Let me get this straight. The City of Salmon Arm makes a huge donation to the Roots and Blues committee. Then the committee turns around and gives this money to the Salmon Arm patrons of said festival (Salmon Arm residents get Roots and Blues deal, Dec. 12 Market News). So a portion of my tax dollars are going to subsidize patrons of the R&B festival, many of whom may be much wealthier than I am. I ask any members of city council and any member of the R&B festival to give me justification for such action.
As a non-patron of the R&B event, I am still paying for it. If the festival cannot be self-sufficient with the money they take in, they need to increase the ticket price. And city council needs to give their head a shake. Next we will have the Silverbacks coming for a handout, then the Shuswap Theatre, then the dance society, then the lacrosse league, then the tiddlywinks society and on and on it goes.
I appreciate the fact the city does a good job of snow removal as well as some other services. That is their mandate and that is what they need to focus on. City councils are not charity dispensers, they are service providers.
Alfred Schalm
