Municipal, Snafu

Fawlty Tower

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The ongoing business as usual behaviour of Abbotsford’s current crop of politicians and management evidence that, in the name of accuracy, we need to rename city hall Fawlty Tower.

This renaming is needed to reflect that the decisions and behaviour of council have gone well past ‘Comedy of Errors’ into ‘Farcical’ making it appropriate to rename city hall after the John Cleese BBC television series Fawlty Towers – a series where chaos is the fallout from the foolish mistakes of intelligence-challenged characters.

Shouldyou harbor any doubts as to the validity of the use of ‘intelligence-challenged characters’ remember this is the same basic council who thought that awarding the contract for the work on Centennial Pool to a company that had never built/poured a pool of any type was a good idea; in spite of the deadline imposed by the May start of the Abbotsford Whalers season and the fact Abbotsford council did not let the contract until well into the fall rather than during the summer which would have permitted construction to start several months earlier at the time Centennial Pool ceased operations for the season.

When some citizens questioned council as to the wisdom of awarding the contract to a firm that had never built a pool tank council, as is their wont as they stumble from misadventure to debacle to calamity to disaster, claimed they were saving the taxpayers money, while issuing assurances that council knew what it was doing and asserting the ‘naysayers’ knew nothing about the matter and promising there was nothing to worry about.

This total lack of pool construction experience is why no one with any common sense was surprised when there were, and continue to be, problems with Centennial Pool’s construction.

Given council’s historic aversion to giving consideration and/or thought to questions from taxpayers that threaten to inject reality into council’s ‘don’t worry, be happy’ world, the cancellation of question period was always a matter of when not if. Indeed council has made it very clear that their preference would be to conduct all, not just most, of the city’s business behind closed doors and away from public scrutiny and questions. Currently council only conducts the business it has to in public.

It is likely council’s long record of construction boondoggles as well as massive cost overruns, multi-million dollar losses instead of profits, multi-million dollar subsidies to purchase a professional hockey team for favoured citizens, growing water shortages, onerous property tax levels and so on, that gives rise to the need to cite any success.

This would explain Councilor Smith commenting on the matter of ending the public’s time to ask questions at the end of council meetings.

“Ending the public’s right to ask questions at council meetings is, according to Smith, not an attempt to muzzle the public.”

While ending the opportunity for citizens questions after council meetings was not a failed ATTEMPT to muzzle the public but in fact a SUCCESSFUL muzzling of the public, this is not a ‘success’ to be proud of.

Speaking of wondering ‘do Abbotsford’s politicians ever listen to what they are saying’ it was certainly interesting, in a dumbfounding way, listening to George Peary comments.

And no, I am not referring to his switch from “I’d far rather the community tell me what the issues are” during the municipal election to “Council does not have to justify it’s decisions to any one individual. That’s what we have elections for every three years” after being elected and in power.

I was referring to the sight of Abbotsford’s Mayor Peary on the television news informing potential businesses, investors, residents and any other interested parties that Abbotsford’s water supply infrastructure is inadequate to the point that, despite a much rainier spring and a much latter than normal beginning to warm summer weather, that water rationing is required in Abbotsford in order for the Abbotsford Fire Department to have sufficient supplies of water to fight fires.

The fact that Mayor Peary’s revelation Abbotsford lacks the water supply to fight fires without water rationing may deter potential businesses and residents from moving to Abbotsford has both a positive and a negative side.

On the negative side is the reality that with the financial quagmire council has sunk the city into, the loss of the development fees, business and property taxes as a result of the public acknowledgement of Abbotsford’s lack of sufficient capacity to meet the water needs of the city, may well cause the city to run out of money and into bankruptcy.

On the positive side slowing growth will reduce the growing strain on Abbotsford’s inadequate water delivery infrastructure and delay the need to impose restrictions or limits on how much water a household can use period; buying time to do a proper job of bringing Abbotsford’s water delivery infrastructure to a capacity sufficient to meet current and future water demands.

I know council will undoubtedly continue to insist that council knows what it is doing, there is no problem with capacity and there is no water problem, much less crisis, in Abbotsford.

Personally – when you have water rationing because you need to make sure you have enough water to fight fires and you are continuing to add demand to the system (development) you definitely have a problem; when the Abbotsford Mission Water & Sewer Commission is just now starting to consider options for expansion of the water delivery infrastructure, while you are already rationing water to ensure water to fight fires and given the lead times in planning then building infrastructure, you may not be in a crisis yet but that is the direction the city is heading.

What would the water situation currently be if the weather had not been wetter, cloudier and cooler than normal?

At what point does our inadequate water delivery infrastructure become a problem according to council? When it is not just charity car washes that are banned but the use of backyard pools, including children’s blow-up pools? Or is it when there are limits on how much water a household can use for bathing, cooking, cleaning and drinking? Is the reason council is planning the economically unjustifiable expense of installing individual water metering not just to allow them to surreptitiously raise water bills but to be able to monitor the amount of water each household uses when limits on household water usage need to be imposed?

Is the definition of a water crisis for Abbotsford’s current council when a home or business burns because there is not enough water and water pressure to supply sufficient water for the fire department to fight the fire?

The need for increased capacity in Abbotsford’s water infrastructure did not suddenly appear but has been a known issue/need for years. The reason that there are no plans on the table, much less a timetable to address water delivery capacity and avoid severe water rationing is that council’s priorities are council ego projects (international gardens, art galleries, subsidizing professional hockey team ownership for favoured citizens) first rather than the infrastructure needed by the City of Abbotsford to support not only its current population but to support future growth.

Which is in keeping with council’s apparent lack of concern with the effect increases in the city’s debt and the property tax increases associated with capital spending has on Abbotsford taxpayers; after all why would council want to have their planning in place in time to be able to line up the maximum contributions from the federal or provincial governments. Council certainly wouldn’t have wanted to been in position to take advantage of the recent federal government $billions$ for stimulus spending on infrastructure.

What would cause council to exert itself to maximize funding from senior levels of government when they have the opportunity to achieve record levels of debt and property taxes by having Abbotsford’s taxpayers foot the entire bill?

Obviously overpasses to provide better access to council’s ego project, the black hole known as the Entertainment & Sports Centre, are more of a priority than drinking water – at least for council.

While on the subject of council and its lack of leadership, why is it that with a watering ban in effect for others in Abbotsford, the city is wasting thousands of litres of water per day (evaporation) by running city hall fountains and the waterfall at John Smith’s million dollar garden?

But then if leadership and proper priorities existed on council, citizens would not find themselves wondering about why all that money is being spent repairing and repaving the roads around city hall, which are quite driveable (in superior shape by Abbotsford standards) when roads around Abbotsford (but not near city hall, nor I suspect councillor’s homes) that pose a threat to vehicles forced to use them continue to worsen in impassability.

Considering that what we are speaking of here are council’s behaviours over only the past two weeks, such behaviours emphasis the reality that, beyond any shadow of a doubt, city hall is Fawlty Tower.

Poverty

Magnificent Nonperformance

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WANTED:

Preferred Option – someway to have the Cavalier examined and adjusted so that it can pass Aircare, runs well and hopefully save gas $$$;

OR

Secondary Option – a functional vehicle capable of passing Aircare as replacement for the Cavalier.

Either option must be reflective of financial reality – I am so tapped out that I don’t have/cannot afford the gas to drive someone to the West Coast Express to catch the 5:27 AM train to get to the hospital in Richmond for a knee operation. While careful budgeting and spending could free up a little cash flow it is highly unlikely to exceed $50 a month and is subject to being needed for any unanticipated expense.

In other words I need a repair or a vehicle that falls at the extreme luck/miracle end of the spectrum.

At this point it should be clear that the Cavalier failed Aircare – but at least it did so spectacularly. On the hydrocarbon idle test were the maximum allowable limit is 101 ppm the Cavalier was at 2000 ppm.

I do not know why but with such a spectacular failure I found myself more philosophical than anxious and panicky. Since it was not even close there were no ‘if only I had done this or that’ thoughts to beat myself up with.

I remember the mental horror show I went through when the VW that had been my home through several years of homelessness barely failed Aircare. The mental meltdown, the anxiety and panic, took days to run their course. If fortune had not smiled, made available a Plymouth Duster for $100 and interrupted the mental downward spiral it could well have led to a full blown relapse into the darkness of mental illness.

This time the failure to pass Aircare left me a little shaken and stirred but not nonfunctional. People complaining about the exhaust from the Cavalier resulting in the suspecion it would not pass Aircare so it was not a total shock. Although dealing with the anxiety this possibility caused, keeping it from becoming a consuming anxiety and blossoming into panic resulted in an ongoing struggle with its own mental ups and downs.

Anxiety and panic threaten my mental health on this matter because I depend on this vehicle to get to work, to food, to the pool to swim (a mainstay of my mental and physical health), to group, to volunteer commitments, to committees (housing, homelessness, mental health etc.), to a myriad of other commitments and involvements.

The limited, impractical nature of the bus service in Abbotsford means that the only way to get to where I need to be when I need to be there is to have my own vehicle for transportation. In particular a work shift that ends at 1:30 AM across town from my abode.

The job that enables me to pay for my housing and without which I would quickly be homeless and on the streets of Abbotsford once again.

As is the case for many citizens, a car is not a luxury but a necessity.

Fortune has smiled in that, thanks to a friend, I was able to pay for the full three months of insurance I could get because the Cavalier passed Aircare last time. Fortune because, unlike a year of insurance where you can get on a monthly payment plan, all three months of insurance must be paid up front.

I had the $100 set aside in my budget for the monthly insurance payment but needed a total of $282. A good friend loaned me the difference so that I could have three months to deal with this issue. Fortune may have smiled a little there as he was so busy he had not been to bed in over 24 hours.

My mechanically adept friend Thomas recommended I take it to Hub Motors (he trusts their work and service) to have them ‘put it on the machine’ and determine exactly what the problem is. Which is why having the full three months allowed is so important – it gives time to scrape up the cash for an automobile visit to Hub Motors.

In the meantime Thomas and others will be keeping their eyes peeled for a super bargain on a vehicle of some type to meet my need to get to work, to food, to the pool, to group, to committees, et al.

Should you see me around Abbotsford with my tambourine panhandling, it is to address these transportation needs.

Hmmm, Municipal, Snafu

Shame, Shame, SHAME …

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… on that naughty Lynn Perrin. Imagine Ms Perrin daring to think that the purpose of the short 15 minute question period at the end of public council meetings was for … … asking council questions.

Why should council be accountable to citizens or have to answer the questions of citizens? What do people think Abbotsford is – a democracy?

Why should council be expected to explain:

·Why it is that while council always cries it has no money to do anything about housing for Abbotsford’s poorest citizens it has millions of dollars to purchase a professional hockey team/franchise for wealthy Abbotsford citizens.

·Why it is council pleads poverty when it comes to building affordable housing yet it can find $45 – $50 million to cover the cost overrun in building the arena.

·Why should citizens have any right to expect council to explain why the arena cost was almost (as far as citizens know) 100% over budget and why council felt free to spend double the amount council guaranteed citizens was the maximum cost and to hold council accountable for the doubling of the cost.

·Why would citizens expect the mayor or councilors not to vote on matters that directly affect the profits of companies or people who have contributed money to their election campaigns? The fact that these companies or people have made payments, make that contributions, and may possibly make future payments, I mean contributions, surely would not have any influence on how the mayor or councilors vote. You wouldn’t let the fact someone gave you money make a difference in how you voted on a matter of interest to them– would you? Although it does make one wonder whether any of the ownership group of the Abbotsford Heat made any political donations to members of Abbotsford council.

·Certainly citizens have no right to expect the mayor and council to respect the intent and spirit of legislation governing BC’s municipalities rather than finding ways to circumvent the legislation in order to obligate the taxpayers of Abbotsford for a $75 million dollar liability.

·Just because watering restrictions began April 1st and a total ban began July 1st, even though this was a wet cool spring, citizens certainly have no rights or reasons to question council about their actions, or lack thereof, in preparing to meet Abbotsford’s current and future water needs. I have no doubt that should there be a need for rationing water from the municipal system City Hall will find any monies necessary for bottled water for city hall.

·Why would citizens question how or why it is that in just two short years Abbotsford has gone from being debt free to BC’s most indebted municipality?

No, citizens should not be asking council questions they should be grateful to mayor and council. After all:

·The unfunded $75 million liability council committed taxpayers to covering is now down to only $67.5 million.

·The $7.5 million reduction in this unfunded liability only cost the taxpayers $2.6 million. Well $2.6 million in direct subsidy payments to the Heat ownership plus the additional $2.5 million cost of the operating loss absorbed by the city as the cost of operating the arena for the Heat to play in.

·Council will no doubt get on top of the water supply issue – hopefully before the taps run dry.

·Even if there are no restaurants or coffee shops or any other such amenities open latter in the evening people, couples looking for something to do in Abbotsford later in the evening can always go to ARC and workout in the gym until midnight.

·Look at all the money saved by council not doing proper maintenance at Matsqui pool and then using the condition of the pool to close it.

How dare Ms Perrin force council to cancel the public’s opportunity to ask council questions by asking them questions.

Of course Mayor Peary is quite correct – council bears no responsibility for cancelling the question period simply because they cancelled the question period to avoid taxpayer/voter questions.

Ms Perrin should have known that the purpose of the question period was not the questioning of the mayor or council but to provide an opportunity for people to praise councils decisions and behaviours.

Of course that would be a lot easier if the decisions and behaviour of the mayor, council. councilors and city management were not of such a questionable nature and they had accomplished anything praiseworthy.

Consider, Federal

Thoughts on the Toronto G20

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While Mr. Harper may consider a meeting that produces a piece of paper that is no more likely to be acted upon that any of the past G20 meeting agreements a success, it is understandable how Canadians living with the impact the financial downturn and Mr. Harper’s policies have had on Canadians living in the real world regard Mr. Harper’s $billion$ dollar photo-op as a failure and a profligate waste of money.

Going into the meeting Mr. Harper was seeking agreement on switching from stimulus to austerity in the name of deficit reduction and to avoid any topics he did not want to talk about (the increasing levels of poverty and homelessness, the lack of a national housing strategy and the disproportionate negative effect these issues have on women and children in Canada).

Obviously Mr. Harper is hoping that getting the G20 to call for a switch to austerity will provide political cover for the budget when it begins to inflict pain on most Canadians – ‘It is not my (Mr. Harper’s) fault, the G20 decided on this’.

I say most Canadians because, while these cuts will be devastating to the poor and painful for average Canadians, the budget will undoubtedly be generous to wealthy Canadians and Corporations – after all Conservative ideology is that you have to preferentially treat business and the wealthy.

So, with Mr. Harper hosting a G20 meeting from which he wanted to achieve an agreement to move from stimulus to austerity what does Mr. Harper do?

He wastefully spends $1.2 billion, the lion’s share of which includes spending 30 times more on security than has ever been spent for security at a G20 meeting before and splurging on fake lakes, false backgrounds for reporters to use to file their stories and other luxuries.

At a G20 meeting where Mr. Harper’s agenda was about imposing austerity on the average citizen, about creating more poor, more poverty, more homeless, more social inequity – Mr. Harper spent as though cost was no object.

Why is it that when politicians talk about the need for austerity and deficit reduction, that austerity never applies to them? When the actions of the government result in job losses or lower salaries why aren’t government MP’s laid off and the salaries or the golden pension of the remaining MP’s reduced?

I wonder: if the members of the government were forced to share the pain their decisions and policies caused, just how much less cavalier and more thoughtful these decisions, not just decisions on austerity but all decisions, would be?

At the very least, if you are holding a G20 meeting about the need to end stimulus and impose austerity that meeting should be austere not a billion dollar luxury boondoggle.

You hold it at a military base were security is already in place.

Not enough accommodation for all the staff that wants to attend? Bring smaller entourages.

No luxurious accommodations? Base housing, barracks, military meals … it would serve to remind the leaders and the attending civil servants about economic and housing realities in the lives of real people. A reminder that this G20 meeting demonstrates is badly needed by Mr. Harper and his government.

Holding it on a military base or somewhere other than the downtown core of Toronto would not have turned downtown Toronto into a ghost town, shutting down businesses and disrupting the lives of millions of Canadians. Unless, of course, you’re a Politician of Mr. Harper’s nature – then your wants outweigh the needs or good of millions of ordinary Canadians.

Mr. Harpers comments on “the invading vandals heading to the nearest large city” highlight Mr. Harper’s preference for seeing what he wants or needs to see to justify the decisions made.

Having those whose only aim is vandalism and rioting head for the nearest city is exactly what you should want to achieve as it will separate out those whose only purpose is violence from the legitimate protesters who will be on location at the G20 meeting site. Proper planning would ensure that when the vandals show up on city streets – without the cover of thousands of protesters to hide in – police could move in and arrest them.

Toronto’s mayor is correct in asserting that the federal government should not only be compensating businesses for lost business as a result of closing down downtown Toronto but should bear the costs of cleaning up the mess of the rioting and should be compensating businesses for any costs they are out of pocket as a result of the riots.

All of these costs resulted from the poor judgment shown by Mr. Harper’s government in choosing to hold the G20 meeting in downtown Toronto and so are the responsibility of Mr. Harper’s government.

What makes spending any money on the Toronto G20 spendthrift, and the amount actually spent obscene, is that the history of agreements arrived at during G20 meetings indicate that this current agreement has all the worth of what it is – a bunch of politician’s promises that are no more likely to be kept than the promises made at previous G20 meetings or during elections.

Given that the US is worried about a double dip recession and plans on continuing stimulus spending to avoid stalling the US economy into that second, possibly deeper and longer, downturn the so-called agreement is not worth the cost to print it.

In fact reality may yet intrude on Mr. Harper’s ‘successful G20 meeting’ as the latest economic numbers, together with what is taking place in the equity markets and developments in other nation’s economies suggest the worldwide economy is still in a very fragile state.

Which raises the disturbing question: is this what Success has become?

Watching the politicians, pundits and media falling all over themselves to proclaim what a success the G20 meeting was engendered a ‘we’re doomed’ response from this writer.

Generating a piece of paper covered with fancy words and political promises (and we all know just what those are worth) at a G20 meeting when the words and promises of prior G20 meetings were relegated to the scrapheap as soon as the meetings were over, is not a success.

Landing a man on the moon and returning him to earth was a success. The performance of Canada’s athletes at the Vancouver Olympics was a success. Creation of the Charter of Rights and freedoms was a success.

In each of these instances something concrete and valuable was achieved.

Reducing poverty instead of increasing it; reducing homelessness instead of increasing it; providing leadership on the issues of mental health and addiction instead of ideology that ignores both knowledge and reality; creating more financial equity in Canada rather than increasing the inequity by robbing from the poor to give to the rich; increasing the social equity in Canada rather than creating a class structure; providing leadership that helps citizens strive to be Canadians rather than wannabe Americans; would be concrete and valuable goals and achievements.

A billion dollar photo-op is not a success – unless your goal is to bankrupt Canada both financially, ethically and of the Canadian Spirit.

Federal, Issues

Stephen Harper’s Billion Dollar Photo-op

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Surely there were far less costly ways for Mr. Harper and the Conservatives to offer definitive proof of the Conservative Party’s fiscal irresponsibility than the G8/G20 billion buck boondoggle?

Well, more accurately Billion plus boondoggle – $933 million (security bill) + $160 million (hospitality, infrastructure, food safety and extra staffing) + $?.?? (federal documents show further outlays are likely).

I suppose that Canadians should just consider themselves fortunate that Mr. Harper could not find a more expensive location to hold the meetings than in downtown Toronto or even more taxpayer dollars would be being squandered.

Yet no doubt, come the next election, Mr. Harper and his Conservatives will be claiming to behave in a fiscally responsible manner, despite having added this exclamation point to Harper’s profligate spending on everything except Canadians in need.

When the Liberal leader Mr.Ignatieff suggested “The numbers are off the scales” a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said Ignatieff’s comments indicate no understanding of the reality of providing security to world leaders.

Given that security cost only $18 million at the G20 summit last September in Pittsburgh and $30 million at the G20 meeting last April in London, might I suggest that the fact the Canadian government is spending $900 million over the highest of the two costs confirms that if anyone has “no understanding of the reality of providing security to world leaders” it is Mr. Harper and his Conservatives?

Oh well, that makes it OK then.

I’s so glad that the government isn’t wasting $2 million on a fake lake.

No, for $2 million you also get fake cityscapes; fake dock with canoes, trees and deck chairs to go with the fake lake; and of course fake images and backgrounds for the media to use to file their stories.

All of which, according to Mr. Harper, makes dissipating taxpayer dollars in this manner OK.

Simply because Mr. Harper and the Conservatives have been claiming that one of the benefits of these meeting would be a boost to tourism, one certainly wouldn’t want the foreign press to be encouraged to visit real cityscapes, to travel the few blocks to a real lake – Lake Ontario or to use real backgrounds in filing their reports.

Probably just as well, since holding the G20 meeting in downtown Toronto has resulted in turning the downtown into a ghost town with the closing of most, if not all, tourist attractions and businesses in downtown Toronto.

Besides, if the media was away from the media centre they might miss covering one of Mr. Harper’s photo-ops. And when you are wasting, I mean spending, $1.1 billion you want to make sure no photo opportunity is missed.

Should holding the G20 meeting in downtown Toronto cause any difficulty for businesses or inconvenience for thousands of workers or anyone seeking to do business downtown, it is a small price to pay to maximize Mr. Harper’s photo opportunities.

At least in Harper/Conservative think.

Harper/Conservative think where there is no money (or need) for a nation housing strategy merely because Canada is the only G8 nation without such a strategy or because there is a affordable housing crisis in Canada or that homelessness is increasing or that poverty is increasing or that children’s poverty and hunger continuing to increase.

Harper/Conservative think – the mindset where there is $2 million to build fake cityscapes, docks, lakes and backgrounds for the foreign press but no $$$ to build real housing for Canadians

Harper/Conservative think – the mindset where the poor and the homeless are just Canadians, Canadians who probably don’t even vote having no fixed address, while the foreign press will allow Mr. Harper to assume his proper place on the world stage.

Harper/Conservative think – the mindset were leadership is about recognition and photo-ops; the mindset that cannot comprehend that with the state of the world’s economy, the need for austerity in Greece and other countries, the need to reign in runaway federal deficit spending and the numerous other economic challenges facing Canada and the world – real leadership would have been to hold a scaled back entourageless meeting on a military base to maximize security and minimize cost – without worrying that this would not maximize press coverage and photo-ops.

Harper/Conservative think – the mindset that has no appreciation of the value of a dollar or understanding of the financial/economic realities that the majority of Canadians live with day to day; thus unable to see anything wrong with a spending increase of 3100% on security or with spending $2 million on fake cityscapes, fake lake and dock and fake backgrounds for media reports.

Self-esteem is as important to our well-being as legs are to a table.

The most worrying statements are the repeated references to having Canada “take its rightful place”. As in “this is what it costs ($1 billion +) for Canada to take its rightful place”.

If it was ever necessary that Canada “take its rightful place” I would say that it was done on the battlefields of WWI.

Psychologists will tell you that bullying is rooted in lack of self esteem; that in a lack of self esteem lays approval seeking behaviour, seeking to “take ones rightful place’.

We need to set up a Stephen Harper Self Esteem Fund to raise money to ensure Stephen Harper can get the professional help he needs to build his self esteem to the point he no longer feels the need to engage in attention seeking behaviours in order to “take his proper place”.

A Fund so as to ensure Mr. Harper’s treatment is not interrupted and ensure that he can learn that respect is something one earns, not something one buys. Because Canadian taxpayers and the Canadian Armed Forces cannot afford the cost of Harper’s attempts to buy respect and his “rightful place”.

Perhaps once Mr. Harper moves into recovery vis-à-vis his self esteem issues, he will gain an understanding of what it means to be Canadian, rather than a wannabe American, coming to understand that childhood poverty, liveable wages, affordable housing and a health care system to rival the best among the industrialized nations, as opposed to being at the bottom of health for the industrialized nations barely ahead of the USA, are important – not billion dollar photos shoots.

With self esteem would, hopefully, come an understanding of what Kim Campbell meant when she said “Our first Prime Minister saw a country that would be known for its generosity of spirit. And so it is.”

Or was until Mr. Harper became Prime Minister.