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Letter: Mayors’ comments unprofessional

Re: Funding formula for West Shore Parks and Recreation under review ( Gazette , March 7)
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Re: Funding formula for West Shore Parks and Recreation under review (Gazette, March 7)

In some ways to me this discussion represents the worst of what municipal government can look and sound like. When reading the comments from mayors Carol Hamilton and Stew Young, I’m thinking that we didn’t elect these people to publicly disagree on small issues like this one. We voted for them to be leaders and to quietly and effectively work together to figure these things out. The services and programs provided through WSPR benefit all of us throughout this region and are available to anyone who wants to take advantage of them. Mayor Hamilton’s comments in this regard are on the mark. I don’t think it’s helpful for Mayor Young to say things like some of Hamilton’s comments are disrespectful to Langford taxpayers. Why say that? Whether they are or they aren’t Mayor Young’s comments are needless. So a simple, easy to fix issue becomes something bigger than it ever needed to be.

I’d like to see some leadership from this group of regional mayors. Rather than talk about who is or who isn’t pulling their weight financially to support WSPR why don’t you simply get together and hammer out an agreement that worries less about who pays what and more about the obvious benefits we all have access to through WSPR programs and services. I would hope we could apply the same focus and attention to this item as we do when standing proudly before the cameras and boasting about another multi-million-dollar commercial or residential development. Many of those people, families and children coming into our region will need and want the services and programs provided through WSPR. I bet that in the same amount of time it took for mayors Hamilton and Young to form their comments on this issue, they could have sat down with their mayoral colleagues and finalized a long term, sustainable funding formula for WSPR.

Rick Baker

View Royal


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