Despite Mayor Peary’s comments and Councillor Moe Gill’s decision on the issue of conflict of interest, I will not be setting my personal ethics at the minimally acceptable level allowed by law.

I was raised with and to have high standards govern the manner in which I conduct my life. It was never about setting my standards by what you can get away with.

As a point of information to Mayor Peary and Councillor Gill I also have an expectation that people making decisions on my behalf, such as politicians, will practice those same high ethical standards. Not slipshod, lowest common denominator minimal ethical standards and behaviours.

I concede that to date my expectation concerning ethical standards and behaviours has proven unrealistic as evidenced by the behaviours of politicians at all levels of government – municipal, provincial and federal.

With specific reference to Moe Gill’s voting on the gravel pit application I would judge, with apologies to Mayor Peary and Councillor Gill that the ethic’s bar was set below minimally acceptable ethical behaviour.

A quick web search reveals that “personal interest includes an interest arising from family, marriage or common-law relationships.”

Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia’s list of types of conflicts of interest includes “Family interests, in which a spouse, child, or other close relative….” Of particular interest on this website is an example of conflict of interest that cites a brother to brother relationship.

I fail to see how one could claim that the fact a decision will have a direct and substantial effect on a member (in this case members) of one’s family will not influence one’s thinking. Voting other than to benefit one’s family member would have serious family relationship and conflict consequences.

Thus one is predisposed to vote for an outcome favourable to family and is therefore in a conflict of interest.

As an aside – when wants to approve something one can always find “acceptable” reasons or reasoning to justify the decision you want to make.

Moe Gill has a clear conflict of interest here and when the matter comes before council again he MUST recuse himself on grounds of personal involvement.

Mayor Peary’s statement “We are truly, truly scrounging around for any money we can find …” teases Abbotsford’s beleaguered and impoverished taxpayers with the possibility the world wide economic meltdown may finally bring Abbotsford City Council to the realization that money does not grow on trees.

Unfortunately Mayor Peary’s statement “Here is the hard reality: we cannot support the city alone on property taxes anymore” makes it clear that City Council still views the citizens as having bottomless pockets to feed City Hall’s insatiable appetite for spending as if money does grow on trees.

Mayor Peary, here is the hard reality: It was city council’s spendthrift financially irresponsible spend, spend, spend ways that put Abbotsford in it current financial bind, so forgive me if I am not feeling terribly sympathetic.

It is hard to be anything but apprehensive when the Mayor’s statements underscore that City Council’s heedlessly reckless financial thinking and behaviours still have not been forced into line with economic reality.

When you are short of funds you economize, cutback and/or reduce expenses to the level of one’s income.

Unless that is you are Abbotsford City Council, who just keeps feeding their addiction for wildly ungoverned spending; whining “…we cannot support the city alone on property taxes anymore.”

So it is that City Council is looking for new and better methods to destitute its citizens by plundering them of their cash.

Cities surrounding Abbotsford set priorities and make the necessary hard choices and spending reductions to bring their spending into line with the money raised by property taxes.

Citizens need to tell council: “NO! Most emphatically NO! You were the ones who set the property tax increase at 5.5% deal with that reality.” Otherwise taxpayers will suffer the consequences as year after year City Council finds new ways to introduce numerous new taxes so they can continue to waste dollars and spend, spend, spend

When it is no longer the muggers and thieves you need to protect your wallet from but Abbotsford City Council – it is time City Council learned to live within its means, not continue to spend as if they were children run amuck with their parents (taxpayers) credit card.

One can hardly be surprised that Mayor Peary and Abbotsford City Council are opposed to Translink. After all it would interfere with their great gas tax grab.

First it was parking fees in city parks, now it is gas taxes. Just what kind of budget did Council pass? Incomplete and under funded it would seem. Exactly what was the purpose in passing a budget that lacked adequate funding to pay for all the services?

A budget that it seems failed to include roadwork, and who knows what other infrastructure, acutely needed for the functioning of our city.

City officials seem to see nothing out of the ordinary in setting a budget with a 5.5% tax raise they themselves admit was not adequate to cover the costs of operations with out additional sources of revenue (taxes) such as the parking fees.

Leaving one to wonder what other unpleasant surprises await taxpayers as the year progresses and the “budget” plays out?

With building starts off (84% in February ’09) how much will last year’s actual revenue fall below projections?

Remember that Council burned its way through much of the City’s reserves on undisclosed Plan A costs and cost overruns. Thus it will not require much of a revenue shortfall to place Abbotsford in a deficit position at the end of the 08/09 fiscal year.

Since, by law, municipalities are not to run a deficit any deficit will need to be made up out of taxpayer’s pockets.

With City business so bad last fall that council only needed to meet twice a month, beginning to trim spending last fall would have been the prudent and responsible course of action to take.

I suppose citizens should not be surprised that council did not act in such a financially responsible manner. After all, faced with the current economic climate city council chose to increase spending, not seek savings. Increasing spending to the point council needed to try to sneak additional tax increases in disguised as and called “parking fees”.

Should not the millions of dollars of roadwork the mayor speaks of have been addressed in the budget? Instead of just being pushed into the future as part of the $50 million in deferrals? Abbotsford is threatened by this towering tidal wave of deferred but needed infrastructure projects.

But hey, as citizens are crushed flat by onerous taxes, city fees and levies, the city falls apart around us or run out of cash sometime during the 09/10 fiscal year – we have a new Arena complex to play and party in while ignoring fiscal reality and fiscally responsible behaviour.

‘Peary suggested that talk about the city covering team costs may be fuelled by “those who don’t want this to succeed,”’

How about citizens who watched the city ignore questions raised about parking and road access vis-à-vis the location the city insisted on building the arena on from the start? Now suddenly the City discovers the need for parking and road/access improvements?

Or citizens left shaking their heads at the suggestion that because it is summer parking will be available at UFV so the city has until September to find a solution. UFV is a University with a heavy schedule of summer classes.

Or the citizens who have watched the cost of a project they were promised was guaranteed not to go over $55 million balloon to $90 million and still climbing.

How about the citizens who were given incorrect information, given incomplete information, were denied information, given promises and assurances that have turned out to be false?

I think any reasonable observer can well understand why citizens lack faith in the accuracy of any statement made by Abbotsford City Hall officials and are instead demanding full disclosure and transparency.

Any semi-sane, semi-intelligent citizens want a hockey team in the Arena to reduce the operating deficits the taxpayers of Abbotsford will have to cover on Arena operations.

But given the lack of veracity in City Council and staff’s statements concerning the costs of this project and the number of items they failed to disclose until Freedom of Information requests were filed or the accurate numbers were revealed in another manner, it is hardly surprising citizens are highly sceptical of City promises.

No, citizens want to make sure it does succeed – and ensure that Council does not turn the Arena into anymore of a black hole for taxpayer dollars than they already have.