I am writing this letter with the hopes that the public and council will take notice, and that things can change.
The mayor and council are keeping the 1.9 per cent infrastructure tax in place. I do agree with this approach but we, the taxpayers, have never been informed of what areas of the city are the priority, how much has been spent to date and how much money is in the bank? I live on East Hill and after talking with a gentleman who has lived here for many years, states that the sewer and water lines have never been inspected to his knowledge. The council is always stating they are investigating and checking these lines but we never hear about any results.
In the past year, we have had either six or seven water line breaks. Is this due to poor water lines? If so, why are they not being replaced? Do we have a water hammer problem with the line and pumping system? If so, what it being done? Having all of these breaks is extremely costly (it would be nice to have a figure) and disrupting to the people living in the affected area.
What this council and city needs to do is to start being more open about what is happening in our city with us the taxpayers (their employer). We should be able to have access to the wages of employees in the city. The union is negotiating for a new contract but the vast majority of people in town will not receive one or else, it will be a very small increase. Plus, many of these do not have the fat benefits package that municipal workers do. This includes the many on fixed incomes from the government. We are paying for this we should be able to know how much it is costing us.
We have a communications manager working for the city but how often do we see anything in the paper, only when a person wishes to have their name in the paper and then it does not go through the communication office. This person should be putting out reports with facts and figures that have been researched of where the work is going to take place and length, and what is happening at meetings.
The city should also have an app created to help the younger generation connect with the council and start to take an interest in what happens to their hard-earned money. The communication manager would be a good person to keep this up to date. All taxpayers should supply an e-mail address to the city so they can be kept up to date with what is happening in their community.
The paper will soon become another dinosaur of this century as the young people will only be using cell phones and tablets to communicate, and we are no where ready for this to occur.
I am a senior and I would like to know how and have a voice in how my taxes are being used.
Garry Haas
