Letter to the Editor: "Incompetent Council"

The opinions expressed in this letter are simply the opinions of the person who wrote it and do not necessarily reflect those of the people at MJ Independent.

RE: City Budget

The majority of this council are absolutely the worst and most fiscally incompetent group that I have seen in my 15 years of watching Council, for many reasons:
- Council has received large amounts of revenue sharing from the Province over the past 5-7 years, with most of it spent on operations, while very little has gone into infrastructure,
- There were NO cuts in City operations, which should have been the obvious target given its past recent growth,
- With Provincial cut backs, the City is in a fiscal bind and yet there was "new" spending on new staff at City Hall,
- As a taxpayer I have seen no improvement in services as a consequence of all their spending on operations; its diminishing returns,
- As a retired Pilot, I find spending money on the MJ Airdrome is ridiculous as, in my opinion, it will never be anything more than a "hobby field" for the "big wigs" and their toys,
- There was NO reason for the Budget to go "in camera" as the confidential items could have been separated and those who accepted this approach are not taxpayer friendly, and
- This City has never had a "revenue" problem, they have a "spending" problem!
Many of these Councillors and the Mayor talk a great line about spending priorities but they are not capable of making the tough decisions needed to manage the budget efficiently to the benefit of the taxpayer! And for Tolmie to emphasize "transparency" at City Hall is, from experience, just blowing hot air!!

Mike Dolan, Moose Jaw

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