Re: Colwood shells out for crossing guards, News, Sept. 21, 2011.
I take some issue with the context of the article “Colwood shells out for crossing guards.”
To clarify, according to my notes and City minutes, I did not say “Their primary responsibility should be for the kids getting to school safe, which includes crossing the street.” I certainly don’t believe that.
However, I did say that the primary responsibility for funding crossing guards historically was a school board responsibility, and I wondered why they have pushed the local councils to now fund this when their budget is far larger than the City of Colwood’s.
I think it’s great that wonderful people and organization’s have donated funds to ensure crossing guards.
But elected officials and senior bureaucrats have budgets to oversee and be accountable for.
If they are short of dollars due to provincial downloading or otherwise, they need to face those challenges, not assume because municipalities still have the right of property taxation, that this should just be shuffled off to local ratepayers to absorb. After all, what will be next, funding the pay raises for the teachers with property tax dollars?
Ernie Robertson
Councillor
Colwood
