To the Editor,
Whether you vote for the Marx Brothers or the Rolling Stones for council positions will make absolutely no difference. To keep residential property taxes in line, one or two million dollars would have to be cut from next year’s civic budget. That can’t be done by contracting out, hiring freezes, or cosmetic budgetary cuts.
Instead of giving CUPE employees zero percent wage increases for two years, the current council gave them a five-year contact that is too rich. The cost of living salary increases for an already too expensive management should have been scrapped, but weren’t. And needed cost cutting at McLean Mill, the museum, the Multiplex and perhaps the pool has been ignored.
So no matter whom you vote for, we can expect another large tax increase next year. And talk of bike lanes, trails, bridges and a new pool is utter nonsense.
There is also very little money for necessary street and road repair.
As for the school board, you don’t have to worry about who gets in because the damage has already been done. We have the unmitigated disaster of the razing of the old ADSS and the loss of the finest auditorium on Vancouver Island (1,000 seats) with the exception of the Royal Theatre in Victoria (which is about 100 years old).
Richard Berg,
Port Alberni
