Re: Civic elections about community, Our View, Sept. 14, 2011.
Whomever penned this piece obviously does not have a clue about what has actually been happening on the ground in Colwood the past three years.
Rather, someone in your organization seems to want to continue to wrongly portray that the past three years have been a heroic exercise to slay dragons of the past.
This completely obfuscates the truth, because the previous three years have added to any angst over prior years governance in a variety of ways, chiefly through misguided council priorities.
Previous councils in Colwood did not raise taxes 30 per cent in three years including other fees and taxes. Only two sitting council members voted against these absurdly high tax gouges the past three years.
This council had choices to make. Rather than cut red tape and bureaucracy in a time of a bad economy, they chose to inflate it with excessive property taxation.
Executive hirings, studies and experimentation into the green economy, while adding new costs to new business and construction investment, also prevented new funds from coming in to repair roads and foster new beautification and other infrastructure upgrades to the extent council could have.
As is clear for the eyes to see in another community next door, these things can continue to be achieved with the right leadership and approach, despite the challenged economics of recent times.
The net result of the policies of the past three years will be realized in the hands of the new council. Will their excuse for their policies and decisions be “cleaning up messes from previous administrations?”
Ernie Robertson
Councillor
Colwood