$20,000 well spent if it clears the air on the specifics of the deal. I have no problem with small audit costs on projects like this. Ideally it would be in the light of day from day one, so any audit would be irrelevant, but this works too when one slips through the cracks of transparency....

However, I think the casino real estate deal was a bad deal for the tax payer for the city to be involved in in the first place.

I think if it is a good deal or bad deal, depends on the perspective one takes. As a tax payer, even if its all legit, I think its a bad deal. I just think its beyond the scope of what the city should be doing with scarce tax dollars. I also think the private actors have a lot of conflict of interest beyond the numbers of this report in the financing of politicians at election time in relation to their real estate deals with the city... natural that that will raise questions... Skakun has nothing to apologize for IMO.

So the city bought enough covered parking spaces for a handful of people withing walking distance to city hall for a little over $3 million dollars? A private contract that didn't have to go to regular tender because it was grouped with the overall project in its 'scope' (ie financing), and thus the private partner handled all 'construction costs'... makes one wonder about the 'scope' of the study?

It raises unanswered questions like how does a parkade like that every pay its way, and how are the decisions to allow for it to go ahead influenced?

Thanks for the feedback Ben. I have never suggested there was wrongdoing and have said so in the public. This so called audit was promised by the City Administration 3 and half years ago and finally happened. Did some of my questions surrounding the gaming center get some talking going on in the community? You bet and that is ok. There were a number of questions I asked our staff or requested certain information and did not receive it and that is not right because some of the information I requested was not covered under the FOI Act. An example was I asked administration what is had cost to build the parkade and was told they did not know ask John Major, is that right, I don’t think so.

What I did find out through my own FOI was a lot of that they key contracts between the City and John Major were not shown to council and should have in my opinion. In those contracts there was a Public Interest Clause that strongly recommended not allowing any breeches of the contract specifically the covenant that dealt with the building of the condos within two years. I said at the Council meeting the other night I would have never supported the extension to build the condos had I seen those contracts. That is one of my concerns. I still have some concers about how council does not get enough information on these types of projects to make an informed decsion. If I get blasted in the media for doing what I consider my job, that’s ok.




Brian Skakun

A few bucks spent to keep everything on the up and up is well worth it. The only question is why would Otter spend more money than the contract obligations called for? Not typical of a business transaction.

Have to agree 100% with Mr. Skakun. It's our taxpayers' money and oversight and transparency are most important, something we are entitled to and should have easy access to all the time.

I wish other council members would be as alert as Mr. Skakun instead of nodding and rubberstamping most of the time.

I think that those who refused to release all the information (after all, what's the risk if everything is above board?) and thereby created an atmosphere of suspicion didn't have enough air in THEIR tires.

Keep up the good work, Mr. Skakun, I consider the twenty grand well spent money.

I think we are getting our moneys' worth with Mr. Skakun as a council member.
And hey, it's a really nice parkade!
The staff of the new Commonwealth health centre will love it.
metalman.

Eagleone - a parkade paying its own way? 32% of Canadian tax filers pay no tax at all and 78% of taxes are paid by 23% of tax payers, so its pretty clear that Canadians in general are not concerned with "paying your own way".

Why should you expect a city parkade to be any different.

Anytime someone rattles the chains on any level of government,it's a good thing.
Just knowing someone is watching what goes on is what keeps them honest!

skakun for mayor?

..from the comments Ben...it looks like you may have blown a tire....as for me...I would trust Mr Skakun with our tax money before any other council member or you for that matter....keep up the good work Brian..!!!!

Ben hit the nail on the head. I wouldn't put any stock in the regular commenters here representing the majority of Prince George residents.

$20,000 wasted is how most people see it, and all just to draw attention away from his court woes. Bad call.

Brian Skakun does not have to apologize to anyone as far as I am concerned. When he first asked for this information, why was he not given it? That was the reason all this came about in the first place. Transparency is a good thing, especially with our money. I say the $20,000.00 was spent wisely.

Brian, keep up the good work.

...hey StreetWise2...if you really were "streetwise" you would not have posted your misguided comment....10 people taking the time to post mean at least 500 plus positive comments that were not posted...

The City used to have a parking commission which looked after the downtown 616 parking area. Unlike land uses in other parts of the city, those parts of downtown covered by that area are not required to provide on site parking. The city ensures that there are sufficient parking spaces provided in that area and, I believe, continues to do so. That is why the parkades, other than the one associated with the original 3rd avenue Bay store, are city parkades.

That is true for those lands north of 7th. You will notice those south of that have on site parking. The Inn has its own parking deck and lots. The Ramada does not. It leases spaces in the parkade.

The gaming centre was on the north side of 7th. Thus the requirement for the City to jump in. The part that became controversial was that the parkade was built underground and a strata was set up. That very fact could be seen to give the user special priviledges.

Do parkades pay for themselves? You have to give consideration to a number of factors, some of which cannot be quantified in dollars.

1. reducers total number of parking spots required due to peak/non peak hour sharing
2. reduces sprawl and increases density of use
3. potentially increases downtown property values
4. increases land use flexibility over time

With the parking commission one can easily watch the cost of providing downtown parking and the source of income. I have not tried to do that recently. I suspect it is difficult to get comparable figures.

BTW, the lack of understanding people in general have about the parking issues in the downtown was made evident when many thought that the Ramada was buying the PG hotel site so that they could tear it down and use it for surface parking.

We had the BoM do that on Third. That followed in the footsteps of CIBC on block to the west doing exactly the same. B&B Music now did the same on George.

That is NOT how to provide an active downtown. Active downtowns are made up of streets that have shopping, restaurants and other similar opportunities adjacent to the sidewalks.

gus, the problem is that nobody wants to locate a major business downtown until it cleans up its act. Plus, the general state of the economy isn't helping things from the development end.

Andy: "Anytime someone rattles the chains on any level of government,it's a good thing."

Precisely! This story is not about whether a parking garage should have been built or not.

It's about a councilor attempting to get information about a matter about which he should have been given all the information when he first asked about it!

Do we want the council to be kept in the semi-dark or in a fog?

Come on, everybody! It is not Councilor Skakun who incurred the bill of 20 grand - it's the fault of those who wouldn't reveal the information.

Look what's been happening with Harper, McKay and the Afghan prisoners detainee/torture issue!

No matter how much chain rattling and pulling the stonewalling continous!

I say keep up the pressure, never mind how much time and money it will cost!

We must get out the complete truth - it's a question of accountability and democracy.

Thanks again to Brian Skakun!

MrPG. I am surprised you appear to think I do not understand that.

1. the general state of the economy is not a first. It is a cyclical occurance. One has to look past that and look for opportunities. People have done that in the past and many good things arose from such times.

2. Is anyone interested in locating a MAJOR business downtown these days in ANY community our size? Those businesses moved out for reasons that are completely different than what most people feel is the reason they will not move back in. You have to change the conditions that caused them to move.

What those conditions are is a lengthy topic. But they start with the City Council's (for the past 30+ years) lack of understanding of what makes a city tick. We have tons of natural amenities near the centre of the city, yet we have moved outwards to find new amenities.

We are not unique. Multitudes of other cities in North America have similar problems. Many have been able to recognize that and have been able to reverse the trend. There are enough examples to learn from.

There is one difference between our situation and those of some of those success stories. This city has had a stagnant growth and even negative growth over the last 20 years. Our "state of the economy" has actually not been a short term one, but has been long term.

Downtown is not likely going to be turned around until the population increases or this city takes a VERY serious look at a NO POPULATION GROWTH scenario and plans the community for that. North American cities have not been enamoured with looking at that as a scenario. Growth is the status quo.

Councillors and administrators circulate in that kind of environment when they go to meetings, conferences and conventions. They typically do not get the tools to deal with our situation. Very few even recognize that.

How many potholes could we have filled for 20K?

How much asphalt could we soften and use for pothole patching with all of the hot air generated on this forum?
;)
metalman.

Good work, Brian.

Huge waste of taxpayer's $$ by a frequently grand standing politician. Will be glad to see him go next election.

"realitycheck" on April 14, 2010 9:51 PM

I believe you should take or receive a "reality check"! Unbelievable you!!

Awwwwww.......did I hurt your feelings with my opinion?

Brian will probably be gone as a councillor and sitting in the mayor's chair if he wants it. He is only one of maybe three on the whole council with some backbone.