Mayor Green Unrealistic Once Again

The local rag reports here that the ToL budget process has begun and Mayor Green has already launched his attack against Township Council. Green appointed three people that either supported his campaign with time, or gave money to his campaign. He keeps trying to paint this group as a simple group of Township citizens, but the reality is that they are political insiders.

Last year after 12 weeks of budget reviews this committee could only ask basic questions about why this or that expense is placed in this category on the spreadsheets. How can Green say that a more extensive process is what we need when he fully knows that there was already an extensive process last year. Mayor Green also knows very well that his proposed .93% would have drained Township Utility funds and caused a deficit of over $9M by year three of his budget plan. Mayor Green loves to talk about him or his cronies having "concerns", but he is NEVER specific about what these concerns are, nor does he ever fully explain these "concerns". In our opinion it is all SMOKE and MIRRORS with this mayor and it directly relates to his inability (with or without Council support) to conclude with anything other than a 4-5% tax increase for 2010.

How can a zero budget be promoted by this mayor when we all know that the provincial government has just downloaded PRIME BC costs of $1,000 per police officer, the Murrayville Fire Hall will go to full time in 2010, and significant roads and infrastructure must be maintained. Can this mayor understand English? Rene Payer provided an excellent presentation to council on their responsibilities to maintain Township assets. How can Mayor Green ignore the facts here with unfounded "concerns"? Time for Mayor Green to get real!

Local Rag Mis-Reports

One of the two local Langley rages mis-reported and its interesting that this happened. The final vote on the borrowing Bylaw for the 64th and Mufford overpass was on the table. Green, Richter and Kositsky voted in lock step on the other votes and apparently Mayor Green and Cllr. Richter were expecting much the same for the final vote.

Wise Cllr. Kositsky did not raise his hand to oppose the final vote, and this caused the mayor to reiterate 3 times the question for this opposed. We listened to the recording and it was a bundle of laughs. We spoke to councillors present and found that Kositsky had his head down writing each time Cllr. Richter and the Mayor looked his way with a vote call.

It's fine for Cllrs. Richter and Kositsky to vote as they wish, but Mayor Green's lack of support for the funding Bylaw just shows once again that he is ignoring the Will of Council. The same Will he took an oath to defend. Perhaps Kositsky's message for not voting with the twofers was to show that there was nothing personal about this Bylaw and that sometimes people have to move on.

This mayor doesn't understand that sometimes you can get more with sugar than lemons. Also sometimes you have to move on from your opposition and support the Will of Council. So, for the sake of making the 64th Avenue overpass a personal thing, Mayor Green lost yet another opportunity to gain some respect with his council. We also know not to trust our local rags for accurate political news! Keep reading the Langley Record for the accurate reporting of the facts!