Raise the Hammer

Council has agreed that area rating will be dealt with beginning January 2011, and that has not changed. Taxes will shift beginning then. This is not a matter of "indecisiveness". The political advantage is not with the Mayor, who is falsely accused of ducking the issue. All will be confronted with area rating in the 2010 campaign. The political manipulation in this case favours the politicians demanding a decision now, who may just be wanting to gain an advantage by claiming to have lowered taxes. Those taxes will be adjusted, as directed by Council, in January 2011.

The Maggies of the world are strangely silent on the subversion of democracy that almost took place when a certain group tried to pass a $50 million dollar uninsured flood damage relief with 5 Councillors absent. Staff stated clearly that night that the matter should be reviewed to determine the potential costs, but the group insisted on passing their motion then and there without further review or comment. Three of us broke quorum and forced a further meeting which resulted in defeat of the measure. The stupidity of that initiative is staggering. It would have virtually put the City into a downward financial spiral, since every subsequent event would require the same level of compensation. We would now in fact be in the insurance business. What would insurance companies offer in future if the City has a policy of picking up uninsured damages?

For Maggie and others, the new policies proposed by staff for area rating will, as voted by Council, come into effect in January 2011. This entire blog is a tempest in a teapot.
Where was the discussion on the flood relief fiasco? I've put that matter to the Governance Committee to determine if our Procedural by-law can be changed to prevent such a high-jacking in future.