The Green Richter-Slate Can't Fool All of The People All of The Time

By Special Features Editor Reed Fraser

It was a bad week for the credibility of Township council’s minority of two, the Green-Richter team, and it started with 3rd reading of the 2009 budget, which contains a five per cent tax hike, with no speakers coming to the microphone at the 4 p.m. council meeting, one of the last opportunities for the public to complain about a tax hike that adds about $65 a year to the average homeowners tax bill.

An at the 7 p.m. session, only one person answered the call for submissions, a man who wondered whether or not a $50,000 ceramic tile item was listed in the right place under recreation. Not exactly the shit-fire storm Richter-Green would have had us all believe would blow up over this budget. But Green launched into his now familiar diatribe about the hard work of his self-appointed “standing committee on finance” three civilians one at least of whom helped run his election campaign.

Green praised the work of this threesome -- one of whom went off on vacation and submitted his ideas via email – as if their hard eight weeks on a steep learning curve required that the duly elected majority on council were obliged to adopt their rather mediocre ideas which included a less than one per cent tax hike, borrowing money from sewer and water funds to prop up general revenue, axing a hybrid vehicle program upon which Township carbon credits rely; and cutting almost $1 million from Township computer maintenance. No mention of the grant money the ToL got for hybrids and can continue to get to pay for the hybrid additions. No mention of Mayor Green himself heard boasting about the fuel performance and saving of his privately-owned hybrid. I guess he'd rather save money personally and not see the Township save anything?

Green seems to rely on the premise that if you say something often enough people will believe it, and both he and Richter have at least convinced themselves that staff raises, a new and expanding full-time fire force, extra police, recreation playing field maintenance and a myriad of other spirally costs can be met with the 0.93 tax hike. Other councilors weren’t buying it, and pointed out that such drastic cuts will gut all capital expenditure, put the Township into a $770,000 deficit in 2010, and run that figure up to $6.4 million by the end of the Five Year Financial Plan. Residents clearly want these services and are willing to pay for them.

Next, airport manager George Miller introduced David Kirk, a professional aviation industry appraiser, who told council lease rates at Langley Airport are very competitive with community airports around the province, and that if the airport starts charging rates to other industrial lands, no one will be using this airport. That ‘s another blow to the credibility of Richter and Green, who campaigned on issues that included airport lease rates being just 25 per cent of market rates. See the full presentation here.

And council released from in-camera a legal opinion obtained four years ago, which says the Township doesn’t have a leg to stand on in an argument, based on a 100 year old Inter Urban rail right of way bylaw, to make the railroad cease or reduce Roberts Bank freight through downtown Langley. Another Green position, that the trains can be rerouted, but the other members of council and senior staff just haven’t been trying hard enough for the past four or five years, shot to tatters. Read the full legal opinion here.

And in a final humiliation, what Green said during the election was one of the worst violations of private property rights he had ever witnessed, the rerouting of a creek in Willoughby, is apparently perfectly legitimate, according to another legal opinion released by council Monday. Green’s stance on this creek got him a stern warning of a pending law suit if an apology was not forthcoming, but the developer, now that Green is in the mayor’s chair, seems to have reconsidered. (It will be interesting to see how many landowners will see Green’s municipal revenue for upzoning their property, as a violation of property rights.)

Yes folks, it was a very humiliating week for the slate, but don't expect to see these details on the other blog, nor reported in such details in your local news. But the facts are here and clear on the Langley Record for you.

This week's revelations are unlikely to fluster the absolute arrogance of Mayor Green or the obstinate smarter than thou attitude of Councillor Richter, but as Abe Lincoln said, "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some times, but you can’t fool all the people all the time."