He did the only thing he could do. Well said.

Good. We don’t need a shrine to Judy Russell. Now if the rest of the committee resigns maybe we can put this nonsense to rest once and for all.
That would enable the city to sell off the properties they bought in anticipation of building this thing.
I wonder if the rebuilding of the Keg took so long because the city was dragging their feet on permits due to the city wanted that property too???
ENOUGH!!! Fix the damn roads and enough of your nonsense.

I bet it’s because he and every other one of his ilk knows that next time there is an AAP for them to try to squeeze money from the taxpayers of PG and area that it WILL (underlined) be DEFEATED. No way they are gonna get money to build that from the taxpayers here. WE THE PEOPLE are just waiting for the next try from them. The army WILL do it again, just like this stupid dike that they tried to steal money from us. Next time it will be in the tens of thousands of signatures, since this one I presume includes the regional district. Just try us again. Good bye and good riddance you useless ballet pusher. We do not need your ilk trying to make me or any other taxpayer pay for your PAC. Pay for it yourself you parisite. The AAP will never work again in PG. We’re just waiting for your next try.

I guess that you don’t know Jo Graber, Matty or you would not have written such a slamming post. Graber cares deeply about PG almost to a point of frustration. A ballet pusher? What he and his “ilk” want is a well rounded community for all to enjoy that is affordable and practical. Get your head out of the sand.

MattyC..
Very harsh words to someone who has spent many long volunteer days pursuing something that he believes is good for the City. Volunteering is what people do, including those that helped collect the signatures to tell council to try something else in spending our money.

You have such a narrow view of how to treat people who truely are trying to make this a better community.

STUPID,STEAL, USELESS, PUSHER AND PARASITE

In my opinion they are nasty, vindictive words that do no good other than make the sender feel better.

Did you just get back from Seattle?

and for the record my name is Ron J Davis

Disclaimer: As a reasonable person who took a reasoned approach in opposing the borrowing for the dike, and who would also oppose funding a PAC, I in no way am to be associated with a loon who would post such absolute garbage as this mattyc idiot.
Thank you very much.

I do not know them man. I and the majority of taxpayers WILL NOT (do you understand that?) pay for a PAC. All I know of this man is his incecant trying to get money from us. And I am willing to bet most of the majority will agree with me. You get your head out of the sand and go pay for this thing. The AAP for this WILL be DEFEATED. What part of that do you not understand? We want the roads fixed then the water systems and whatever other basic services that are required to run this town. Not a 50 or more million dollar useless thing that the MAJORITY do not want. Don’t slam me for speaking the truth.

Time to drop the banhammer on this troll.

I cannot in all concience support any more spending of money in the City of Prince George, when our basic needs are not being met.

This City is on the brink of going bankrupt, and no one seems to give a chit.

We cannot continue to spend our money on these feel good projects, at the expense of the low to medium income tax payers. Its time to give our head a shake.

We have an increasing number of seniors who when they retire have their incomes reduced by at least 50% but all their costs keep rising. How the hell is that sustainable. Who ever looks at the overall cost of living in this City, and how it relates to low, medium, wage earners.

Why would anyone City, Government, employee, or politician think that they have the right to tax people to the hilt, without any concern for the consequences. Who the hell gave this this right.

Once again I would remind all levels of Government that you work for the taxpayers, not the other way around. All Goverment workers, are well paid, and get good benefits, and have very little or any concern about rising costs. The same cannot be said for those of fixed incomes, minimum wage, or working in the retail industry at $12.00 per hour (if they are lucky) or the retired.

Our tax system has to be based on the ability to pay. People seem to forget that all Government employees are paid for by tax dollars. So we get to pay it all. We cannot base our taxes on incomes from Government emloyees because they are an expense to taxpayers, in addition to all our other expenses.

We need to get back to the basics, and look after our fundamental needs. One only has to look at whats happening in Europe to see where we will end up if we do not put an end to this madness.

There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to indicate that Prince George will grow in the next 10/15 years. NOTHING. In fact if we want to be honest with ourselves the opposite is true, and we may very well continue to decrease in population.

So the question is.. Without any growth, and with the huge costs associated with running this City, how the hell are we going to pay for everything. We have already borrowed to the maximum (or close to it) we have no way of increasing taxes, other than on residential house owners, who will NOT continue to pay.

Its pretty obvious we have come to the end of the line. No more tax increases and a huge reduction in spending. Thats the only answer.

If the City trys to bring in some form of gas tax you can rest assured that all hell will break loose. Its time for the City, to take the initiative and become fiscally responsible.

Most of our problems can be attributed to previous administrations, and politicians, however, the job of setting things right is now the responsibility of those in office. Its time to roll up the sleeves and get to work. Or get the hell out of Dodge.

So now matty is a troll? LOL LOL. Matty says the truth. And the fact is this group has been trying for years now to force us taxpayers to pay for them. Well since the AAP was won by the taxpayers, it will be untertaken again next time this group tries to force us to pay for them. So call me a troll, or a hole or whatever it don’t matter. I will not be banned since I only say the truth. And the truth is that now taxpayers have proven that we WILL oppose any and all these useless expensive projects that only a few want. This grabor guy has for the last few years tried and tried to get money from us. Now that he has seen how we WILL fight back he resigns. Just shows you what type he really is. I’m glad he resigned. Whoever replaces him better know that WE THE PEOPLE aint paying 50 million for them. Fix the roads already if you want me to shut up.

Well Matty, I for one am in support of a PAC. I lost my daughter to the lower mainland because PG was such a cultural void and all the great culture was down there. Now, she can’t really afford to go to the theatre, ballet, etc. down there, because the cost of living is so high, but at least she’s near where it all happens – tongue in cheek – if not clear from the content. But I wouldn’t slam the one guy who did the right thing and called it a day. Nice to see they had at least one realist on that board. I think Palopu makes a very reasoned post. If anything, the overall revenue of the citizens of PG will decline as more of us retire, work less, or can’t get jobs, but all these debts undertaken now, will still have to be paid. There is only one taxpayer, and I am he, and I’m getting tired.

Now how about we try and get rid of these Northern Winter Games people. Enough is enough.If the PG Golf and Curling club sells and the rink is torn down which is a very real possibility this year the taxpayers of Prince George will be on the hook for a curling rink! Read the stipulations for the hosting city, if a facility is not available the hosting city MUST build one!!!! I do not want that either. Lets get back to basics people. FIX THE DAMN ROADS!!!

Sounds like matty is off his meds again.

Now how about we try and get rid of these Northern Winter Games people. Enough is enough.If the PG Golf and Curling club sells and the rink is torn down which is a very real possibility this year the taxpayers of Prince George will be on the hook for a curling rink! Read the stipulations for the hosting city, if a facility is not available the hosting city MUST build one!!!! I do not want that either. Lets get back to basics people. FIX THE DAMN ROADS!!!

Now how about we try and get rid of these Northern Winter Games people. Enough is enough.If the PG Golf and Curling club sells and the rink is torn down which is a very real possibility this year the taxpayers of Prince George will be on the hook for a curling rink! Read the stipulations for the hosting city, if a facility is not available the hosting city MUST build one!!!! I do not want that either. Lets get back to basics people. FIX THE DAMN ROADS!!!

Gee! If word gets out how badly our city hall treats taxpayers, who is gonna want to move to here? Just a thought. And don’t forget the conditions of our streets. Not a very good selling feature.

PG a cultural void, please explain that one to me. How would a PAC change that? We have TNW whose venue I really like. Then there is the playhouse, Vanier Hall, Civic Center, CN center, dance studio’s, Nancy’o’s, Art Space. Am I missing something.

Fix the dam roads.

“Fix the dam roads.”

That seems to be the one thing everybody agrees on. Is anyone listening?

Even though everyone is right about matty, let’s not pile onto him too hard. Or he’ll report us all to the site administrators.

Seamutt – the whole post was tongue in cheek. The push for PAC was based on how little culture there is in PG, which is a false premise.

If the city wants to support the Arts why not put $ 200,000 a year into theater Northwest. A lot cheaper than $ 50 Million and they keep getting neglected. Never been to a bad performance there.
FIX THE DAMN ROADS !!!!

Culture comes to town all the time and performs at the Multiplex! Let the PAC be in there or is to small for them?

And once the roads are fixed if that can ever happen keep the budgeting the money to improve them. Never let them get this bad again. I wonder how Edmonton does it? Don’t they have winter there too?

Ain’t got no english today. I’m sure you get my point. :)

Come on people, don’t you know that fixing roads isn’t sexy? Where’s the ribbon cutting and photo opportunities when laying down some quality blacktop?

I both attend and perform in the performing arts, and I’ve said this many times over….. there is nothing wrong with Vanier Hall that some renos to the staging and green room areas couldn’t fix.

PG is never going need a Queen E type theatre. The population has been stagnant for over a decade and unless some miracle happens will only get smaller due to Boomers moving on to more temperate climates.

On a side note…. it would be nice if TNW had proper seating. The plastic garden furniture thing is getting kind of old, don’t you think?

Mattyc… Jo Graber is not part of any “ilk”
But has been part of many groups donating his time and experience to trying to make PG all that it can be.

I don’t know what set you off but including Jo in your rant…. classless.

I do support arts and we do need more of it but supporting art that has a small consumer base isnt something that tax dollars should be speculated on at the municipal level. I also have a great apprciation for the voulenteers that have been tyring to get the PAC built. Its not an easy task and requires alot personal time to try and make a difference.

Let the private business take the risk here. If there was that great of a demand for a profitable performing arts center then a private business would have dont it already. (Oh wait our city council shoots this kind of stuff down..Coyote’s for example..)

The city needs to step out of being a business and speculating on pie in the sky investments and put its efforts in providing critical infrastruture for businesses who create real wealth, jobs and investments.

Fix the damn roads…LOL!!

“If the city wants to support the Arts why not put $ 200,000 a year into theater Northwest”

They already are putting $118,000 per year for each of the last 4 years.

They used to put in $72,000/year before that. The feds and the province put in more than the City. Now they put in less. This is another of those downloading efforts by senior governments.

All to support a local theatre group with 240 or so lawn chair seats, inadequate ventilation and 4 productions per year.

Here are the figures for 2001, 2008, 2011

Feds = $32,291; $91,500; $65,000 = $116,591
Province = $33,600; $118,000; $65,000
City = $50,700; $72,000; $118,000

Total annual government subsidy
2001 = $116,591 = 19.9% of total income
2008 = $281,500 = 31.1% of total income
2011 = $248,000 = 28.2% of total income

One can look at this another way. The change from 2008 and funding levels previous to that to 2011 has been as follows:

Feds funding dropped by 29%
Provincial funding dropped by 45%
City funding increased by 64%

I wonder if the governments are working together at this or against each other?

From the figures, it looks to me that they are not operating in unison and certainly not operating in a transparent fashion since no one is proactively letting the community know what is happening to the shift in the tax burden from primarily national income tax generated dollars to local property tax generated dollars.

Total operating costs in 2011 was $913,251

The information is taken from the charities reporting out data which can be seen here:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/haip/srch/t3010form22sched6-eng.action?b=899061485RR0001&e=2011-05-31&n=TNW+THEATRE+NORTH+WEST+SOCIETY&r=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cra-arc.gc.ca%3A80%2Febci%2Fhaip%2Fsrch%2Ft3010form22-eng.action%3Fb%3D899061485RR0001%26amp%3Be%3D2011-05-31%26amp%3Bn%3DTNW%2BTHEATRE%2BNORTH%2BWEST%2BSOCIETY%26amp%3Br%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.cra-arc.gc.ca%253A80%252Febci%252Fhaip%252Fsrch%252Fbasicsearchresult-eng.action%253Fs%253Dregistered%2526amp%253Bk%253Dtnw%2526amp%253Bp%253D1%2526amp%253Bb%253Dtrue

Palopu wrote:

“There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to indicate that Prince George will grow in the next 10/15 years.”

That was made abundantly clear when the provincial population projections came out during the Smart Growth on the Ground process. Very few people saw those. Long term population projections are very erratic as can be seen when one looks at the OCP projections from 1979 which projected a population of just under 180,00 by 2011. In fact, the curve was a continually increasing annual rate of growth which on the scale of probabilities would be extremely unlikely. I was part of that generation and even then was wondering what people were smoking, although I did think we would likely break the 100,000 mark by then.

Just as those were overly optimistic (although they may actually be considered as pessimistic by many who like smaller communities) the current projections seem to be somewhat pessimistic. As I say, the projections are difficult to arrive at and are certainly not definitive.

That being said, in many ways this community is designed for over 150,000 and we have been paying the price for it, in my opinion. We bought ourselves a 9 seater family SUV when we have just a family of 3 or 4. We are spending far over our heads for developing the infrastructure and are having to lighten the vehicle to save on gas. We do not have the ability to downsize, only by stopping further subdivisions and showing developers what actual infills look like. I think very few are catching on.

Here is the MyPG review of growth projections on slide 9 and others.
http://princegeorge.ca/cityhall/mayorcouncil/councilagendasminutes/agendas/2010/2010_12_06_cw/documents/OCP_Review_ppt.pdf

This is the Smart Growth on the Ground projection on page 9 – note that the figures used in the table are the “pessimistic” figures while the “optimistic” figure would be around 113,000 by 2035.
http://www.dcs.sala.ubc.ca/docs/sgog_pg_design_brief_sec.pdf

Now what we need are some projections which connect external forces (not under the control of the City) to changes in population as well as internal forces acting over the time period of the next 20 to 25 years.

External forces would include such things as senior government policies which tend toward some types of decentralization, factors surrounding finite as well as renewable natural resource exploration and extraction rates, immigration policies, industrial shifts to increased value added in BC, etc. etc.

Internal forces include things such as essential services and lifestyle improvements – the needs and the wants – in relationship to other similar communities, especially when it becomes a predicted “buyer’s” market of many job opportunities and the choice begins to include the other benefits to be had by moving to community A instead of community B.

I believe strongly that we do not just hang up the shingle which is my impression of posts such as Palopus’. I believe strongly in working together to compete, but we all need to be involved and as many as is possible need to make the effort to understand what we as a community need to do other than play dead, and as many as is possible need to participate in a way which promotes the debate and tries to find the best approach. This community is not one to do that. In my opinion it is partly to do with a lack of leadership who know how that is done. It is a top down leadership instead of a bottom up leadership.

And yes, the obvious first priorty need is to fix the roads.

The not so obvious need is to understand why the City Administration and the various Mayors and Councils over the years have allowed to let the roads situation get out of control. It is a very clear indicator to me that something is wrong. And please, do not tell me it is the climate or this year’s weather. There are plenty of communities the world over with similar environments who may and do have road deterioration problems but manage to maintain them to a better level than PG does.

We keep getting told inflation is 2% or so yet every time we go to buy something the price has risen far more than 2%. Look at electrical costs. The 1st 22 kwh at the low rate and then it bounces up to about 0.096 cents per kwh. Last year it was a penny cheaper. The one cent rise on the tier 2 power does not sound like much but is about 12%.
Went downtown to a hardware store to buy a composting toilet. The salesman told me last years price was $1749.00. Did not have the 2012 price but expected it to be $2000.00 with the increase in cost from the manufacturer and additional freight costs. Bit more than the 2%. Look at gasoline. South of the border less than a buck a liter. PG 33% more.
Unfortunately the taxpayer is getting tapped out. We just can’t not afford all the money the city spends without contemplating about the taxpayers ability to pay. Winter games, fancy new natural gas fired energy system, Administration building, big new cop shop, PG hotel and clean up, and all the other downtown land purchases, air rights, are just a few examples of projects not needed.

It would be interesting to see what the cost of snow clearing and garbage collection would be for the new houses going in off of Tyner Blvd, University Heights, Lower College Heights. I suspect that the new taxes collected from these new subdivisions will not pay for cost of servicing them.

As a result we will continue to get more tax increases to pay for services in outlying areas. Whats the solution??

Will the Core Reveiw really look at everything the City does with a view of making some dramatic changes?? I certainly hope so.

“Whats the solution”

That’s easy. City Council needs to say NO to some of these subdivision developments that come before them. At the same time, they need to encourage more infill development and say YES to proposals that support that strategy.

This of course assumes that people at City Hall have connected the dots between the low population density and the amount of sprawl to the costs of servicing that situation. I don’t suspect they have, otherwise we would be seeing different approaches from City Hall. Either that or they have connected the dots and the people making the decisions don’t listen or don’t care, which quite frankly is worse.

And yeah, it’s ridiculous to personally attack someone who has clearly devoted a significant amount of their own time and effort in trying to improve the city.

And finally, fix the roads!!!! LOL.

“It would be interesting to see what the cost of snow clearing and garbage collection would be for the new houses going in off of Tyner Blvd, University Heights, Lower College Heights.”

LOL ….. I really have to laugh at that.

I doubt the the City has even a rudimentary evaluation system able to determine beforehand what the cost of ALL the services will be to open up a new subdivison compared to building the same number of units into a well designed infill.

Remember, this is the city which cannot even manage a workable preventative road maintenance program. ;-)

You all have missed the boat on this one. This isn’t about potholes, taxes or how awful you think PG is. It is about frustrations of a man who has lived in PG a very long time and has tried to help make it a better place. This man has wasted years on a project that he and others believed in but at least he tried.
In his spare time I hear he’s a heck of a ballet dancer :)

Back to the PAC—the PG Playhouse is still reeling from the lack of people attending that facility. How are we supposed to support a new PAC if the Playhouse is empty 80% of the time?? And why should we??

This City Council is like dumb and dumber. We spend 75000 a year on fluoride and they are wondering how to save 20,000. Duh?? We built a walking bridge to the tune of almost half a million, yet a new giagantic house sells (with the lot)for 300,000. Not only was it insane planning; the contract was not given to a local company. I don’t believe there ever was a plan—it was simply an idea drummed up by certain council members, probably in the Leigion during happy hour. It became a reality shortly after Dan was elected. The last city election was a step forward but as anyone can see, we failed to get rid of all the dead wood.

Thanks Jo for your efforts to help make Prince George a better place to live. I can understand your position and reason for resigning. Seems like we can’t break out of this one horse town mentality!

Posted by: ski50 on May 2 2012 9:59 AM

Well Matty, I for one am in support of a PAC.

That’s nice. Then you pay for it. After being slammed all day long I still have not seen anyone post one good reason why I or any other unwilling taxpayer have to pay for this PAC? I don’t mean anything personal against Jo. I do not know him or in fact I think today was the first time I ever heard of him. Don’t matter to me who it is in that position. PAC president. Who the F is he anyways? A nobody.
I have no reason to doubt what some of the posters said today that Jo means well for the town. Only problem is the man is the driving force behind this PAC and the fact that this group has been working on every concievable angle to make YOU and I pay for them to build a PAC. Correct me if I am wrong here, but I have lived here more then 15 years and have always heard that it’s gonna be another 50+ million for YOU and I to pay to appease this small group. Another poster said today that IF it were workable it would have been done already with private money. Which I fully support. But It is a looser proposition. They can pay for it themselves. Who cares? I DO NOT WANT TO PAY FOR THAT. They can use what they have already here. If that is no good for them, then again. Who cares? Call pattison or something or else some other rich guy that likes ballet. Maybe he might give Jo some money. After all it’s only 50 million he wants. But trying to force YOU and I to give him and his society that money is absolutely reprehensible. And that is why I call Jo a parisite. At least he resigned. Can only imagine his replacement coming up. Don’t matter the AAP will NEVER work again in PG. Glad I got a good discussion going today. Thanks.

It’s no use to kick a man in the teeth for speaking reality! Jo states that it is unrealistic to ask the city to fund this when it is under such financial stress as it is now. And he doesn’t want to be associated with the project anymore!

Perhaps the deciders who are still making plans for additional lavish spending on wish list projects can take a hint from what Jo is doing.

A city which has been managed well over the years would have no problem funding a project such as a PAC, together with help from the other levels of government and private local fund raising and support from corporate sponsors.

“IF it were workable it would have been done already with private money”

That shows how well people understand the issue. There is not a single theatre, never mind a performing arts centre, in Canada which has been built with private money without some public participation. Canada supports such efforts, the provinces do, the municipalities do as well as private money and the patrons who buy tickets.

Look at the figures for TNW. About a third of the income is from government funds. That is about the same across the country. Of that third, almost one half comes from this City.

If, for a $25 ticket, they were to up the price to $35, only those people who actually attend a performance would be paying for the performance.

I believe over the yearly average, that the performances at the CN Centre of travelling road shows are not subsidized by the City or any other level of government. When the Barenaked Ladies, Willie Nelson, Elton John, etc. play here the place is virtually sold out with tickets in the $80+ range.

Small productions do not have those kind of economics associated with them.

I applaud Jo for his foresight in admitting that now is not the time to push this project through.It’s to bad those at city hall are not as realistic. Why apply again for P3 funding when the regional district as already stated they would not contribute at this time and the recent AAP results show that taxpayers do not want any more borrowing.

btw mattyc- thought you moved outside city limits,garbage rates rant springs to mind, so have no skin in the game on this as the RD has already bowed out.

Yes you are correct lonesome. I did sell my 2 houses in PG and moved out. I am not willing to pay tax to this corrupt city for services we never need or recieve. I am quite capable of taking my own small amount of garbage away every few weeks myself. I am NOT stupid enough to pay that much money for this useless automated collection service. This city reminds me of the mob in NYC where they used to force everyone to use there garbage service. Those who refused were killed or worse. Here in this place PG they force you to have one of there garbage cans and pay hundreds of dollars every year for them to collect it for you. You have no choice to opt out if you do not need it. If you refuse to pay them they will aquire your house by force. When I lived in PG my garbage can took a month to fill maybe half way. I buy nothing here as well I still do my bi-monthly trip to Alberta to shop. I have payed almost no HST and am very proud of myself for that. Takes much enginuity to keep your money these days from these crooks called goverment. This city one is just simply too expensive for me and I WILL NOT pay them any more. I sold my properties because I am not willing to pay them. And this PAC thing. If and when it comes up again get ready to hear from me again. This scam is the most useless waste of money I have ever seen. So enjoy yourself watching your expensive automated garbage trucks stopping by to pick up your garbage for you. Then off to the drive through for you to grab an expensive coffee and you can pay HST for that. ENJOY that too you fool.

Cheetos you willing to put some cash up front?

And Jo Graber is a ‘parasite’

@ mattyc

You must buy a lot of stuff in Alberta to justify amount spent on gas, wear and tear on vehicle, accommodation, etc just to save a few percent on HST. Either that or your math skills leave something to be desired.Penny wise,pound foolish as the old saying goes

No point in replying to post as I, as I’m sure most people on this site do, will scroll past any ones with your name attached. You may want to revisit the rules you agreed to when you signed up.

Someone should start a pool to see how long it takes before Ben & Elaine yank his privileges.

BTW… Dix will treat your back pocket like an ATM

Ya last trip I spent around 3000 dollars on building supplies and household items. Toilet paper etc. As far as being worth it yes it is. I shop for my friends too so everyone chips in for fuel. I sleep in my van overnight or else just drive back. It’s only 6 hours to Grande Prairie. As far as pulling my postings I do not see any reason for Ben to do that at this point. Other then call jo a parasite for trying to milk this town for 50 million dollars I have not attacked anyone personally. Much more then I can say for some of you. As far as Dix goes like it or not Dix WILL win a majority here REALLY SOON. So hope you like it. The HST will soon be extinguished so I won’t have to shop in AB no more. So anything else you want clarified now? In order to pull someones posts there must me a good reason. And so far I have done what I agreed to signing up. I m (not) sorry if my posts ight make you think a little different then myself. I like most taxpayers in this province and city am how you say TAXED OUT. And FED UP paying for these useless items such as PAC or dike that will not work considering the water comes from below the ground. Not beside.

matty: “I have not attacked anyone personally.”

Didn’t you call someone a fool just four posts about your last one?

“The HST will soon be extinguished so I won’t have to shop in AB no more.”
So 12% HST is worth driving 1000 kms but 5% GST plus 7% PST will make it worthwhile to shop local?

What we need now is a AP petition (Approval Process)drawn up and signed by as many as we can get, to TELL the City to fix our roads. No ifs, ands or buts. Maybe we can TELL them to roll back their wage increases at the same time. We certainly aren’t getting them! Also TELL them that if they are going to work for US, then they must work for us alone or go work for someone else.

interceptor: “So 12% HST is worth driving 1000 kms but 5% GST plus 7% PST will make it worthwhile to shop local?”

Sounds about right.

Yes it was time for Jo to resign.
The City of PG cannot afford it to built a PAC.
The City prob. also cannot afford the
Winter Games.
The roads are terrible. Usually I come once a month to Prince George and I must say, the roads were never that bad.
Let get City go back to the basics – and nothing else.

Why is it that only the nameless have opinions?

Seamutt says – “Cheetos you willing to put some cash up front?”

I don’t really understand the question, but as a home owner I put money up every month as I pay my taxes and utility bills. Those taxes are not only for the basic services but also to enhance the quality of life for the residents of this City. Being born and raised in Prince George and now in my mid fifties, I remember the times when there wasn’t much to do in Prince George. Over the years our forefathers had enough vision to build some nice facilities. NOT EVERYBODY is into playing hockey, yet we are so bent to spend millions on hockey rinks; our one horse mentality can’t seem to break us out of that mould. You want to redevelop down-town? A PAC would go a long way to do so. It would change the dynamics of a down-town that is trying to flicker back to life. Forget about any big box stores coming down-town, it won’t happen, but good entertainment could change things. But our “one horse mentality” can’t see the forest for the trees, and the vision is to put in parking meters instead! How about some hitching posts and water troughs? We want to attract and keep professionals in our city, but what do we have to offer? A cold seat at some ice arena. Our “one horse mentality” can’t see that these professionals are looking for something more. There are a lot of people in this town that travel to places like Vancouver and Edmonton for good theatre. Why can’t we build something that would attract people from Edmonton and Vancouver? Stratford On., has and does and they have less then half the population of Prince George! Yes the roads in Prince George are a mess, buy why? Don’t we pay a road tax? It has to be poor management; another symptom of a “one horse town mentality”. The City doesn’t have to fund the whole bill, but some serious seed money would bring on other investors to create a P3 arrangement. To our current leaders at City Hall, do some thinking, outside the box.

Weaksauce – Jo Graber is not a parasite. You should apologize for making such a comment. He is a builder and contributor to a City he loves, totally opposite to what you labelled him as. Shame on you!

“Why is it that only the nameless have opinions?”

Because only the nameless have votes. ;-)

It is our system.

Now, there are systems where that is not true. Those are the ones where people in hoods come to torch your house…… why? because they were stupid enough to attach their names or their faces with an opinion or deed. ;-)

Cheetos – you probably won’t see this but my comment refered to mattyc’s post where he called Graber a parasite and then went on, in a later post, to brag about not paying provincial taxes. The word parasite was definitely not meant for Jo Graber.

I personally think Jo Graber is pretty cute plus he loves his dogs. Can’t be all bad :)

Hey Cheetos…see you in the morning :)

Weaksauce – sorry about that. I didn’t get the whole picture…my apologies:)

Hello Opinionated…that will be great!