The present council, in its short tenure, has seen fit to adjust all sorts of things: power rates, property taxes, water rates, introduction of paperless billing, medical/dental supplementation for themselves and, of course, the recent taxpayer-hosted going away party for Ms. Antoniak.
Where will it stop? What ever happened to the old adage of charity begins at home? Did any one of you taxpayers get an invite to the party that taxpayers ponied up money for. It seems strange to me that we, the taxpayers, should have to pay for a private function for a well-salaried employee ($167,000 +/-) employee who may or may not have been enamored by all.
If the City pundits were so gung-ho in being politically correct or courtesy bound, why didn’t they put monies from their own pockets up to host this fete? Personally, I would have been more satisfied to see a donation of this $1,400 go towards something meaningful e.g. foodbank or other charitable group.
As I have stated on other occasions, polticos seem to gravitate to what other politicos have done. The monkey-see, monkey-do attitude seems to take hold. We have seen financial improprieties at all levels of government. I am wondering if pork barreling is now the rule rather than the exception here at home. Protocol is one thing; common sense is another. Shades of Canadian Senator wrongdoings perhaps? It is somewhat disconcerting to think that the voting public, while hoping for a new direction, with new faces and some new ideas, has to, at this early juncture, endure much of what has gone on before. To think that we have three-plus years of this, in and of itself, is a little scary.
When all is said and done, maybe the politicos in office here should take a verse from Robert Frost’s Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening quote:
These woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep
Are you councillors listening? Some pre-election promises were made and some planned paths were laid out. You have a long way to go before you can relax.
We will be watching you with a jaundiced eye, to be sure!
Ron Barillaro Penticton