Mayor Calls For Tax Revolt!

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Campbell River Mayor 

Calls For Tax Revolt

Budget Proposes 

13.6% Tax Increase

"Rise Up The Public 

Is Getting Screwed"

How many more years before Nanaimo is faced with the same tough decisions that Campbell River is now facing? Can you imagine a time when a Mayor is calling for a tax revolt because a city can't keep it's own spending in line, and just keeps on taxing and spending?

Consider the difference between the Campbell River council and our own city council. There, they Mayor and members of council are telling the staff to get their house in order, and figure out how to live within the city's means. Here, on the other hand, we have a Mayor and council who think nothing of adding another $700,000 to the budget, against the advice of the city manager.

Nanaimo 2011 Civic Election Comparisons

Has Our Form Of Democracy Become A Joke???

The above comparison takes a look at the civic election results from a couple of different angles. What the numbers tell is open to interpretation, but one thing for certain is that the level of voter apathy in Nanaimo is well beyond alarming.

To compare some of these figures only 26.9% of all eligible voters took the time to exercise their franchise, of those only 26.6% cast a proper ballot, the difference being unacceptable for one reason or other.

There is no one on city council capturing more than 14.2% of the total eligible vote, with six not even attaining 12% of the eligible vote and one not even making the 10% threshold.

Only two members of council were able to achieve even a simple majority of the total votes that were cast, only Councillor Bestwick and Mayor Ruttan were capable of passing, this most basic threshold of what is considered the will of the majority. The percentage of votes cast can of course be skewed when you have a large number of people running for a limited number of seats, as is the case in civic politics.

Perhaps the most telling statistic is the number of eligible voters who have not expressed their vote for any specific candidate, for example, even Bestwick with the highest numbers still does not have the expressed support of nearly 86% of the eligible vote.

One suggestion which may account for the lack of voter turnout, is the idea that it does not matter who you elect to council, as basically they have little to do with actually establishing policy and directing the course of the city. That task would seem to rest squarely with the unelected officials at city hall who basically employ city council as a firewall between themselves and the public.

Another Election Comparison

A Problem At city Hall

$1,500,000.00 For Economic Development

Yet Can't Issue Permit For Food Trucks!!!

As if we need another example of business ineptness from city hall, you would think the conference centre would be evidence enough, city hall should stick with water and sewer and roads.

A recent article in the local Daily highlights the difficulty a young entrepreneurial couple have had trying to get a permit to run their food truck at Departure Bay Beach. Short version, they applied for the permit last September, they still don't have a permit so are taking their business venture up to Parksville. If it is as successful as one might think, that is the last we will see of those enterprising young people.

At the same time we are spending $1,500,000.00 funding the new ( or at least reinvented) Nanaimo Economic Development Corporation for the purpose of attracting new business to Nanaimo. Am I the only one who sees the contradictions here???

Apparently while we are plotting to attract mega employers to set up shop in Nanaimo, giving away taxes to get hotels built and billing ourselves as a tourist destination spot, our own city hall aided and abetted by city staff and a dosing city council are doing our very best to discourage even the most basic of enterprise.

We are also spending $121,000.00 to develop a 'Strategic Plan' to solve all our ailments, I wonder if they will be recommending removing business oversight from the folk at city hall who I am certain are very competent at looking out for water, sewers, roads and garbage pick up, but are woefully inept when it comes to free enterprise.

Continuing Apathy?

Turnout for the current strategic planning workshops, while boisterous is less than exciting. The second workshop at the Moose Hall saw fewer than 20 members of the community show up, it did however see all of city council in attendance.

I think it safe to say that about 100 residents have participated in the process in the first two nights with the 80 or so on the first night being the largest turnout.

When you consider the number of tax dollars that have been spent publishing these workshops the turnout is actually quite disappointing. You may recall this process was kicked off with the equivalent of a three page, full colour advertisement, in the local daily which enjoyed what appeared to be a half page on the front page. In terms of advertising, that is as expensive as it gets, and certainly should be a reliable way of informing ALL of Nanaimo what is going on.

Of course two possibilities could account for the low turnout, one being people simply don't read the paper any more, or two, this is simply a continuation of the voter 'drop-out' evidenced at the last civic election. You may recall that at the last election voter turnout plummeted to less than 27% and that most of your 'elected' officials have somewhere between 9% - 14% of the eligible vote. In fact 6 of the 9 members of council have less than 12% of the eligible vote, with four having less than 11% of the eligible vote. Put another way at least 86% of the eligible voters in Nanaimo have not demonstrated support for this city council.

There are still several workshops to be completed before this process is over, but without more public input, the validity of the results should be called into question as 100 out of 64,000 voters is hardly a sound endorsement of any conclusions determined by this process. Using a percentage as a guage, this means that .00015% of the eligible voters have so far participated in the process.

So, whether this exercise produces a useful, guiding document, truly reflecting the wishes of the majority of Nanaimo residents, or simply produces another, well written shiny report that is more useful as a door stop, remains to be seen and ultimately depends on whether enough residents are actually willing to get off the couch and participate in the process. This whole report will have cost another $120,000 or so, to do what arguably a team of competent municipal managers should be able to produce.

The third night of meetings takes place Thursday March 15 at Oliver Woods Community Centre from 7:00 - 9:00 pm.

Remember the whole purpose of this strategic planning exercise is to serve as the basis for a core services review, which it appears that city staff and some council members are simply bent on derailing, and putting off as long as possible. It would be most unusual if a bureaucracy, or elected government really want their performance judged by a competent third party.

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Strategic Plan Questions

The current strategic planning exercise being conducted in the city of Nanaimo as a precursor to an indepth core services review of course is too new to judge it's usefulness.

On the one hand it is clearly something any community needs to establish if it has any hope of setting spending priorities and as noted by the City Manager without one it is impossible to structure an organization. That said, unless the plan is actually used as a guiding principle for all levels of governance it just becomes another voluminous, well written, nice looking dust collector.

The current community workshops being conducted across the city will surely get input from people with a wide variety of interests. For example, young people may have a new ice sheet or swimming pool near the top of their list, while those with an interest in local arts and culture will want to see things such as the Port Theatre continue to be publicly supported etc.

Regardless of how long the laundry list of city funded city improvements grows, unless it is founded on the principle of sound fiscal policy it will be a pointless exercise. Sound fiscal policy is something that is sadly lacking in local governance, as evidenced by the continuing upward spiral in taxation, while at the same time no increase in service levels. In fact, in spite of ever increasing taxes, the very basis of a livable community are being ignored, as evidenced by the underfunding of water, sewer and roads. A problem this council and city staff seem willing to keep pushing off until at least 2013, in spite of identifying the problem in 2010.

It Will Take Some Real Leadership From City Council

Unless this strategic plan is destined to become yet another shiny new door stop, this city council is going to have to embrace the principles it brings forth (presuming they are valid) and from those guiding recommendations actually craft real policy which they DIRECT city staff to implement.

Having watched city council closely for the past four years, I will be most pleasantly amazed if this council actually does start to take on the role of leading the city rather than simply putting the rubber stamp to whatever direction staff thinks we should go.

You need look no further than that $12 million, shiny new office, rising up behind city hall if you need a testimony of just how city staff can get this council to do whatever they please.