Dear editor,This article helps make my point. From the June 9, 2011 issue of The Economist.You can read it at http://econ.st/io6lJB” http://econ.st/io6lJB.Some quotes:“Provincial governments have neglected their responsibility for such matters as social housing, welfare, mental illness, drug addiction and policing.”“But municipal governments … get only eight cents out of every tax dollar.”“The result is that mayors must constantly go cap-in-hand to the provincial and federal governments for money for capital projects.”I have just read the local papers about the proposed new bureaucracy of municipal auditor general (MAG) that Christy Clark announced in the throne speech. The Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) voted to accept it ‘in principle’. Our local folks supported it with faint praise. What were they thinking? Why would any clear-thinking mayor or councillor go along with that?What MAG means is another layer of taxpayer-funded bureaucracy ($200,000 + salaries) to do what municipalities are already doing:  being fiscally and politically accountable to their constituents — struggling to deal with downloads from Victoria and Ottawa.I am tired of landowners and small businesses paying the biggest portion of costs through property and business taxes for the services needed today. Look what we send to Ottawa and Victoria:  gas tax, income tax, sales tax, MSP premiums, and fees for passports. And we get back eight cents.I’m sure I’ll hear a few local delegates to the UBCM falling over themselves to justify their support for MAG. Bring it on, boys.Something for Valley residents to think about as we prepare to vote on Nov. 19 — who is really looking out for us?Cliff Boldt,Courtenay

Comox Valley Record