Moving Ahead With a PAC In Prince George A Slippery Slope
If there is one single piece of advice that can be given to the incumbent Councilors, the Mayor and the City Manager, it is this; moving forward to build a Performing Arts Center will spell the end to a career , whether it is in politics or administration.
Clearly there is no appetite in this city for the construction and operation of a PAC , regardless of how the City proposes to finance and operate the structure. The subsidy for operating costs is pegged now at around $ 300,000 dollars, it is an estimate only.
The citizens of the city have reached the cross roads in spending and regardless of whether the council, mayor or others suggest that the city will only need to come up with about 25% of the total project, or around 12 million, they are not about to bite. There is a suggestion that one quarter of the cost of the project will come from private donations. Let's see that 25%, or 12 million in pledges before even the suggestion of a PAC reaches consideration. To this date, and some ten years later, where are those pledges of money?
We all remember( all too well) the Charles Jago Northern Sports center, the federal government was supposed to contribute one third of the cost or around 10 million. In the end, the Feds did not come through with any money, and so if those people wanting to construct a PAC feel they have the support let's see that money before we even entertain the discussion.
The council and Mayor are calling the PAC a priority item. Yet they were hell bent on trying to privatize other facilities, like the Swimming pools and the Civic Center. If the deal to build the PAC is so hot, why hasn't any private operation stepped forward to build and operate it, do they see it as a black hole that you throw money into.
You can fill a lot of pot holes for $300,000 a year, and that is the projected operating deficit of a PAC. Using money received from the sale of other properties in the city is not palatable in the voters' minds, given the fact that utilities costs have increased substantially, and there is another "utility" (storm water utility) bill to be levied on taxpayers come 2015. Make no mistake, utilities have gone up substantially, and they are no more than another form of tax being extracted from the taxpayer.
The mood of the voter is, " no more grand scheme projects".
If the councilors feel that the mood is there for the PAC, remember come election time they will need to answer to their support for the project . Excuses to enable them to delay that support until after the new election simply will not fly .
I'm Meisner and that's one man's opinion.
Comments
Stupid question, what does PAC stand for
Performing Arts Center
Oh oh Ben, look out for the wrath of Gus and NMG!
No PAC!!!!!
If the PAC is such a great idea, campaign on the idea. Make it the focal point of your election campaign. If you then get voted in, you have the green light to go ahead with it. If you dont…’nuff said.
We’re paying close to $12 million a year to service the debt right now and that is with low interest rates. This is a huge and almost crippling portion of the City budget. What if interest rates go up just a bit?
If we didn’t have this debt, we’d have beautiful roads. More debt will mean it will be that much harder to fix the roads.
Do we really want more debt? Can we wait to do the PAC until the roads and other infrastructure (sewer and water lines) are fixed?
I say build it. AFTER the roads and sewers and other NEEDED upgrades and improvements are complete.
To me…this is a no brainer. Make sure the bones of the city are in good shape and then go after those things you’d like to have. How long do you think a family budget would survive if people kept buying fancier and fancier appliances but had no way of buying food or even getting it to the house?
My God….when will once council member or even the Mayor step forward and say ‘You know what? We’d like a PAC but we just can’t afford it. We need to spend the hard earned tax dollars on improving city roads and attracting new investments to the city.’
I’d vote for that person every time.
No Gus. I would say he’ll be running on a PAC platform.
Cheers
Do people realize the figures etc. that were recently given to the city were from 2006-2008?
Why was the PAC group not working on updating this information instead of letting the rest of the taxpayers pay for city administration to update?
They could have at least done some more research that does not cost anything except for their time. There goes their volunteer process!
Their figures show closer to 700,000 to operate. I do not care if this amount includes private donations etc. If down the road we as a city could be looking at costs of more than 300,000 as mentioned in this article.
So they say build the PAC to attract people to PG. Well ignoring roads and infrastructure will send more people packing than a PAC will bring in to PG. Although I am sure the road to the PAC will be paved with gold as some people seem to think it is the be all and end all to save PG and attract new people to live here.
I just don’t understand why the city is pushing so hard for something the majority doesn’t want and why the people that do want it can’t explain how a new PAC will magically fill seats when most performances in town are currently no where near selling out. If you cannot even half fill Vanier Hall with a performance, how will you fill an 800 seat PAC?
Watch Council meeting tonight on you computer screen and you will soon see who wants to be re-elected.
There will be many weasel words and hand wringing.
The message should be clear: Many may want a PAC, BUT we DON’T NEED IT! See the Moose’s comments.
Re; PAC will attract people to PG: Personal experience, about a year ago I was seriously considering a job in a small town in south east BC. My potential employer warned me of a slower paced lifestyle & not a lot of bigger centre amenities. After weighing the pros & cons of what a move & change like this would entail, I respectfully declined the position. What was waaaayyyy down the list of pro’s in my choice was “Does this community have a decent PAC? (It does have an incredibly vibrant arts community, which was important.) The things I looked for were, location, lifestyle, sense of community, taxation rates, potential return on any housing investment & length of summer/winter. A bit of personal history, I was raised in a fairly artistic family, was exposed to art in many forms including theatre & music ( mom & sister were both piano teachers). So my point is after all that, personal preferences aside, a PAC will enhance our City. Will it be a draw to bring in potential residents? Probably not. Are there more important needs for our City right now? Absolutely. ( sorry Gus). A scaled down version of the PAC committee’s wish list would be appropriate. Maybe that’s why the PAC proponents are aiming high?
The city council can say – have a referendum on the PAC project and let the taxpayers decide. Is it that hard to figure that out?
City Council will receive the report from Manager James, which at this point is at best disingenuous . They will then ask her to get more detail on all the salient points, and they will look at it again, sometime in 2015.
What this does is get the issue off the table for this election year, which is what they want,. None of the Councilors, or the Mayor want to go on record in this election year as being in favour of the PAC, however once the election is over, and they have a ****four**** year term, they will come out of the woodwork.
The PAC needs to be an election issue. We need to see where the Mayor and Council stand on the issue so that we can use this information to decide how to vote.
In addition we need to see what their long term position is on the sale of Pine Valley Golf Course, and whether money from this sale would be used for the PAC.
We need to know if they intend to sell off the Playhouse Theatre land, raze the building, and use money from the sale for the PAC.
We need to know how they plan to spend the $2.97 Million dollars per year for the next 10 years from the Federal Gas Tax Fund. Will all this money be used for roads, storm sewer, and other infrastructure, or will they try to skim some off for the PAC.
If we do not get them to specifically state their positions on various issues, then we allow them to be re elected without any commitments. That is not a good thing.
Im sorry to say guys, but I dont believe any
of the projects in PG have ever broke even.
These idiots bringing in this stuff feel its good to spend $40,000,000. to create 3 or 4 jobs. The poor taxpayer is getting shafted on a daily basis. Maybe none of us should
pay any more taxes,lol. just saying.
If they are so sure it’s a go then put it to a referendum
“If the deal to build the PAC is so hot, why hasn’t any private operation stepped forward to build and operate it, do they see it as a black hole that you throw money into”
==================================
Seriously Ben? You are smarter than that aren’t you?
Come to think of it, I recall seeing you at many a Cougar game back in the day. Was that building that you were enjoying a private operation or was it subsidized by the taxpayer?
I know that your fan boys in PG will eat this stuff up, but you really are hurting your credibility with logic like this. At least put forth a reasonable argument as to why a PAC in PG may not be viable. Here are a few options to consider:
– PG’s residents simply won’t support the arts to the degree necessary to make a PAC viable.
– PG’s future growth potential is such that any major infrastructure spending at this point in time is too financially risky (careful with this one as will extend beyond a PAC).
– PG residents are happy with the status quo and they are not all that interested in doing anything substantial to change the face of the community or to challenge their own ideas and perceptions of what the city can become (you could write an entire series on this one, as it also extends well beyond a PAC).
This entire debate is about so much more than a PAC. IMHO, it gets to the very core of the PG mentality. Are people ever going to get tired of seeing their kids set up roots in other cities, or is it time to take a long hard look in the mirror to try and figure out what can be done to try and reverse that trend?
I really have no dog in this fight. You guys and gals can do whatever you want in PG. I’ve moved on. My only attachment is emotional and that’s because my family roots in PG go back almost 100 years and because I still have family and many close friends that live there.
I hope to be able to come back home for a visit 10-20 years from now and experience a vibrant city that has grown from the one I left and that has matured from the one that I experienced growing up.
Best of luck.
I agree P Val, however we need a Councilor to make and motion and another to second the motion, and then a vote.
Highly unlikely that we will get support for a referendum, because it would settle the issue once and for all.
They would prefer to continue with the false pretense that somehow this project was decided on 20 years ago, even if it was on the bottom of the list of wants.
Their mantra is, is that all other facilities have been built and now it is time for the Performing Arts Centre. With this idea they can avoid a referendum while trying to get some legitimacy to their position.
Fact of the matter is, the whole concept of a PAC has to be revisited with a view of getting feed back from the public at large. Not through some sort of hocus pocus, survey, but through a clear cut referendum.
I wait with bated breath for some brave Councilor to put this issue to a motion, see who seconds it, and watch the vote. That exercise would show us immediately who is in favour of this facility,. I am not holding my breath,.
To NMG:
We should all be thankful to Ben and Elaine for having this forum for us to set out our opinions! I know I am.
But to suggest that Ben is less than smart offends me and probably others.
So Ben does not support a PAC, and you don’t agree with that. Sometimes I disagree with Ben – so what?
You, NMG must be convinced that all those who don’t agree with you must be stupid.
So, NMG, I don’t agree with you on the PAC and if I used your logic, I would have to think that you are less than smart.
So now, what are you going to do next???
I couldn’t get to watch the council meeting tonight until 7:00 what happened in regards to the PAC from James?
A few years back Green was on a board about the time she was a councillor and was for the PAC. Munoz may run again and she is for it. Two down. Basserman is for the PAC. Anyone else for names – besides Gus?
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