A recent newspaper article revealed that the world wide economic meltdown was the latest addition to Abbotsford City Hall’s “excuse bag”.

According to the City their desperate need for cash has nothing to do with their tax and spend, spend, spend ways. Nor does it have anything to do with the City’s poor financial management. No it is all out of their control and the fault of the world wide economic meltdown.

Apparently not only is City Hall in desperate need of cash, they are desperate for any excuses they can find to shift blame from where it belongs – the City’s financial behaviour.

During our recent municipal election, just a few months past, suggestions by several of the candidates that the City needed to get its financial house in order was pooh-poohed by councillors seeking re-election, who assured voters everything was rosy. Suddenly, safely re-elected, the City’s financial well being requires parking fees in our parks.

If the City stopped costly excuse making behaviour such as coming up with that farcical and pointless comparison to Chilliwack’s or Port Coquitlam’s “cost per hectare” it could save enough to cover the budgeted shortfall of $50,000.

I say farcical and pointless comparison because the difference in the cities hectares (139, 223, 1,054) makes it quite clear that this comparison is comparing apples to oranges to grapefruits and thus meaningless. The only purpose served by this type of comparison is to make it seem the City is acting in a financially prudent way when the fact the comparison is meaningless demonstrates just the opposite – that the City is acting in a financially irresponsible manner.

Yes the world wide economic meltdown is affecting Abbotsford.

However excuses, more tax and spend behaviour, wasting money creating meaningless comparisons, trying to hide taxes under euphemisms such as parking fees, business as usual for the City is not going to cut it in dealing with the economic realities that have come home to roost at City Hall.

It is time for leadership, making tough decisions and financially responsible behaviour. Unfortunately we are stuck with our current Abbotsford City Hall which does not bode well for the City’s financial future.