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Meisner Puts the Rumours to Rest

By Ben Meisner

We should have a Mayor’s race in this city.  As a matter of fact, we should have a healthy flow of new blood seeking  a seat on Council because the accomplishments this Council can lay credit to are very limited indeed . 

Mayor Colin Kinsley has worn out his welcome. For his first two terms of office he did a reasonable job but there is something that happens to a lot of politicians and Kinsley is no exception.  They seem to become increasingly interested in looking in the mirror at themselves and I believe they start hearing themselves talk. 

The Mayor wants to stay on in the job, it is the best paying gig he has ever had in his life,in fact it is far better than most residents ever hope to enjoy.  

No I will not be seeking the Mayor’s chair. 

Back several months ago I was approached by a host of people ready to put their money where their mouth is, to change the local political landscape. I will admit, I toyed with the idea, one campaigner alone raised just over $20,000 in contributions which suggested to me that people were not happy with the status quo. 

I am committed to trying to establish Opinion 250.  Had I not been inolved with this project,  I would have considered a one term shot at the office, because I believe we have not had the kind of representation that we should. 

There are a couple of other factors  to keep in mind.   First, I am 67, and  secondly, I have always said people in the media shouldn’t use their notoriety to seek office. 

Our population dropped by about 10% and yet the cost to run the city went up, we can lay claim to three call centers but surely no one can say that is the future for this city. 

The Mayor has become a senior politician, (at least in his mind) and he feels that he is more adept at dealing with the Federal Cabinet Ministers and the Premier of this province rather than looking after his own back yard. 

Kinsley has lost the interest of the common people. Case in point was BC Rail.  Contrary to what the public wanted, he promoted the sale of the railway and the Liberals ate it up. We will leave $1 billion on the table on that deal in the next seven to ten years.

There is the matter of TeraseGas , the city spent over $600,000 of your money selling you on the idea , what did they offer to those who opposed the deal?  Afterall, the opposers were taxpayers too, but  did they get any of their own money from City hall?  Not one thin dime to mount a No campaign. 

The down town lies in ruins and I get annoyed as hell every time someone says we will stage another "study". Study be damned!  We know what the problems are, get on with it. 

But here we have a Council that spends its time looking into the matter of a Hockey Enforcers event, or a Dog By law, or, for that matter a circus , while not one single councilor has said "Gee we better have second look at the plans to borrow $9.4 million dollars for a down town community energy system."  Even if we got the money at zero interest, it cuts further into our borrowing power. 

We started off with a credit line of about $220 million, with the latest effort, that line will be down to about $60 million.  We should make sure we protect the future. When the City's economy was in the toilet (and believe me it will happen again, you need only look at the dead wood around here), what we can expect from a City Hall that has spent lavishly while ignoring the basics such as roads? 

There may be a number of Councilors who have made an effort, but the winds of change are starting to swirl.

I'm Meisner and that is one man's opinion.


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