$160,000 Just Not Enough?
At the March 11, 2013 Nanaimo City Council Meeting Councillor Ted Greves expressed his disappointment that Councillor Pattje was only wanting to spend $160,000 on the old building at 25 Victoria Road. He felt that committing to the entire $800,000 was the road to take. Remember Councilor Greves has previously expressed the opinion that city hall is not collecting enough money now.
If memory serves when this issue was first presented to council Greves was not in favour of spending money on this building at all. Interesting how he did a 180 after considering the opinion of the arts and culture posse.
I have asked Councillor Greves to explain what makes him comfortable with accepting a pure guesstimate of $800,000 as being the real cost to deal with this building. I have also asked why he is comfortable with ignoring engineers reports that say doing a hazardous materials assessment should be the first step in the decision making process and not just putting a band aid on the exterior of this building.
I will also be interested to hear his explanation for ignoring the warning of two engineers about the seismic issues facing this building, in spite of a staff report claiming this building is of little concern from a seismic safety viewpoint.
Yup, you are correct, in saying: “If memory serves when this issue was first presented to council Greves was not in favour of spending money on this building at all. Interesting how he did a 180 after considering the opinion of the arts and culture posse.”
ReplyDeleteProblem is ...... Politics is purely all about pandering to special interest groups ...... including, apparently, the “expert opinion” of the South End Neighbourhood Association ... no matter the cost ... I’d say, send the bill for this to SECA. And doesn’t the membership of SECA comprise those who reside EAST of Nicol Street?!! And I’ll bet that one or two of the members of the above special interest group, who have addressed City Council on this issue, are not even eligible to vote in Nanaimo’s municipal elections (due to residency). Seems that doesn't matter either ...
Interesting how the Mayor doesn't ensure that all delegates who address Council provide their name and address before they speak ...