….. that they are worth what they are paid and more!!!

I see that our local Abbotsford politicians are planning to further plunder taxpayer’s pockets, in this instance to stuff their own pockets with taxpayer’s hard earned dollars.

Let us be clear on one matter. This was not an “independent body” unless the definition of independent is different within the walls of City Hall from the real world were independent means having no connection to.

The group recommending these astronomical 44% raises was the Remuneration Select Committee. Obviously the selection of members was correct since they managed to find a line of reasoning to give councillors raises. They were also a very select group in that they are not representative of the makeup of the citizenry of Abbotsford.

Half the residents of this city do not make the $34,700 ($16.68 hourly salary for a 40 hour work week) proposed new salary levels, many residents do not even earn in a year the $24,167 ($11.62 per hour) current level of councillor remuneration – and these citizens are working full time. Why we are paying full time wage levels for part time work?

Citizens earning these wage levels are the majority in this city, why were they not represented on the “Select Committee”? These are the citizens most affected by council’s large fee and tax increases, should they not have input on councils remuneration? Of course this group may have felt that if councillors need more money they should do what so many working families in the city do – get a third job.

The glaring omission from this “select committee” is an evaluation of what the remuneration level of council should be, based on council’s performance in leadership, problem solving, service provision and management. Of course the committee was looking for reasons to raise not lower councillor’s salaries or bill them for their mishandling of the City’s affairs.

Instead, in an insult to our intelligence, the “select committee” used a comparison to other lower mainland cities to justify this massive raise. Such a comparison is exactly the argument the city rejected when city employees used it in their negotiations. Ironically city management, which managed to provoke that strike, also bases its claims to higher salaries on comparison to other lower mainland cities.

Considering a strike resulted because the city rejected the validity of setting wages for Abbotsford based on comparisons to other lower mainland cities, does not accepting this comparison to other lower mainland municipalities when it is their salary being decided make City Hall’ hypocrites?

Once again it turns out only certain select citizens have input and are to be heard by the city, as they tell Abbotsford City Hall what it wants to hear. Once again the common citizen is not there to be listened to, but is only there to pay and pay and pay for City Hall’s reckless spending.

I suggest council and senior city management strike for higher wages as other city workers do. I look forward to a long, long strike … and a much better running city.

The Summer Abbotsford Parks and Recreation Program Guide is out containing historical highs and precedent setting changes. Fees have increased out of proportion with historical fee increases and setting a new precedent the fee increases take effect July 1 instead of September 1 as they have done in the past. Hopefully this precedent setting break with historic fee increase patterns does not usher in a new history of larger bi-yearly or even quarterly cash grabs… ahem, fee increases.

On the other hand these changes certainly do put a whole new spin; shine a whole new light on the signs posted throughout the change rooms and facilities warning patrons that “Thieves Work Here” – do they not?

I see from the front page of the July 3, 2007 Abbotsford Times that the NO-FUN pestilence infecting Abbotsford BC has spread to another Fraser Valley community – Chilliwack. Like a plague, Abbotsford’s NO-FUN pestilence is lowering the level of fun in our neighbour Chilliwack.

Before you know it Chilliwack will be as devoid of fun as Abbotsford. One can only speculate what kinds of panic the City Councils in other neighbouring communities are experiencing with this proof that the Abbotsford NO-FUN pestilence is contagious and spreading.

Langley, Mission and smaller communities such as Yarrow must now worry that the misery of this NO-FUN malady will infest and curse their communities with NO-FUN – turning them into lifeless, funless Abbotsford clones.

Langley perhaps can hope that being in the GRVD will result in the fun and nightlife of Vancouver inoculating them against the plague of NO-FUN invasion from Abbotsford.

Mission has no such hope for inoculation against the plague of NO-FUN spreading outwards from Abbotsford City Hall, leaving Mission’s council and citizens to desperately search for ways to remain uncontaminated by the epidemic of NO-FUN from Abbotsford.

Mission does have the Fraser River Bridge going for it in the battle against contamination, a choke point to make a stand against contracting the NO-FUN plague from Abbotsford. Strict decontamination procedures before being allowed across the Fraser River will hopefully prove effective in preventing Abbotsford’s NO-FUN pestilence poisoning Missions entertainment, nightlife and anything else resembling fun.

If this decontamination proves ineffective we face the depressing possibility of quarantine as communities scramble to protect their fun and joy in living. Finding ourselves condemned to a bleak and joyless gloomy future of NO-FUN confined to the Abbotsford Blight, a deadly dead zone of NO-FUN.

Abbotsford City Hall will discover it has spent $100,000,000.00+ on Plan A to no avail in attempting to bring back life and fun into the city. It matters not how much they spend while the city is infected with the NO-FUN virus. The only cure is to fumigate Abbotsford City Hall, cleansing it of the parasites infecting our City with the NO-FUN pathogen.

Patrons of ARC (the Abbotsford Recreation Centre) have had to sacrifice and adjust their exercise schedules to accommodate the Abbotsford Whalers; displaced from Centennial Pool its its failure to open at the beginning of May due to the lack common sense at City Hall. Beginning in June patrons have also had to run the gauntlet thrown up by the start of construction for ARC’s new, superfluous basketball courts.

On July first, in a show of total distain and disregard for patrons, the mere hour granted to patrons was reduced by half. With the need to leave the pool before 10PM if you want to shower and the delay in getting the Whalers from the pool and the patrons into the pool you have enough time to warm up and cool down – leaving no time to actually exercise.

To add insult to the injury they have dealt to patrons exercise programs: on July 1, 2007 the cost to use ARC went up – two months ahead of the normal September 1st date. On the day they all but eliminate the opportunity for those who must exercise in the evenings to swim they increased the fees.

My first thought was: “Only in the oxygen starved atmosphere of Abbotsford City Hall, with its total disconnection from what goes on in the real world, would reducing services and raising fees on the same day be considered an acceptable way to conduct the City’s business”.

I should not have been surprised as this year citizens have been handed enormous tax hikes while department budgets and services are cut back. Now they hike fees and cut access for ARC. Are they adopting a new city motto: “Abbotsford BC, where we tax you for deluxe services but deliver mediocre services”?

My second thought was to wonder how many other fees and charges will go up as services decrease, will go up earlier than usual and just how many inventive new fees and charges citizens will be taxed with. After all, they just announced the need for an extra million $$$ for Plan A’s steadily increasing cost.