Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Random Thoughts....
Councillor Marianne Wilkinson is bringing a very important motion to city council tomorrow, calling for a financial sustainability summit involving council members, city staff and members of the public. She has the support of nine council members. Notably, the chardonnay socialists, the "tax and spend" gang are not on this list.
What's the purpose of such a summit ?
It would determine if current property taxes plus user fees plus the current debt load are affordable -- in other words, can Ottawa ratepayers continue to meet these costs. To do this, a comparison would be made between growth in costs to date resulting from amalgamation and projected growth over a long-term period into the future.
It would examine core services, non-core services and capital projects from the perspective of what the ratepayer can afford. A variety of service delivery models would be looked at as well as financial controls for high-value projects.
It would generate a list of recommendations as to how property tax affordability can be achieved, and it would be left to present and future councils to implement some/all of the recommendations. Today's budget process is based on the current calendar year's rate increase along with new revenue opportunities. The summit would focus on long-term affordability for property taxpayers, reducing costs and achieving high value for tax dollars.
The time is right for such a summit and Citizen Ellie hopes councillors will see the benefit of achieving a ratepayer buy-in for future tax planning.
While it's generally thought that Ottawa's been recession-proof, the truth hardly bears out that belief. One would have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to get the message that times are bad for a lot of Ottawans. This message was pounded home on a daily basis in December by the various NGOs operating in the city as they tried to raise funds for Christmas relief.
And those who think the city will continue to grow at the rate seen over the past 20 years should give their heads a shake. The tech sector has lost jobs. And while there have been some small tech start-ups, they don't make up for the loss of Nortel and the disastrous impact that company's shut down has had on its few remaining employees and its pensioners. The feds now have a huge deficit, thanks to a variety of bail-outs which saved this country from the worst of the recession's effects. But make no mistake about it -- steps will be taken by the feds to reduce the deficit and that means cut-backs in programs and services with a corresponding cut-back in number of employees. They may be able to do it through attrition as large numbers of federal public servants are due to retire over the next few years. But this means those retired federal employees will be living on reduced incomes and far less likely to support property tax increases which outpace the rate of inflation. Ottawa has the second-largest senior population in the country --only exceeded by Victoria, BC. The only sure growth coming our way is increased numbers of pensioners on fixed incomes and this surely must be a major consideration when looking at financial sustainability along with the fact that good-paying jobs are disappearing from the Ottawa scene.
There are several costly projects on the drawing boards, not the least of which is the proposed LRT system. The province has earmarked $600 million as its share and Premier Dalton "The Deceiver" McGuinty has made it clear that there ain't no more coming from that source. The feds haven't spoken as yet -- when they do, they probably won't exceed $600 million either. The LRT's costs are already way beyond what was initially projected and if it goes ahead as currently planned, there will be a humungus shortfall to be shouldered by Ottawa ratepayers.
If for no other reason, the LRT's cost alone justifies a financial sustainability summit. Let's hope all councillors do what's right for the taxpayers who are paying the freight.
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If the proverbial "Man from Mars" had descended on Ottawa last week, he could hardly be blamed for thinking he'd arrived in the midst of a coronation or a second coming, at least. And second coming it was -- the second coming of Jim Watson, lately a provincial cabinet minister, now a mayoral candidate.
While his entry into the fray will make the campaign more interesting, Citizen Ellie finds the fact he's being joined by three former staffers to be truly fascinating. A "Watson slate" ? Not on your life says he, with his three former minions joining in a chorus of protest.
Citizen Ellie likes these guys. They're youngish, but not as young as now long-in-the-tooth Peter Hume, Rick Chiarelli and Michel Bellemare were when they were first elected.
Perry Simpson is going after the Kanata South seat; Mark Taylor wants to fill Councillor Alex Cullen's shoes in Bay Ward; and Stephen Blais is having a go in Cumberland.
The three all support term limits for councillors -- two four-year-terms is sufficient, they say -- sitting on council should not be a job for life. That in itself is a good reason to elect them.
If only there was an ex-Watson staffer to run against Councillor Jacques Legendre in Rideau-Rockcliffe. Perhaps Citizen Ellie will have to bite the bullet !
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Citizen Ellie departs early tomorrow for the southwest where, among other things, she'll have the opportunity to get a first-hand look at LRT systems in Phoenix and San Diego -- where the taxpayers are now complaining about these systems' operating costs -- electricity being somewhat more expensive in the southern U-S than it is here. Posting will resume mid-February.
Posting will resume on February 19