This decision must go to referendum
If the general public supports this purchase - great ...... but they need to be asked!
Once again this council is throwing around tax dollars like there is no tomorrow and are doing everything possible to avoid broad based community input. Remember our city manager is not a fan of representative democracy and the public's only function is to observe what the gods do at city hall.
What kind of lobby group pulled this off?
From what was seen in public, there was no reason to suspect this city council was seriously thinking about buying this piece of real estate with nine million tax dollars. To my recollection, there were one or two delegations to council and the response from council was that the land owner was intending to use the land compliant with present zoning. It was also noted that the property would be far too expensive for the city to purchase.
This begs the question: "how does a relatively small, low key lobby group manage to pry $9 million from this council, without any real public input". Do they have pictures of some council members engaged in inappropriate behaviour? Do they have enough political clout, that they offer major support come this November? A creative mind can just run rampant with scenarios that have resulted in this out-of-the-blue purchase.
Some questions that MUST be answered:
- Given that this is an expenditure with long term benefit, it would not be inconsistent to borrow the required funds, so that people enjoying the benefit in the future can also share in the payment. Of course this means getting public approval via a referendum, and we all know how this council seems to loathe public input.
- What other projects might suffer because this nine million dollars has been spent on this park?
- Where is the study that compares how many tax dollars are being foregone by turning this land into a park rather than seeing new high-end homes being built on this property?
- What is the economic impact to the community by not building the number of homes this area could support? Construction is a huge economic driver in Nanaimo, as we all know.
- How much 'profit' are Nanaimo taxpayers giving to the property owners so they will walk away from the potential future profit this development would yield?
Tell this Council you want answers to these questions, and the opportunity to show your support with a referendum before the final decision is made.
Why do people use the phrase "drunken sailor". I object strenuously to it's use. I was a sailor in the Canadian navy for 38 years. People that use this phrase, only show their ignorance as to what the navy is all about.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, I do not expect this post to show up on your site. You bitch about city hall and their "in camera" meetings, but your website does the equivalent by not posting comments favourable to you.
I apologize for the offense. The expression I presume originated a long time ago, when sailors would come ashore after months at sea and over imbibe, not unlike fellows I knew in my own misspent youth, who would come out of the woods on the weekend, cash there cheques on a Friday and leave most of it with the local bar keep before returning to the bush on Sunday night.
ReplyDeleteI have changed the reference and have inserted the expression 'spending like there is no tomorrow'.
Thanks for your input Sir, I meant no offense to the honorable men and women of the Navy or any branch of service.