After reading your headline on the review of council pay in this morning's Citizen I notice some of the review panel are former councillors. Well now, isn't that going to create an unbiased review... NOT.
With constant headlines from every aspect of Canadian bureaucracy paying lip-service only to the need for completely unbiased reviews - hmmmm... why doesn't this bit of fluff surprise me?
It's as farcical as confronting the public last fall and asking for our input on snow budget reduction.
David Yarmish's quote in the middle of the article spells out the reality of the issue in no uncertain terms, "But you have to have a good package to get people to perform."
Considering the former issue of snow management when placed beside the mountains of the white stuff we are finally seeing disappear, I believe "perform" is a highly relevant choice of words.
City council seems stuck in the same old historic dogmatic approach to economics as are most other bureaucrats. They think taxpayers are some kind of magical pot-of-gold for an income source.
I have heard 30 years of councils bragging on the economic flexibility of our little lumber town but I've yet to see anything of real lasting viability to reversing current downward trends when it comes to public sector employees and employers.
Will any of these so-called leaders ever get it?
We are a finite system and expansion, which is the classic source for continuing growth of pay, is not happening.
If this feeding trough isn't eliminated our city feeders may find themselves in a real dilemma shortly... exactly what will happen if they reduce the snow budgets.
Running any government at every level is rising in cost respectively to all other aspects of a society built on cheap resource avails.
Dennis Ouellette
Prince George
