Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Nanaimo Civic Election 2011

A Few Questions For The Candidates

Follows are a few questions it might be prudent to ask anyone seeking your support come this next civic election.

1. Who do you expect to financially support your campaign. If a candidate is heavily supported by any of the local unions, can we expect them to seriously look out for taxpayers interest at the bargaining table? On the other hand, if they are heavily supported by local developers and construction companies can we expect them to seriously look out for the interest of taxpayers when it comes to bringing in more favourable taxation for business, at the expense of residential taxpayers?

2. Do you think that the ex city manager should have been entitled to over half a million dollars because he wanted to retire early?

3. Do you think the position of city manager should have been filled without an open job competition, bearing in mind our city manager's pay is ranked #39 out of 8181 civil servants in the province.

4. Should there be an independent core review conducted at city hall?

5. Should city hall adopt 'zero based' budgeting at least every five years?

6. Should city hall return the $3 million in over taxation last year, to the taxpayers of Nanaimo?

7. Should the city be building a new annex at a cost of $16 million instead of upgrading the existing annex for $4 million ?

8. Should the $12.5 million contract to build the new annex have been granted to a company without ever having gone to public tender?

Questions For Any Councillors Seeking Re-Election

1. Why did you agree to pay the former city manager $500,000 to take early retirement?

2. Why are you opposed to zero based budgeting?

3. Why are you opposed to an independent core review at city hall?

4. Did you oppose the demands of VIHA that the city of Nanaimo build a $65 million water treatment plant, when our water has proven safe for over 150 years?

5. Did you support building a new annex for $16 million instead of upgrading the existing for $4 million?

6. Did you support awarding a $12.5 million building contract for the new annex without going to public tender?

7. What is the biggest single expenditure in the city budget that you have opposed?

8. Can you read and understand the financial documents presented to you by city hall staff?

9. Why did you vote to keep the $3 million of over taxation collected this year from taxpayers instead of lowering taxes and thereby returning the funds to the taxpayers?

10. Do you think city hall managers salaries need to be reviewed and brought into closer alignment with the private sector?

11. Why are so many important decisions kept in secret and not brought out of in camera after the reason for secrecy has passed?  For example: who voted for the new annex construction?

To see who is running in the 2011 Nanaimo Municpal Elections visit the Special Nanaimo Blog page HERE.

allvoices

2 comments:

  1. 19 good questions for politicians = 19 indirect, confusing answers that never really answer the posed question

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, great questions. Too bad there is not a pubic forum where the candidates answer these questions. Would anyone be will to host one? If someone did would the existing Councillors & Mayor attend?

    ReplyDelete

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