October 5, 2011
City councillors desperately need a reality check
The current poll up at The Daily News shows once again just how out of touch city councillors are with the residents of Kamloops.
We already knew this from the Lorne Street parkade fiasco. They ignored a survey indicating overwhelming opposition to it, and now it will most likely go down to defeat in a counter petition.
Taxpayers will be left holding the bag either way. More than $200,000 has already been spent on various studies, so that money will be gone even if the project is simply cancelled.
But if they push ahead with a referendum, which would be the only way to get the parkade approved, that would cost another $100,000. And if they’re going to do that, why not use the money to build a parkade elsewhere?
What a mess.
It’s no wonder most people like the idea of a municipal auditor general to keep an eye on spending by local governments. In The Daily News poll, more than 50 per cent say it’s about time.
Meanwhile, out-of-touch councillors at the recent Union of B.C. Municipalities conference offered lame opposition to the proposal for a municipal auditor. Everything is fine the way it is, they insisted.
Everything is not fine, and Kamloops is proof.