A sure sign of losing the debate on an issue is when you attack the messenger rather than counter the message. The comments leveled at former Mayor Dayday (SP Aug. 19/11) were clearly an attack on the messenger. If Atch & Co. think the public concern on spending and debt started as a result of a letter to the editor by Dayday, then clearly they have not been listening to the masses.
I would dearly like to see Council put forward a complete list of debt, including amortization, interest and repayment schedule. I would also like a list of pending debt, i.e. the bus barns, library, police station, etc. and the proposed plan for payment. I would like detail on the "other revenue" that will be generated for payment of the landfill. Add in any "off sheet" financing while you're at it..
As for the Mayor's comments on the city's triple A credit rating, he forgot to mention the flags Standard & Poors attached to the rating.
Councillor Penner's comments on the Art Gallery are laughable. And Councillor Hill's comments on the "undercurrent campaign" are naive. After the provincial election in November the civic campaign will be in full swing. Many on Council will grandstand at Council meetings during the final year of their term and they should expect that those planning to run against them will be out and about countering incumbents' positions. Its called politics.
I expect we will have a very interesting civic election this go round. We need only to wait and see who comes out of the woodwork.
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Darren Hill is beyond delusion. It will be interesting to see how he paints himself as a victim, once again, this campaign. I swear his campaign strategy in all elections is to target someone and then somehow twist himself into being a victim of their attacks. Poor Mr. Hill.
ReplyDeleteThe Mayor is just plain blind to reality. I applaud him only for his ambition to get things done, something that Mayor Dayday was unable to ever do. However, in his blind ambition he's forgot that Rome wasn't built in a day and has tried to cram too many capital projects into too short a time. The result has been expensive, half baked plans that have led to lengthy timelines and incomplete projects. The second the shovel hits the ground breaking on a project our mayor is off to his next project, leaving no oversight on anything that has started.
Councillor Clark lives in a dreamland. While some of his ideas are actually quite enlightening he has no grasp on reality in terms of financing and project management. If funds were unlimited then his vision may make more sense, then again how much realism can we expect from someone living exclusively off the public dime and willing to raise taxes on whim.
I'll enjoy the campaign as council asks us to ignore:
-the roads
-underfunded snow removal
-Ricer Landing inaction
-empty Mendel building collecting dust
-increased costs on AGS
-Palace being built for Police with all bells and whistles
-sky rocketing property taxes
.......and just believe that all is well and the media is out to get them. Hey.... there we go, maybe that could be Hill's campaign he's being victimized by the media this time? Or has he played that card yet?
Darren Hill, amongst others are living are suffering from delusions of grandeur. They have been out of touch with the citizens of Saskatoon for so long that their reality has been altered. I believe that the above writer is correct. Soon you will see victims of the media popping up saying how they have worked so hard for the city and people are now victimizing them. I am pretty sure Pat Lorje will be amongst the 1st. She has never met a camera she didn't like. It took our community 6 months before Pat would acknowledge that front yard garbage pickup wouldn't work in our community. She actually blocked people who complained from her email saying that we were just angry cause we didn't agree with her. Councillor Clark actually argued with me regarding in what consituency my mother lived. Nice listening skills! Instead of nickel and diming cuts to the city budget, now about city council taking a wage cut, since they are the ones who got our city into this mess. How come a wage cut hasn't been considered! Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:41 how can Council giving themselves a pay cut when they just patted themselves on the back and gave themselves huge raises?
ReplyDeleteDo you realize what a Councillor earned in 2000 vs 2011?
At least they kept up with the sky rocketing costs due to their spending.
Hill needs to go. If those on the center left and those on the center right were serious about getting rid of Hill they would find a candidate which each side could support.
ReplyDeleteDo not always agree with Hill. However, I find him to bring a different perspective on debates and has always taken care of our neighbourhood issues. To get my vote in the next election he will have to explain the Mendel move and the trillion dollar police station.
ReplyDeleteIf the right is serious about getting rid of hill they better find a better candidate than Reynalds. She can not even get herself elected to the Chamber board. She came to my doorstep in the last election and I felt like I was talking to Maurice Vellacott, she has the personality of a dried squid. Just to be clear I voted for Harper NOT Vellacott.
It would be good to see well fought campaigns in all wards.
I think the most interesting races will be the current byelection with the left split and then in 2012 when both Lingefelter and Wall stack their candidates provine wide.
Anon 9:53 ask the Civic Mistress about councillor pay scales. My understanding is what they have gotten is a result of what she voted for when she was on council. Unfortunately for her, commrade Clark sent her packing and she had to go back to doing whatever it is that she does. Do not want to sound negative but the mistress was a negative complication on the scool board for years and her short career on council was a testement to her skill set.
ReplyDeleteAnon 7:50 I agree that everyone on this blog and all communication outlets should make sure that no one is acclaimed. If they get re-elected great but make them work for it. I could not believe that Palson, Clark and Pringle sat back and did nothing in the last election. And Atchinson may as well have been acclaimed when the regular suspects run against him. Lets find a truly business minded candidate to send him packing rather than the left wing-nuts.
Council is running scared. Attempts at mitigating the police station fiscal damage by cutting Xmas lights, paddling pools, and cops only worsens their political situation, without even making a dent in the the fiscal problem. I'm hearing heads may role within administration, but that would be a shame. Several of these Councillors seem ok to me, buts it's like they are voting without thoroughly thinking things through in advance. I worry that they will all be overthrown in the next election and we will get something much worse. Anon 8:04 is right, we need business people and entrepreneurs to step up for the next election.
ReplyDeleteThe Mistress was instrumental in saving City Taxpayers millions of dollars when she was on the Public School Board. Maybe you don't remember the 'Taj Mahal' Education Centre that the public school board wanted to build in the North East. The mistress led the opposition to that financial fiasco and spearheaded a drive to renovate the old Army & Navy (Eaton's) building downtown for millions of dollars less. In fact that project came in UNDER BUDGET! Before you rewrite history, make sure the rest of us who were there are dead first.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like Anon 8:04 is a former trustee with an axe to grind against the Mistress. I can only think of a couple petty enough to hold a grudge and slowly release their anger Anonymously on a message board.
ReplyDeleteI wish someone like the Mistress had been there when they decided to build a $122 million police station instead of to refurb the $2 million post office next door.
ReplyDeleteHead swivel head swivel?? The Mistress wasn't the only Trustee making sure the school board didn't waste money on the School Board building. As I recall there were others there watching the $$ as well. That aside those currently on council will have a vary hard time explaining the massive tax increases we will be facing. Even if they pull a rabbit out of the hat this year by election time the new budget numbers will be in and they wont be no 0-3%.
ReplyDeleteI never said that the Mistress was the ONLY Trustee responsible. In a governance model with a board she had 1 vote like anyone else. What I said was that she was instrumental and also used words like 'spearheaded' and 'led.' All of these descriptions are 100% true. I'm sure that the Mistress herself would deflect the praise to other trustees who were by her side. Those of us who worked very hard to unseat the big spending trustees by energizing and organizing opposition to the Taj Mahal Ed Centre know for a fact that the Mistress provided wise leadership at that time.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if "spearheaded" or "led" are the right terms. I recall there was one trustee that run exclusively on making the board more accountable and upset the incumbent chair. But then again that is old history and our memories slip some what. There are going to be some very interested races come 2012 and I will be hoping some of those people with more of a watchful eye on the public purse take to the political life.
ReplyDelete