Is City Staff In a Conflict Of Interest ?

Should City Staff Be Relied On To Be Unbiased?

The current financial fiasco underway at city hall, being orchestrated and overseen by the same managers that brought you the Conference Centre which ran millions and millions and millions over projected costs brings many questions to mind, which need to be answered before this disaster is allowed to go any further.

One serious question needing addressing is the possibility that city staff are actually acting in their own best interests when steering city council to the foregone conclusion they want made. They have no reason to try and reduce the stress they are putting on the public purse, as not one of them is responsible to the public for the amount of money they spend.

Within the realm of bureaucratic kingdoms there is the natural tendency to surround ones self with as many trimmings and trappings as possible that reinforce the visual impression of their 'status' within the corporation. You know, the top banana always gets the best corner office, with the best view, the biggest, flashiest desk, the most staff and on and on it goes.

So, when presented with a scheme that would see them lifted out of there current, older work space and elevated into posh new surroundings that a $16 million office would provide, who can blame them for putting their heads together to make it so? After all, it is city council that takes all the heat for decisions made by council, which of course were recommended by staff, so it is really staff who have made the choice. There is no real accountability within the hallowed halls of the city bureaucracy. They are a kingdom unto themselves, and pity the council that tries to reign them in!

So, now all city staff have to do is present a mind numbing avalanche of reports, studies and reviews which conclude the only sensible choice is to spend the $16 million on a new office tower. Does council have any other resource to rely on before making a decision? Do they have any counter recommendations made by some other totally unbiased authority? Of course not, they can only draw on their own life experiences and expertise before making a decision. Without being unkind to anyone, it is fair to say, that few on council have any real experience or expertise in evaluating the recommendation put before them by city staff.

The Taxpayer Will Get Ripped Off Again!

Just like the conference centre fiasco, the current method of deciding to proceed with the new city annex offers the shareholders of this corporation (that is every single taxpayer) no opportunity to tell if they are getting any real value for their money. In essence, city staff is asking us to just trust their judgment when it comes to getting $16 million of value for the taxpayer.

The ONLY way to know if you are getting real value for your money, is to compare at the very least two bids from qualified builders for a building with the exact same specs. Only then can we have any assurance we are not just being led down the garden path again, by an arguably incompetent group of managers.

This insanity has to be stopped now and not be allowed to proceed until after open and clear discussions in FRONT of the taxpaying public take place during the next civic election campaign.

It is most reasonable to just put this whole project on the shelf until after the next election, and if the new council gets a mandate to build a $16 million office tower instead of not increasing our taxes for the next five years, only then should this project proceed. At that time, should the taxpayer of Nanaimo indicate they want to proceed with the major construction project, the city should hire an outside, independent project manager, and not turn city staff loose on another ill-fated construction project such as we witnessed downtown.