Council Wants New Sound

Saturday, February 27, 2010 04:15 AM

Prince George, B.C. - Prince George city council made some changes to the city's five-year capital plan at this week's final budget meeting.

Council voted in favour of moving improvements to the audio-visual equipment in council chambers into the plan's funded category.

Councilor Cameron Stolz introduced the motion because he says the improvements to the 10-year-old broadcast equipment will enable better communication with residents.

Although the total cost of the improvements is not yet known, staff estimate it would be around $354-thousand dollars over the next two years.

Stolz says the move will initially increase the amount of money the city borrows for capital project, unless another source of funding can be found.

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Posted on Saturday, February 27, 2010 04:15 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: BCRacer on February 27 2010 5:45 AM

if you can't afford it...
don't do it...

if they run their home budget like they run
our city they would be in bankruptcy court..

maybe they are?

Posted by: charles on February 27 2010 6:16 AM

I have a feeling in the very future we will be seeing the T.E.A. (Taxed Enough Already) Party Movement (which is really gaining momentum in the United States) spread to Canada. Most people in Canada do not realize (just yet) that the debt super cycle we have enjoyed for the last 70 years is over. (The debt fueled party is over and the very severe hangover from it is about to begin)

I think the following photograph says it all.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulhamby/3447066741/in/set-72157616783309729/

Posted by: acrider54 on February 27 2010 6:19 AM

Idiots

Posted by: Stompin Tom on February 27 2010 6:30 AM

Its obvious to me that this council has lost touch with the people of Prince George.

Raise taxes with no increase in services, yeah thats a good thing, we have no room to cut in the budget they say, then they want to buy new cameras for the chambers?

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Whats worse? They are going to borrow the money, they cant pay for it out of general revenue, so let just borrow it, nobody will notice.

That reminds me of a family who is in debt to their eyeballs but falls in love with a new HD TV. Cant afford it but what they hell, they have a 6 month do not pay scheme going on, only 28% interest, hell of a deal.

Posted by: whitewater on February 27 2010 6:50 AM

That’s about 500 dollars a day for two years. We got this message OK without it.

The message was they have brain damage.

Posted by: Bug on February 27 2010 6:50 AM

Ya, it is about time they updated the sound system. It has not worked correctly for years. Hopefully this time they will spend enough money to buy a decent system.

Posted by: wavoes on February 27 2010 7:29 AM

ARE THESE GUYS SERIOUS!!!!!!

Ben or Elaine....can you please email these fools a link to your website so they can get a feel for how the city feels!

Posted by: lonesome sparrow on February 27 2010 8:00 AM

I do not think they need to spend the 354k as we are already getting their message loud and clear---- TAX & SPEND -----TAX & SPEND ad nauseam. What they need is a system that would allow them to get the message that the taxpayers of Prince George want them to reign in their wreck less spending habits!

Posted by: cougs78 on February 27 2010 9:17 AM

Staff estimate $354,000. That's a pretty nice sound system. Thats the equivilant of dropping the Spruce Kings house with the property in the chambers. As Ron Sinclair says YIKES!!!!!!

Posted by: cougs78 on February 27 2010 9:20 AM

At least they didn't pay a consultant a 100 grand to tell them it would cost 354 grand!!!!!!! or did they?????

Posted by: newly retired on February 27 2010 9:45 AM

Oh you poor citizens of Prince George. Just watch as your tax levy will increase to pay for this high priced sound system. I agreee with all the above postings except for "Bug" YOur city is broke, and you are being taxed to death. Just my opinion.

Posted by: gus on February 27 2010 10:00 AM

With many of these things, I think it is a matter of not having adequate quality control over the work being done by contractors for the City.

The sound system in Council Chambers has been inadequate from day one after the Council Chambers were renovated. It was simply not designed/installed for the purpose it had to fulfill. That purpose has not changed over time.

Posted by: StreetWise2 on February 27 2010 10:42 AM

While I agree that this is a bad time to be purchasing something like this I sincerely hope that city council does not think that the opinions posted on this web site represent those held by the majority of the City residents. It it were, Fetterly would be Mayor right now. (shudder)

Posted by: billposer on February 27 2010 11:18 AM

What's wrong with the current sound system? Is it a matter of equipment or of the room acoustics?

Posted by: who? on February 27 2010 11:18 AM

why stop there? city council and mayor Rogers have millions of your dollars to spend...maybe they should buy their own recording studio too so they can have really cool special effects at their meetings...TEA party anyone? i cannot believe how out of touch these people are. revenues are down because we are in a recession, business revenue is down, so the solution is to spend and increase the burden on the resident taxpayer.
i wonder what would happen if a citizens refused to pay their taxes this year?

Posted by: Runner46 on February 27 2010 12:39 PM

no, no, no, no!!!

we cannot afford an upgraded sound system for 1/3 third of a million dollars,
I want a cost benefit analysis done by staff as to why????

Posted by: acopolympics on February 27 2010 12:57 PM

"Councilor Cameron Stolz introduced the motion because he says the improvements to the 10-year-old broadcast equipment will enable better communication with residents." ... this almost made me choke on my breakfast. I could stand at that podium and they could hear me if I spoke slightly above a whisper. Who the hell do they think they are kidding anyways? Apparently some people on here. Maybe if they seem to be havin a hard time "hearing us" we should just yell a little louder. And to Streetwise2, yes they should listen to the people on this forum, because it is no difference than a poll sampling.

Posted by: charles on February 27 2010 1:15 PM

"Under our current council, property taxes have risen out of control – having jumped 16.5% in the last three years alone! (4%, 5% and 7.5%) In business, if you spend more than you make you go broke. The current city council is spending more then it makes but it gets to reach into our pockets for more money - without any regard to how it affects pensioners or those who already have tight budgets.

In these uncertain economic times we need a new approach where City Hall must control its spending—and responsible spending is something I will bring to Council."

http://www.cameronstolz.ca/index_files/myplatform.htm

Posted by: Superheated Steam on February 27 2010 1:29 PM

Get your friggin heads outta the sand, we cannot afford a new sound system.

Posted by: Mr. PG on February 27 2010 3:20 PM

What a waste of money Stolz!

Posted by: StreetWise2 on February 27 2010 4:12 PM

"yes they should listen to the people on this forum, because it is no difference than a poll sampling"

I strongly disagree, its the same dozen or so posters here. Anyone that disagrees with the regular posters gets attacked. Posters chase away anyone with a possitive attitude with insults and bullying.

Seriously, this is the Chicken little crowd, polls need to be taken from a wide spectrum of people. A lot of people come here to read the news and make a point of not reading the comments. Why bother, you could copy and paste 95% of the comments in every single article. The same thing - over and over.

Posted by: Mr. PG on February 27 2010 4:58 PM

Interesting comments charles.

Thanks for reminding me of the Stolz lies (sorry, I mean campaign promises). He campaigned for an end to tax increases, and now he is the worst culprit.

Posted by: sosayi on February 27 2010 6:06 PM

What the heck kind of sound system is worth
$354,000? OMG

Posted by: Harbinger on February 27 2010 6:56 PM

How about 12 small orange traffic cones to speak into instead ?

Posted by: Boudicca on February 27 2010 8:33 PM

how can they spend enough money to buy a house on a sound system?
I cant believe how wastfull some people can be......sick

Posted by: My3Centsworth on February 27 2010 8:47 PM

Maybe they should have gone to Costco, Future Shop, Walmart, etc. The audio visual stuff sold there seems a heck of a lot cheaper. How big of a screen did they get?

Posted by: Mr. PG on February 28 2010 9:52 AM

I notice with interest that there are a significant number of new posters on this particular article. However, the theme of the comments remains constant. Mayor Dan Rogers and city Council simply do not understand the depth of the City wide unrest with respect to their wasteful spending at City Hall.

Credit counseling for City Council and for City staff is required.

Posted by: gus on February 28 2010 11:16 AM

"Is it a matter of equipment or of the room acoustics?"

It is a matter of Councillors not being wired for sound. They have to speak into a microphone which is positioned too far from them. They could try lapel mikes. There is a reason why those in TV studios wear them.

Posted by: cougs78 on February 28 2010 11:27 AM

StreetWise2 You are completely off base. If I thought Dan and the crew were doing a wonderful job I would state that. They are out of touch with reality and that is simply what the posters are saying here! Any positive statement you can make without fabricating it is more than welcome! Oh! by the way Mackenzies taxes are 10% below 1998 levels because they understand economics.Fewer taxes coming in, less expenditures going out.

Posted by: MiddleGround on March 1 2010 1:03 AM

cougs78 - it's pretty easy to reduce taxes when a huge portion of your population moves away and your major industry no longer requires your services.