstances they get nothing. Or only get the small “advances” given by the “kind, understanding” boss to keep them coming back and working hard.

To quote Samuel Butler: Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.
This kind of behaviour is why temporary labour agencies have long lines of workers at their doors – better to get minimum wage and actually be paid than to “earn” double the minimum wage but never see a cent.

The poor and homeless are seen as powerless victims who, lacking power, are helpless to do anything about collecting the monies owed them. Prey to be exploited to line someone’s pockets.

In this instance, even if they thought about filing a lien, could they fill out the paperwork and then file their class action suit in small claims court?

Except … for a certain ‘what are you going to do about this’ look. I told my friend to pass along the fact that we can, should, will file a lien to get their money. That I can and will help them fill out the paperwork and file their lien to get the monies they earned through hard work if necessary.

If city council feels the need to pull business licenses or deny the ability to do business in Abbotsford they should apply this principle to those who prey on the poor and powerless, not just to those who annoy the powerful. They should be telling those who seek wealth by preying on the poor that this is not an acceptable business practice in Abbotsford.

Consider, Municipal, Snafu

Procrastination …

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… is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill

Is it just me or does it strike others that a headline screaming ‘WATER DANGEROUSLY LOW’ and proclaiming that a ‘sprinkling ban (is) coming’ in this the summer of 2009 is at odds with the statement ‘Abbotsford is anticipated to have enough water until 2018’.

Given Abbotsford City Staff and Council’s record on “anticipated” over the past years I certainly don’t want to be gambling on Abbotsford having enough water until 2018. More importantly why are we gambling on having enough water until 2018 rather than being prudent and investing in the future of Abbotsford’s water supply now?

‘Because the 12 reservoirs serving Abbotsford refill overnight (from Norrish Creek and from the 17 wells), the city only needs to worry about its peak daily water consumption.’ Council might want to follow the example of other municipalities in the lower mainland and spare some thought to what happens to the refilling of reservoirs if the flow of Norrish Creek diminishes, given the low snow pack and the effect this has had on the levels of lakes and streams in the lower mainland.

Look around your neighbourhood and you will see those new steel signs detailing the watering restrictions. The appearance of the signs for the first time this year suggests the City was aware of possible water supply problems this summer.

Council and staff have been well aware for years of the need to invest in the city’s water infrastructure to meet the city’s growing demand for water. What was the City’s response?

To ‘buy time before it has to tap into a new water supply’; how many millions of taxpayer dollars are we misapplying to ‘buying time’ rather than investing in building the infrastructure we need to meet Abbotsford’s water needs?

It is not just the millions spent on stopgap measures such as the Bevan wells; Mill Lake is a jewel in the center of Abbotsford – what is pumping water out of the ground under Mill Lake doing to this jewel’s future?

What businesses are going to want to locate to a City with a ‘dangerously low’ and/or inadequate water supply? What responsible developer is going to want to build housing in a City that has not secured a source of water to meet growing needs? What smart homebuyer will buy a home that may or may not have running water?

The need to invest several hundred million dollars in a new water supply has not come out of the blue.

The need to make a major investment in water supply infrastructure was part of the Plan A debate. For opponents of Plan A, given that the City needed to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a new water supply, the financially responsible course of action was to invest in the City’s future by building a new water supply before spending on ego projects.

Instead Council chose to rush precipitously ahead with Plan A and to seek to ‘buy time’ on a new water supply; even though a new water supply was/is vital to Abbotsford’s future liveability.

Millions in cost overruns that devoured reserves, $85 million in debt, soaring taxes … all at a time when Council knew they needed to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a new water supply.

Yes, City Council’s feckless behaviour has left the City in a poor financial position to undertake the needed large investment in a new water supply; yes, City Council’s fudget as opposed to a budget for this fiscal year has further eroded Abbotsford’s financial health; and yes, the need to invest in additional waste treatment capacity complicates matters.

Abbotsford will just have to ‘deal with it.’ Burying you head in the stand and/or trying to avoid making this investment in a timely matter, sooner rather than as late as ‘anticipated’ possible, is an irresponsible gamble.

Does Council intend to wait until Abbotsford, as happened to Tofino, finds itself trucking in water from its responsible neighbouring municipalities before it acts?

Procrastination is the bad habit of putting of until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday. Napoleon Hill

Hmmm, Poverty, Thanks

Cavalier’s Saga rolls on

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The Saga continues ……

Recapping: four trips to the insurance brokers to get the paperwork done; multiple jumpstarts to get it home; battery won’t hold charge; reconditioned battery not properly conditioned, strain burns out alternator leaving me stranded on Lakeview Terrace with a car that is not going anywhere under its own power without an alternator and a battery that will destroy any new (to the car) alternator; trade the VW I lived in while homeless for a used alternator and its installation, loaned a battery to get home, hooked up re-conditioned battery to trickle charger to charge and condition it, left 5 days because I was to nervous/wary/scared to drive car before that …

… and on the fifth day started the engine and drove to sign over ownership of the VW. Before stepping into the Insurance Brokers the battery was tested and proved to be fully charged, staying cool when charging and the alternator/battery was charging fine.

Driving away … the engine started overheating. The following day it overheated on the way to lunch. Discussing this state of affairs with my things mechanical advisory board over lunch I was advised to purchase and install a new thermostat. Returning home and switching to the dependable Duster, I drove to get the new thermostat for the Cavalier.

The next day I drove down to meet with the person who offered to install the thermostat if I bought and brought a thermostat to lunch Saturday. Unfortunately they were unable to be there to change the thermostat. Fortune did provide someone who could install the thermostat – after they finished work. Patience … Patience … Patience … and the old thermostat comes out in two pieces to be replaced with a shiny new thermostat.

With the new thermostat installed I drive away filled with trepidation, Which proved unfounded as the engine heated up properly and remained cool.

With the engine running at the proper temperature and my attention no longer focused so singularly on the engine temperature my senses were open to notice that there was hesitancy in the engine and its response, like a runner short of energy or oxygen.

Consulting with my advisors I secured new sparkplugs but when we went to install them it developed that my sparkplug tool lacked the depth of reach to change the Cavaliers sparkplugs. Once I had followed the advice on where to obtain appropriate tools to do the job, at an good (affordable to me price), we pulled the first plug. When that plug, and a subsequent sparkplug checked just to be sure, proved in very good shape I was off to return the plugs and secure air and fuel filters.

When we went to install the air filter it proved to be the wrong size. A return trip to Lordco revealed that the computer showed that air filter as the correct air filter for the Cavalier. Stymied, the person helping me was forced to resort to desperate measures – the actual paper catalogue. The printed catalogue showed the same air filter as in the computer … and a second air filter that proved to be the correct size. Books are such useful and entertaining friends to have around – you should take a book out for a read today.

The new air filter was installed, replacing the completely black old filter.

Then it was on to the fuel filter which is located under the car between the fuel tank and the rear axle. Fortunately I had looked up the location on the internet; unfortunately it was where it was.

With the location and design it is impossible not to have a volume of gasoline spill out when changing the filter. Indeed the gentleman who shimmied under the car to change the filter had to take a fresh air break before finishing the installation.

When we drained the remaining fuel out of the old filter the gas was dirty; suggesting that it might be a good idea at some future point to drop the gas tank and drain/clean it.

Driving away, the engine was running better. So much better that it blew the (rusted?) baffles in the muffler; leaving a muffler that looks fine to an exterior inspection but that, when shaken, rattles to reveal its lack of interior soundness.

Primal Scream; hang and slowly shake head. Take a very deep breath hold it and slowly release it – repeat as needed to reach a state of calmness.

I found myself reluctant to replace the muffler, wondering once the muffler was fixed what next? Hey – it’s not paranoia if the Universe is really out to get you.

However one of the things they do not warn you about when they encourage you to seek mental health recovery and wellness is that it severely compromises your ability to procrastinate. I use to be able to procrastinate with the best of procrastinators. But now healthy ways of thinking do not permit me to procrastinate until something simple turns into a crisis of mountainous proportions.

Being reluctant to discover what would (will) happen after the muffler was repaired I decided to take care of a small repair that should have no consequences. So I headed off to the auto wreckers to find a replacement licence plate holder since the one on the Cavalier was broken, leaving the front plate held by a single screw and flapping in the wind.

Better to take care of the matter before I paid the procrastination price on this by getting a ticket and fine for driving without a front licence plate.

It developed that the Universe was not about to let me procrastinate on the muffler front. At the wreckers I ran into a friend who, having heard me drive in, said he could get me a new muffler cheap. He made a phone call and I was off and procured a new muffler for $40. How could I say no to a new muffler at that price? I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid.

With the new muffler in the trunk I headed off to the library. All the way to the library the muffler was whispering to me – ‘I’m here in the trunk all shiny and new, anxious to be installed and muffle ….’ It kept up its whispering campaign while I was in the library; reaching the point I was forced, for the sake of my sanity and peace-and-quiet in my head, to e-mail a friend with a floor jack asking whether he would be able to install the muffler.

Shortly after I arrived home I received an e-mail suggesting a time the next morning which I accepted with alacrity.

I arrived at his place the next morning, backed in, blocked the front tire; he jacked up the rear end, set up the support brace and proceeded to remove the old muffler. Using his van I made a quick trip to get two new clamps to attach the muffler and Voila! it was done.

A piece of advice: you want to make sure that among your friends who know their way around cars that at least one of them has a set of tools (air/impact wrenches, SawAll, hand held grinder, sockets and wrenches up the wazoo, etc…) that is the envy of every guy.

After a cold pop and conversation on what is going on with homelessness around Abbotsford it was time to fire up the Cavalier. After which I drove quietly home.

As I finish typing this the Cavalier sits in front while I sit here hoping that repairing the muffler does not cause some other domino to fall; that the Universe is through testing or playing with me vis-à-vis the Cavalier and that this is the end of the Saga of Repairs and Headaches.

Afterword: People tend to give me strange looks when I say that I do not regret my journey through mental illness. But while this journey may have replaced the richness of my bank account with poverty, it has also replaced my poverty of friends with a richness of friends and people in my life who will lend me a helping hand when a ‘Never look a gift horse in the mouth’ gift horse turns out to be a bit of a Trojan horse

Post Script: To those who so generosity lent a hand a sincere Thank You.