Contrary to City council and staff accusations I am neither a naysayer nor a negative person.

It is that I hold myself to a standard of excellence and expect of others a job well done. I cannot abide a half-assed effort such as the one City senior staff and council made on Plan A.

Below is what I demanded that the City do before asking my agreement on their plans and the outcome when another Municipality did the work I demanded of Abbotsford senior staff and council. You judge the outcomes.

I felt it was necessary, that as part of my program of mental health and self-improvement, to reflect upon how I behaved and what I had learned over the past year before setting any goals for 2007. Since Plan A was only a month ago I decided to start my year in review there.

I asked myself if my objections, questions or position on the matter were reasonable since council, senior city staff, people conducting commerce and people laying claim to representing various groups of citizens acted as though it was heretical to question the dictates and decisions delivered to the serfs, I mean taxpayers, from the rulers in their castle, I mean city hall.

What I asked about and wanted the City to provide before I would consider supporting a proposed facility was:

1) I wanted a set of architectural and engineering drawings in order to determine exactly what would be built.
2) I wanted a business plan setting out projected revenues, expenses (all expenses) and deficits. As part of the business plan I wanted to know anticipated users and usage to evaluate how realistic the financial projections were. This would also demonstrate the need for and priority of any facility.
3) For facilities such as an arena I wanted to know who the major tenant would be, permitting the building to be planned to match the actual need and avoid costly overbuilding of the facility. Also avoiding ending up with an expensive white elephant that would be a money devouring black hole.
4) I wanted to explore all possible funding avenues, being ready to adapt and change the building plans to access government $$$. I also wanted to explore private participation in the funding of the projects – whether sponsorship or partnership.
5) I wanted to explore private participation to take advantage of expertise and solid fiscal management practices.

For having the audacity to suggest applying the good governance and financial practices any BCom, Chartered Accountant or businessperson would insist on I, and others of like mind, were vilified as nay saying, negative people. It was asserted none of these actions were needed or would be of any benefit to Abbotsford’s taxpayers and their pocketbooks. During those November days I might have begun to question myself, except that in looking around at those I was standing with – I realized I was onside with the people of reason and intelligent decision making processes.

The questions of heresy and what, if any effect the City having done the homework required to answer my questions would have had looked to go unanswered for years. Then like an early Christmas present, a huge and much appreciated present, Langley made their arena/recreation center announcement.

By doing their homework Langley’s city staff and council will build an arena and recreation center for a net cost of $15 million. Abbotsford’s city staff and council are building an arena and recreation center that will only cost Abbotsford’s taxpayers $75 million. It would appear that Abbotsford’s city staff and council refusal to address my questions and use basic common sense will cost the taxpayer’s an extra $60 million. Chump change, it would seem, to this city staff and council.

You can count an a few things happening in the New Year. Senior city staff and council will have all kinds of excuses for why addressing the questions I and other stopplana.com supporters asked would not have had similar massive savings for Abbotsford’s taxpayers. They will also have excuses for why it was that Abbotsford chased a hockey team out of the City then decided to build an arena, while Langley agreed to build an arena after they had a hockey team – the same one chased out of Abbotsford. You can be sure that they will also have some kind of unsatisfactory explanation that no, the reason they could guarantee the quoted price of $75 million for arena and recreation complex was not that it should only cost the $45 million total that Langley will pay for arena and recreation center. You can count on council and city staff to have many excuses as to why they cannot learn anything from Langley and why re-examining the Abbotsford projects in light of Langley’s behaviour is a “waste of time”. They also can be counted on to insist on rushing ahead while making all kinds of excuses as to why such haste is necessary, that it would only waste time to look for grants and/or private sponsorships or participation.

You can be positive that Langley’s citizens would refuse to trade their senior city staff and council for ours, even if we offered to throw in $50 million. You can also be absolutely certain that even at a cost of $50 million the trade of senior staff and council would be a great deal for the citizens and future of Abbotsford.