Stolz Should Leave Finance and Audit
Friday, October 4, 2013 @ 7:23 PM
It is commendable that Councillor Cameron Stolz has decided to “step down” from his role as chair of the Finance and Audit Committee but the "news" of the planned resignation only came after the media revealed he was delinquent in paying his property taxes.
It is clear, this was not a one time event, as it has been going on for at least two years.
The role of Chair is administrative, steering the conversation, and managing the agenda. Stepping down from that role does not diminish his influence on the committee, nor does he lose the right to a vote.
You have to ask yourself why, when his property was on the tax sale list two years in a row, why did he only felt the necessity to share the tax issue this year, 6 days after the most recent tax sale list was published?
It is clear he was just two weeks away from being on the tax delinquent list for his 2010 taxes when he was appointed by the Mayor to the committee and agreed to let his name stand for the position of Chair. He knew in 2012 that he was delinquent on the 2010 taxes, and again for his 2011 taxes, yet he continued to actively participate in discussions about setting tax rates, and tax burdens. The Finance and Audit Committee is also the group that would make recommendations on penalties for those who are delinquent, although it is not clear if such discussions took place as the last minutes of that committee’s work posted on the City’s website are from April of 2013.
Councillor Stolz , the time has come for you to not just step down from the role as Chair, it is time to bow out of the Finance and Audit Committee all together. It may not be what you want to do, but it is the right thing to do.
I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.
Comments
This city council as well as many of the staff are simply running amok in my opinion.
They have broken their own bylaw (The Tree Protection Bylaw #6343) by allowing wholesale land clearing of many acres on the back side of Parkridge Creek, after being repeatedly warned it was going on and receiving both letters and phone calls on the matter.
They are acting as if they are above the law, and the worst of it is, they were the ones who put the law into effect!!
Acres and acres of land cleared without a permit in a RIPARIAN Zone. Stoltz was one of the non-action councilors … again.
I am so disappointed in what appears to be an absolute lack of leadership in our current Mayor and most of council. Why was there no mention by either the mayor or Councillor Hall or Stolz himself at the regular meeting of council on Sept 23rd regarding his stepping down as chair of the F & A committee when all committee members were informed of Stolz’s resignation on Sept 12th? During the Sept 23rd council session Stolz addressed council and the public as Chair of the F & A committee and no one mentioned any changes to his status. Why should he be allowed to stay on as a voting member of the F & A I no longer want him representing me on municipal financial matters and I feel his resignation from the finance and audit committee should be complete.
Hear Hear, Ben!
DNHey – you ask why?
I’ll tell you why. It is because once they are elected, politicians almost invariably consider themselves a different ‘class’ of people than those who put them in their position in the first place.
The very things they would be going if others were doing it, is covered up when they are engaged in it, and once it does get found out, they use doublespeak to defend their actions.
Missed a word.
“The very things they would be going after…”
There seems to be some confusion around this issue of Stoltz’s taxes. Perhaps someone on this site could explain.
If the arrears were $15000.00 +or- then we can assume that the taxes were not paid for at least 3 years. So my question is, how can you go three years without paying your taxes, and not having the City sell your property.
In other words, are properties sold for non payment of taxes every year, or every three years????
If it was every year then he must have paid the taxes for 2011,2012, and was delinquent on 2013, however this would not explain the amount owing of $15000.00. Can you just pay the interest and penalty for a period of year???
I see that a previous article by 250 explains how the arrears on taxes work. So I don’t need an explanation.
Seems that if the Councillor pays the 2011 taxes and penalties he is ok for this year.
I can’t help wondering if the September 12th meeting decision was a fall back position, if it was discovered that Stolz had not paid his taxes his resignation could be revealed.
If the media did not sniff it out then it was business as usual with no announcements coming out of city hall or the council meeting on the 23rd, for all intents and purposes he was still chair of the committee.
If it all just smoke and mirrors hoping that if Stoltz paid up then it would all blow over then everyone at the meeting on the 12th is complicit in the cover-up. Who else at city hall was aware of the decision that Stoltz would step down?
The city has increased the size of the spin and speech department, surly it does not take them over three weeks to create a press release to announce the head of one of the most important committees was stepping aside.
Agree that he should resign, with or without a push, from the committee.
âOh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceiveâ
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BTW I reread the thread and “bag of wind” did not cross the line nor did the preceding adjectives.
Great editorial in today’s Citizen ‘Taxes not Optional’ written by Associate editor Mick Kearns. He says Coun. Stolz should now stand down as a city councillor. If it was not for the careful eye and scrutiny of Ben Meisner and Opinion 250 staff this serious issue would never have been exposed. Good work Ben and team!
Probably the only reason this site got a hold of the information, is because the person that leaked the information decided to give it to them. Let’s not get carried away, the crew on this site is not exactly investigative journalists. Which is not to diminish the role their site plays in the niche local news market.
When it comes to being investigative journalists, the awards on our walls would dispute your claim.
Between Ben Meisner and Elaine Macdonald, the citations and awards include:
Radio Television News Directors Association Life time achievement award for work in Canada, nominated for Order Of Canada , work on the Kemano Completion, two time recipient of the Queen’s medals, International Radio Festival of New York (finalist award and gold medal winner for two different submissions) finalist for a Governor General’s Michener Award, Ohio State University Award , Canadian FM Radio Station of the Year Award.
We haven’t entered any competitions lately, at this point in our careers, awards are not important anymore, we would rather focus our attention on writing the stories.
Sine Nomine;
Yes you are correct, most stories begin with a tip, including this one. People tip good reporters because they know they will investigate the story, and two they can trust them. As a matter of fact Osama Bin Laden was caught after a good tip. Police agencies rely heavily on that first tip. What comes next after you have received that tip sets good reporters apart. The ones who are prepared to ask questions that people may have extreme difficulty in answering and secondly being prepared to announce who they are and stand their ground.
I fear that in order for you to overcome that first hurdle in becoming a critic or investigative journalist you will need to step from under that mask of secrecy and to that end you haven’t. That will be your first test , as to whether you have it, or not.
If it’s not about the awards anymore, why mention them? I think it’s great that you’ve received all these awards and nominations, although most of them look like they’re for the entire organization, not individuals. Neither here nor there.
Anyway, don’t get me wrong, I like the product. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t keep coming back. It’s my go to source for local news. As such, I don’t expect it to be hard-hitting journalism. This is Prince George, BC after all, not Washington DC.
My main point was that in all likelihood, this story was fed to you. If I’m wrong, I’ll apologize profusely. So thank-you 250news team for getting it out and a big thank-you to the person(s) who took the time to get it into the right hands so that it did get out.
Thanks for the clarification, Ben. I have no wish to become an investigative journalist however. The nature of the times we’re living in doesn’t make it a prudent career choice. Nor is it prudent to live out loud online when people won’t hesitate to use that information to impede your progress in life, rightly or wrongly. I do get what you’re saying though, both literally and the subtext of it. Believe me, when the issue is important enough, and the audience important enough, I make my opinions known.
If you don’t want anonymous posters on your site Ben, why don’t you make it a requirement that they use their real identities? From what I can gather, probably well over 90% of the posters on this site don’t use their real names. Then you are in the business of selling ad space though aren’t you? That approach might cut into your earning potential.
So there is a “deep throat” on council or working at city hall!
Were the clandestine meetings held in a parking garage?
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