… is the answer and the question is “how much is the ineptitude and laziness of senior city staff and council going to cost Abbotsford taxpayers”.

“… frankly I think our treasury board would have a great deal of trouble providing money for something that’s already been funded” said Premier Gordon Campbell during a visit to Abbotsford.

I enjoy being right. I really enjoy being proven correct when a position I take, especially in an area of personal expertise such as finance, is blown off as untrue and nothing to worry about; particularly when it is a point of plain common sense. But it is not enjoyable when it comes at such an outrageous cost to my fellow taxpaying citizens.

When asked during the NO Plan A campaign why senior staff and council had not bothered to seek funding from senior levels of government to reduce the burden on Abbotsford taxpayers, senior staff and council stated that was something to be done after borrowing the money was approved.

When asked why senior levels of government would contribute funds to a project after the City’s taxpayers were on the hook for the full amount, senior staff and council blithely stated that the fact that voting yes for plan A was also voting to pay the entire cost would be “no problem”.

Yes problem, big multimillion $$$$$$$ costly to the taxpayers problem given Premier Campbell’s statement: “… frankly I think our treasury board would have a great deal of trouble providing money for something that’s already been funded”.

If Abbotsford City Hall had not been so smug, self-congratulatory and busy cramming Plan A down the throats of the taxpayers and had actually listened to the questions of the NO side … well there is no way to tell how many millions of dollars this would have saved taxpayers.

$9.7 million Penticton; $15 million Langley; $0 Abbotsford. It is obvious why senior staff and council did not want to accept personal responsibility for taxpayer’s money wasted on Plan A. What is not clear is why taxpayers should be expected to just accept this demonstrated irresponsible behaviour and how much MORE the ineptitude and laziness of senior city staff and council is going to cost Abbotsford taxpayers