The Editor:
It seems city hall has finally placed all the blocks in the right direction and will be streaming ahead in a new direction, as the mayor keeps saying about all the hiring and firing in the past year or so.
Well, we are still waiting to see what direction they are going to go. I have not seen any change other than there being no shortage of money, it would appear, as they are spending it like water over Niagara Falls.
We pay down our debt by $4 million and then turn around and borrow $5 million for a long-term of 15 to 18 years so now we are creating another expense for the people 15 to 18 years down the road.
Jeff (Ward, city manager and treasurer), can make a budget and the mayor and council will agree with it, but overspend it by $3 million or $4 million (or whatever they think is necessary.) Right now, why have a budget? We keep giving money away to these different organizations, and why?
It is coming time for an election of mayor and councillors. We still have three people on council that were responsible for getting the city in debt. These three could not keep their hands down when voting for the dumb things that were going on, and that’s why we have such a big debt.
When I told one councillor the city was $40 million in the red, he said “You do not know what you’re talking about.” That’s how close he was paying attention.
The City advertises for people to sit on a committee … for the last two committees. Seven years ago, the same people were on this committee, an ex-mayor and an ex-councillor and one person from the street. What kind of setup is this when you are looking at (studying and recommending) the salaries for council?
The union is like a cancer in this city and no one likes cancer. They show the young students how to put in eight hours and maybe only work for two. Or how to drive around to get to the job, using a route that takes them two or three miles when a quarter-mile route would get them there. The students have to join the union and the union does nothing for them but take their money. It is about time we started hiring local contractors to do the city work. Promote some of the city works for supervisors and get after it. The expenses for new trucks, hard hats, safety boots, insurance, front-end loaders, graders, etc, would be minimal. If the job was not being done correctly, the contractor is responsible.
The City claims they can give themselves a raise. Great, but the flak they would get is what they don’t want, so they compare numbers with Weyburn where I understand, or the last time I heard, had $30 million in the bank, not like Estevan that is $35 million in the red.
Thank you.
Dale Wetsch
Estevan
