Ray Vandenberg – “enough is enough”

The man who wants to be Mayor

I was a Councillor about 25 years ago, and over the past few years, I have become more upset with the way things are being handled by the present Council and the new Fire Hall was the last straw. Enough is enough, we have to get back to the basics and common sense.

There are few things that are achievable, like opening up council so the taxpayer has direct access to Council. Reviewing By Laws to ensure that they benefit all, not just the few, we have so many By Laws, it’s suffocating us. The really big problem is our money, Council are acting like kids in the Candy Store. Lastly, ensure that all processes are executed to ensure that the taxpayers democratic right have not been violated.
◾ Opening Up Council by scheduling Council meeting in the evenings, and setting aside a 15 to 20 min. time frame where the taxpayer can approach Council on any subject, and this would become part of the Council Minutes. Therefore, corrective action would be taken in a timely manner.
◾Dedicate each Councillor with specific responsibilities, commonly referred to as Portfolio, so the taxpayers has a direct contact person for the issue on hand.
◾Review all the By Laws, to make sure that they are fair to everyone, and not to hinder business progress, anything less would not be acceptable.
◾We have to review how the taxpayers money is spent. The new proposed fire hall should have been priced properly before going to AAP (Alternate Approval Process), to know exactly how much money was involved. In fact because of the immense amount of money involved it should have gone to a Referendum. Also, the present Council seems to be re-inventing the wheel. by changing the construction to Gyro Park again, and I am guessing it will be at immense cost to the taxpayer, after major construction was just finished just a couple of years ago. That kind of spending is outrageous.
◾We all know that any upgrades and maintenance to infrastructure there is not a requirement to go to Referendum, but major projects there is, and all taxpayers should have a vote that is secret, The AAP, process requires a persons name, address that is clearly visible and if that falls in the wrong hands there could be devastating consequences.

There are many other issues that need looking at, this is to name just a couple. Improving local industry to stimulate local employment would be high on my list of things that needs my immediate attention. We should also check out that proper drinking water is available to all residents and eliminate the boiling water advisories we are exposed to frequently.

I hope to have a hands on council and not a council that rubber stamps everything.

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