Wednesday, August 8, 2012 NewsLeader A7
COMMENT
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Voters won’t forget I know that the councillors at City Hall have a very important job and, given the times, a difficult one. But considering their recent position that they will carry through with the office tower regardless of what or how the citizens (taxpayers) say or vote is, at best, disappointing and, at worst, arrogant and undemocratic. So maybe council should try to convince us that they are right and the skeptics are wrong, or at least make an effort to allay our concerns. Where is the accountability and respect to those who pay the bills? But that, it seems, is what is not going to happen. Council will go ahead with this development regardless. Is it because council has backed itself into a corner and can’t extricate itself ? Many questions are still not answered. Why did we get into a multimillion dollar tower with little or no public input and without a signed agreement with the developer? Why were things not nailed down beforehand? If the civic centre was not financially feasible as a standalone project, why did we go ahead with it? And if it was as I understood it to be, then what’s the problem with capping it at the roof ? Council’s disappointing and unacceptable attitude towards citizens’ concerns on this most important issue will be long remembered. Bill Zander New Westminster •••••
Wow! Thanks to the media, the truth about our special interest mayor, councillors and some city staff is coming to light. Through investigative reporting and determination, the credibility and integrity of this New West group is in serious jeopardy. Regardless of whom is spearheading what, the fact remains that New West taxpayers alone should decide if they want to risk the burden of an additional $59 million debt load, combined with the huge debt already accumulated over the past 10 years. Some have said the total debt with this borrowing bylaw will edge $100 million—for a population of only 60,000. We could highlight Mayor Wayne Wright’s rhetoric — “we have several people interested”
in purchasing the building — but we know that no one believes this, given his “we have developers lined up to take it over” pre-election false bravado. We could even enjoy his amusing comment that “we are on target for budget,” which smells strangely like his preelection promise of Westminster Pier Park being on time and on budget when he knew it was nearly a million dollars over budget—and that is for only half a park. What this is actually about is a fight between the people and the politicians—the people saying they want to hear the details and be heard via referendum. The other is the politicians saying they will do as they please regardless of public opinion. Either way, win or lose, our politicians’ credibility and integrity has been seriously tainted. Paul Thompson New Westminster
Keen to see Downtown come to life Despite all the “who saids” and “who signed” and “how much,” in the end anticipate the city almost doubling the return on the public’s investment in the office tower above the civic centre, if and when it decides to sell. Will the alarmists apologize when that happens? Hmm. This civic centre and tower will provide a significant direct economic impact to our local economy. It’s the key component to restoring our Downtown city core. A muchneeded lift that will bring people to our city. While out in our city, I have asked business owners for their opinion. Feedback was very encouraging with support for the civic centre. Most said it will attract people into our city by way of increasing retail services and hospitality. Another said “It’s about time!” and it can’t happen fast enough. I also listened to a proprietor about the possible sale of the civic centre office tower, and he suggested re-locating our dated City Hall into the tower and sell off our existing City Hall and its land to a developer.
2-YEAR
TERM DEPOSIT
Along with the services already in place in New Westminster, adding a new civic centre with a well-rounded design and performance plan will surely attract people to our city. We will all win. It’s a done deal. I look forward to watching our old Downtown come out of its coma and have a life again, with hustle and bustle and prosperity. Sandra Jaser New Westminster
Keep up the fight Re: Crosty starts campaign to stop borrowing bylaw I am totally in agreement with Mr. Crosty and his cause. My wife and I have gathered over 900 signatures on our petition, here in Pitt Meadows, to keep our taxes down and question the huge debt that our city has acquired. Don’t give up! The residents of our cities— any city or municipality—pay taxes to pay the wages of those in charge. The mayor of New Westminster was on the Bill Good show on CKNW on Thursday, and when asked how much money the city has borrowed so far, he waffled. He said the city has people who take care of that. Right! Don’t get me started on that! If our cities would “keep up” maintenance on what we already have, which is much cheaper than replacing buildings, we wouldn’t be in this predicament. Get back to the basics, mayors and councillors, and look after what you already have. Cities can be very, very close to being debt free. Preserve the history, stop building new structures that aren’t needed when buildings are left empty. If we all just got fed up with our homes after not looking after them, could we afford to move to new digs every time something needed fixing? Must be nice if you can, but the majority can’t. Fix it! Keep up the fight Mr. Crosty! Tom Murray Pitt Meadows
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