78 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

Paul Brown, candidate in the 2010 City of Victoria by-election, is calling for greater accountability and transparency at City Hall.


The following press release was received by VibrantVictoria:

PAUL BROWN: GREATER TRANSPARENCY & ACCOUNTABILITY NEEDED IN CITY
BUDGET PROCESS
Victoria, BC – Paul Brown is voicing his concern over the lack of transparency and accountability in the City of Victoria’s 2011 budget process and has issued the following statement: It’s nice to see the City has finally decided to invite the public to discuss its 2011 budget. It should have been done long before now. It would have been helpful as well, if information about the current budget was publicly available. As it is, there is currently nothing on the City website relating to this year’s projected budget.

How is the general public supposed to know what’s involved?

Victoria residents deserve and expect better from their local government. What we need is a Mayor and Council who are willing to take real responsibility for the challenges facing our local economy and to show leadership during this time of economic uncertainty. Spending at city hall is spiralling out of control and there is a growing disconnect between the Mayor’s office and local residents. We continue to be told that our mounting debts don’t matter, and that increasing the tax burden on families and businesses during tough economic times somehow makes sense.

The City is facing a half-billion dollar deficit in the projected cost of maintaining and renovating its infrastructure—its water and sewer system, its parks and recreation facilities, its roads and sidewalks, for example.

This deficit represents almost one third of our total forecasted spending needs. And with the City’s borrowing capacity virtually maxed out by the Blue Bridge replacement project, raising taxes and fees, cutting services, or both, seems almost inevitable.

I am saying to Mr. Fortin today, that enough is enough. It’s time for City Hall to follow some basic rules of accountability. That means truth in tax forecasting for this year and beyond, eliminating frivolous spending, cutting red tape, and being open and honest about the budget process with Victoria residents.

Simply put, it is time for the Mayor to show genuine leadership in managing the financial affairs of our City.

For Additional Information & Comments:
paulforvictoria@hotmail.ca

[Rob Randall]

Define "frivolous spending".

[Bob Fugger]

Define "frivolous spending".

• Replacing the JSB instead of refurbishing it;
• Refurbishing the PEB instead of replacing it;
• Ridiculous Douglas Street transit plan (granted it's BCT's project, but our gas/property taxes fund it and it's on our turf);
• Secondary/tertiary sewage treatment (as above);
• "Improving" Pandora Avenue boulevard (i.e., concreting it);
• "Fixing" an on-street parking problem that we didn't know we had with inconvenient technology;
• Creating a storm drainage utility to charge people for storm water run off and cover costs to replace storm water pipes (I THOUGHT WE HAD A FULLY FUNDED 20 YEAR CAPITAL PLAN FOR THIS!?);
• Buying a bunch of hotels and becoming a slumlord;
• Seemingly annual Chinese "trade" junkets for Dean-o; and
• A governance structure that guarantees $150k+ salaries to way too many managers.

You know, just off the top of my head.

[rjag]

Define "frivolous spending".

$600,000 to Rogers Chocolates for a completely ridiculous decision by our one and only Ms Pamela Madoff I think qualifies as frivolous.....

'Smart car' parking stalls

Reducing a car lane on upper Fort St and adding bike lanes that have seen little to no increase in ridership to justify such an expense

etc etc

[Bingo]

Define "frivolous spending".

Narrowing Esquimalt and Craigflower Roads at a time when the crawl on the Island Highway is getting worse.

[gumgum]

^That's not in Victoria.

[Bingo]

^That's not in Victoria.

Both Esquimalt and Craigflower Roads are in Vic West, and feed the two bridges into downtown. It those roads are now constricted you don't need to build a fancy new bridge with three lanes for vehicles.

Reduce the new bridge to two vehicle lanes, and now you have room on the bridge for rail at no extra cost.

[Barra]

'Smart car' parking stalls

etc etc

These didn't cost anything, as spaces too small for a regular parking spot were designated for small cars - and motorcycles too, I hope.

I hope Paul Brown chimes in on this.

[Rob Randall]

These didn't cost anything, as spaces too small for a regular parking spot were designated for small cars - and motorcycles too, I hope.

Yes, any vehicle under three metres, including motorbikes and scooters can use them and yes, they used to be dead spaces and now they are generating revenue (that's a fancy word for cash). Anyone who thinks this is a frill needs to give their head a shake.

I see some decisions I disagree with, like the Roger's Chocolates payout but not much in that list constituting a frill that could easily be excised from the City budget. Maybe the Pandora Green rehab project but others like me think it's a worthwhile improvement.

[Bob Fugger]

Yes, any vehicle under three metres, including motorbikes and scooters can use them and yes, they used to be dead spaces and now they are generating revenue (that's a fancy word for cash). Anyone who thinks this is a frill needs to give their head a shake.

I see some decisions I disagree with, like the Roger's Chocolates payout but not much in that list constituting a frill that could easily be excised from the City budget. Maybe the Pandora Green rehab project but others like me think it's a worthwhile improvement.

Just to be clear, you don't believe that a governance structure that has produced an unnecessary level of six-figure middle managers to be a valid example of frivolous spending?

[rjag]

Yes, any vehicle under three metres, including motorbikes and scooters can use them and yes, they used to be dead spaces and now they are generating revenue (that's a fancy word for cash). Anyone who thinks this is a frill needs to give their head a shake.

I see some decisions I disagree with, like the Roger's Chocolates payout but not much in that list constituting a frill that could easily be excised from the City budget. Maybe the Pandora Green rehab project but others like me think it's a worthwhile improvement.

Hahaha, only the gullible could have swallowed that one. The Smart car is less than 3 metres in length at 2.69 metres, the Fiat 500 (soon to be here) is 3.5 metres, the Tata Nano is 3.099 metres, the Ford Fiesta is 4.066 metres and the Toytota IQ is 2.98 metres (but we dont get that in Canada yet)

The above noted cars are all classified as Super-mini or sub-compact and only the Smart car is eligible based on your 3 metre length.

So why just stop at 1 x 3 metre space when they could split it into 3 x 1 metre spaces and call it motorbike parking and generate triple revenue....because they were being frivolous and catering to a certain crowd without thinking it through which they seem to do quite often these days.

So yes you are correct I shake my head every time I see one of these wasted spaces being occupied by 1 distinct model of vehicle when it could occupy 3 of a generic brand of motorbike.

[Jacques Cadé]

Reducing a car lane on upper Fort St and adding bike lanes that have seen little to no increase in ridership to justify such an expense

Gotta disagree with that one. I live in the 'hood, and cycle the Fort Street lanes frequently. Before the lanes existed, I was constantly getting squeezed out/splashed by cars in the outside lanes. Now cyclists have some room. Sure, rush-hour traffic speeds are slightly slower between Central School and Christie's, but when I've driven Fort, I've never found it a problem.

[Rob Randall]

If a candidate waves last year's budget around talking about "frivolous spending" I need to hear specifics, and what the ramifications would be if they were eliminated. I'm not so much interested in lists of "Stuff I Don't Like".

Yes, we do spend too much. We citizens residing in the CRD spend more on fire chiefs than New York City does. But fixing this will take more than a stroke of a red pen.

[Bingo]

Gotta disagree with that one. I live in the 'hood, and cycle the Fort Street lanes frequently. Before the lanes existed, I was constantly getting squeezed out/splashed by cars in the outside lanes. Now cyclists have some room. Sure, rush-hour traffic speeds are slightly slower between Central School and Christie's, but when I've driven Fort, I've never found it a problem.

I agree. Upper Fort Street has been a major east -west route since the days of Fort Victoria and the dynamite plant at Telegraph Cove in the 1890's, also the site of the first telegraph cable to Olympia Wash.

Once it was a wagon trail and then a major steetcar line, and now cylists need a break at the Dardanelles. Anyone else remember it being called that?

[Mike K.]

For what its worth, smart car parking seems to be growing in numbers. Recently two spots were created out of a single parking spot at Government Yates. Today, mid-day, all regular spots were taken and the two smart car spots were sitting unused. And that seems to often be the case.

[Mike K.]

Another press release has been received from Paul Brown.

PAUL BROWN ATTENDS CITY OF VICTORIA BUDGET PRESENTATION: RAISES THE NEED FOR MORE SPECIFICS

Victoria, BC – The City of Victoria’s proposed 2011 budget is long on statistics but short on meaningful explanations, says Paul Brown.

Brown attended the City of Victoria’s Governance and Priorities Committee meeting at City Hall, where Council members heard that property taxes are predicted to rise by 23% over the next five years. That translates into an $880 increase in taxes on an assessed value of $600,000.

“I was shocked at the lack of concrete details provided in the presentation,” he commented. “In only 15 minutes, they covered more than $185 million for next year’s operating budget and $56 million in capital spending.”

“Victoria’s residents and business owners deserve to have more information before they can be expected to evaluate this budget fairly, and I don’t think the City has tried hard enough to provide it.”

Brown noted, for example, there was no information about proposed increases in service fees or licences administered by the City, nor about the impact the HST will have on individuals paying those charges.

“I don’t believe that continually raising taxes and fees for local residents and business owners is the solution. What we need is a Mayor and Council who are willing to take real responsibility for the challenges facing our local economy and show leadership to ensure the economic and cultural vitality of downtown Victoria, to make sure that we get regional support for regional services, and to tackle the $500 million infrastructure deficit that’s been talked about for long enough.”

Brown recommends that City taxpayers come to the planned public meetings in April ready to challenge the budget on a number of key gaps in the information so far:

1. What are the principal factors driving the annual increases in City spending and taxes, and what
steps has City Hall taken to curb spending in the past 12 months?

2. What specific increases are planned for fees and services administered by the City, and are any
service cuts planned in 2011?

[Bingo]

Paul Brown was one of the most credible candidates for councillor last fall. It is good to see him still involved, and no doubt he will be around for the Victoria municipal election in November.

[VictoriaGuy77]

I hope Brown throws his name in the hat for Mayor. He could really give Fortin a run for his money.

[Mike K.]

I'm sure Brown will be in the running this fall.

[VictoriaGuy77]

Looks like Paul Brown is running for something this fall:
http://www.youtube.com/user/PaulforVictoria