Langley Free Press launches
We are pleased to welcome the Langley Free Press to the blogosphere. I've always felt we need more local discussion sites (even if they're critical of yours truly), and I'm glad to see Kim Richter (and her team) has launched one.
Just a note as you read Kim's comments. Bear in mind that Kim is positioning herself for a mayoralty run in 2008. Her stated goal is take Kurt Alberts out in the next election. This is what she is building for, what she is working toward, what she is strategizing.
Kim's blog has leveled specific criticisms at me. I'll be honest. I'm still feeling my way through Council. Yesterday was the first time I felt really comfortable. I hate the feeling of being in a dark room, groping for what I know is in there somewhere. I've taken a different approach than I guess she expected I would. I've tried to listen more, examine all the facts, talk with staff, learn more about each councillor's vision for the community, and find common ground to build from. There is no point alienating people who I will need to help put through some of the things I want to see done. I'm not afraid of speaking my mind on issues, but I am learning as I go, and asking a lot of questions behind the scenes.
Being 20 years younger than the rest of Council means there is a generation gap I have to overcome. I use different language than the rest of them (for example, this week I heard the word "lampoon" for the first time in real life). There is greater scrutiny on me than on Charlie Fox, so I am taking great care to be well-prepared before meetings. I don't need to ask as many questions during meetings because I have already worked through them beforehand.
That being said, as I become more comfortable in the role, one can be assured that I will say more and more at the table. It's already started in budget discussions.
Which brings me to Councillor Richter's latest post, which is pretty much just political fear-mongering. Yes, I supported budgeting for the hiring of 15 police officers and two full time fire halls over the next three years. Why? Because everyone I talked to in the past campaign told me they wanted public safety as the community's top priority.
This week, staff asked us for a baseline public safety commitment so they could tweak their draft operational and capital budget before presenting the full meal deal to us. The difference between hiring these 15 police officers or cutting it back to six was just $18 in annual property taxes in 2008. So, for a extra large double-double cuppa Tim Hortons a month, Township taxpayers get two full time fire halls and 15 more cops.
We still haven't combed through the budget and made any cuts or deferrals yet. If Councillor Richter is really that worried about the tax increase (like I am), I am sure she (like me) will come to those meetings with several suggestions on what to cut. Thus far, she has only talked about freezing police hiring (which I completely disagree with philosophically) and cutting $100,000 out of the Township Page budget (which I fully agree with her on and look forward to supporting).
I was elected on a fiscal conservative platform. That means:
1. I support public safety
2. I want smaller government
3. I want taxes to be held down
Yesterday, we only dealt with the first prong of this strategy. I voted to improve public safety. I want to give our new Superintendent the maximum flexibility to make changes at the police station. At our next series of budget meetings, I will make my case for smaller government, and provide concrete suggestions to Council of where to cut. Hopefully, the majority of Council will agree, and we can accomplish goal #3--low taxes.
I'm not out to score political points on budget issues. I'm taking this very seriously and examining every project in front of me. To say we passed a budget is an outright incorrect statement--we haven't even seen the $80 million operating budget yet. There are significant challenges facing this community, but I'm not throwing my hands in the air and running to the media about it--I'm doing what I was elected to do... to fix it.
This is just step one in a long budgetary dance. the fancy footwork hasn't even started yet!
But anyway, surf on over to the Free Press and enjoy. I know I have.
Just a note as you read Kim's comments. Bear in mind that Kim is positioning herself for a mayoralty run in 2008. Her stated goal is take Kurt Alberts out in the next election. This is what she is building for, what she is working toward, what she is strategizing.
Kim's blog has leveled specific criticisms at me. I'll be honest. I'm still feeling my way through Council. Yesterday was the first time I felt really comfortable. I hate the feeling of being in a dark room, groping for what I know is in there somewhere. I've taken a different approach than I guess she expected I would. I've tried to listen more, examine all the facts, talk with staff, learn more about each councillor's vision for the community, and find common ground to build from. There is no point alienating people who I will need to help put through some of the things I want to see done. I'm not afraid of speaking my mind on issues, but I am learning as I go, and asking a lot of questions behind the scenes.
Being 20 years younger than the rest of Council means there is a generation gap I have to overcome. I use different language than the rest of them (for example, this week I heard the word "lampoon" for the first time in real life). There is greater scrutiny on me than on Charlie Fox, so I am taking great care to be well-prepared before meetings. I don't need to ask as many questions during meetings because I have already worked through them beforehand.
That being said, as I become more comfortable in the role, one can be assured that I will say more and more at the table. It's already started in budget discussions.
Which brings me to Councillor Richter's latest post, which is pretty much just political fear-mongering. Yes, I supported budgeting for the hiring of 15 police officers and two full time fire halls over the next three years. Why? Because everyone I talked to in the past campaign told me they wanted public safety as the community's top priority.
This week, staff asked us for a baseline public safety commitment so they could tweak their draft operational and capital budget before presenting the full meal deal to us. The difference between hiring these 15 police officers or cutting it back to six was just $18 in annual property taxes in 2008. So, for a extra large double-double cuppa Tim Hortons a month, Township taxpayers get two full time fire halls and 15 more cops.
We still haven't combed through the budget and made any cuts or deferrals yet. If Councillor Richter is really that worried about the tax increase (like I am), I am sure she (like me) will come to those meetings with several suggestions on what to cut. Thus far, she has only talked about freezing police hiring (which I completely disagree with philosophically) and cutting $100,000 out of the Township Page budget (which I fully agree with her on and look forward to supporting).
I was elected on a fiscal conservative platform. That means:
1. I support public safety
2. I want smaller government
3. I want taxes to be held down
Yesterday, we only dealt with the first prong of this strategy. I voted to improve public safety. I want to give our new Superintendent the maximum flexibility to make changes at the police station. At our next series of budget meetings, I will make my case for smaller government, and provide concrete suggestions to Council of where to cut. Hopefully, the majority of Council will agree, and we can accomplish goal #3--low taxes.
I'm not out to score political points on budget issues. I'm taking this very seriously and examining every project in front of me. To say we passed a budget is an outright incorrect statement--we haven't even seen the $80 million operating budget yet. There are significant challenges facing this community, but I'm not throwing my hands in the air and running to the media about it--I'm doing what I was elected to do... to fix it.
This is just step one in a long budgetary dance. the fancy footwork hasn't even started yet!
But anyway, surf on over to the Free Press and enjoy. I know I have.