Dear Editor:
I was appalled after reading the self congratulatory comments from our local mutual admiration society, otherwise known as city hall.
Vague statements like "the budget is strong," "we've done the best job we can," the city is "an efficient operation," a faint promise that "future increases could possibly be less" (thanks a lot), and the recent sister-city junket only prove that this council is out of touch with the economic realities surrounding it. Are we to believe that, if the city had to, they could not find one per cent in savings?
Is it really "extremely difficult to bring in lower numbers"? I am skeptical - it depends on how hard they looked, and I suspect not very hard.
That's why city staff get paid well to make tough decisions. If the best they could do is a four per cent increase, then their best isn't good enough. The reason the city can do this is because cities get less scrutiny than higher levels of government, and they simply pass on increases through higher property taxes with little or no media attention or accountability especially with no opposition on council. I also have to take issue with the Burnaby NOW publishing soundbites patting themselves on the back without challenging the numbers.
Why are civic employees getting a four per cent increase when inflation is two per cent and most residents are not getting four per cent increases and their federal and provincial counterparts are getting zero per cent or facing layoffs? Where is the accountability for whoever negotiated this contract?
Is this the "good value for dollar" the mayor boasts of? Finally it was kind of the mayor to spin this as not burdening future generations, which of course is a falsehood because a bloated bureaucracy supported by high taxes will burden future generations to come and shows little regard for the current generation of taxpayers.
I am left with the impression current council treats Burnaby as their own personal fiefdom, and with no opposition on council this is a recipe for poor governance, no oversight and nobody to challenge the status quo. All of this makes me very glad we are finally getting a municipal auditor general.
Lawrence Kumar, Burnaby
