Big Snow Job In The Township of Langley

By Special Editor Conrad Dolenz

The Langley Mimes website has a report today by Al Irwin on how much it will cost to upgrade road snow removal -- $575,000. The staff report with this information was before council on March 23, 2009. The Town budget then had not yet been adopted, Mayor Green, his tight-bunned sidekick, and their naive civilian finance committee members were still suggesting that a 0.93 per cent tax increase would be more than adequate.

And in the days after the big snowstorm, all the rural elite, including bun lady Richter herself, were whining and moaning about the pitiful snow response. Would 0.93 per cent even raise enough money to cover this enhanced snow removal program? We think not! Either reporter Al Irwin, a veteran of the Township beat, doesn't know a news story if it slaps him up the side of the head, or else the publicist is up to his old tricks, covering up for his ole buddy Ricky Green, by not publishing stories that make the old coot look bad. Yes folks, the publicist is actively censoring what you see and read. This is SOLID proof of just how deep this censorship runs. But just don't expect The Mimes to put their cards on the table for you. Its a poker face all the way.

Township In-Camera Leak to NDP?

Something is very fishy in the Township of Langley. Unless someone has a very good explanation, someone in the Township has just released in-camera Council information to the NDP. The Langley Times has published this story yesterday on the BC Hydro Lease / Community Rail.  

Our Editorial Board has now reviewed all of the Township background materials and the Township press release. Nowhere in these documents does it speak about specifics related to how much capacity is preserved for Crown use and how much is allowed for CPR.

"In a press release, Stephany says that the agreement ensured that 33 per cent of the rail traffic capacity is preserved for Crown use, with CPR allowed to use 66 per cent of rail capacity."

-- The Langley Times

WHO LEAKED IN-CAMERA TOL INFORMATION?

You can read the full text of the Township and NDP news releases below. The Township made the official release on May 6, 2009. But the NDP press release says the ToL released the information "yesterday", meaning May 5, 2009. The Council meeting occurred on MONDAY, May 4th. How did the NDP get in-camera information the day before everyone else? How did the NDP get specific traffic details from the "Master Agreement"? 

So, who is this the source of the leak? Will the Township Council now seek legal advice and take action against this Council member or members?  Clearly this fresh release of in-camera information to Langley candidate Kathleen Stephany and her NDP handlers needs a complete investigation. The contents of in-camera meetings must remain protected for the good of all Township taxpayers. It is inexcusable for any public official to leak confidential Township information. Time for a comprehensive investigation in the interest of open and accountable government. 

The Entire ToL press release:

FOR IMMEDiATE RELEASE:  May 6, 2009

COMMUNITY RAIL – A PIECE OF THE PUZZLE UNCOVERED

Information relating to the history and protection of the old Interurban passenger and freight rail corridor through the Township of Langley and the City of Langley is being released today (Attached). A great deal has been said about what can and cannot be done on this corridor, and the Township recently received a legal opinion reviewing the various existing historical agreements. However, one further agreement - which had gotten lost through time - was recently discovered: a Master Agreement between BC Hydro and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), concerning the sale of the tracks and equipment in the Pratt-Livingstone Corridor from BC Hydro to the CPR. The Master Agreement linked other agreements between BC Hydro and the CPR, one of which reserved certain rights to BC Hydro to operate trains, including passenger trains, over the Pratt-Livingstone Corridor; a joint section which runs through the Township and City of Langley. Our provincial government of the day deserves an abundance of credit in its effort to protect the public’s right to passenger transportation on the Pratt-Livingston Corridor, a right previously thought not to exist. But it is clear that when the Province, through BC Hydro, concluded the agreement with the CPR they did so with the foresight of safeguarding a public asset for generations.  However, the agreement between BC Hydro and the CPR reserving BC Hydro’s right to operate passenger trains on the Pratt-Livingstone Corridor is a twenty-one (21) year agreement that was signed August 29, 1988, with a renewal clause for twenty-one (21) years at either party’s option. This agreement expires on August 29, 2009.  Township Council agreed on May 4 to send a letter to BC Hydro requesting its immediate response, and the assurance that Hydro will renew the agreement in question prior to August 29, 2009. Letters will also be sent to all municipalities and cities south of the Fraser, requesting support for the renewal.  Township Council will also send a letter to the City of Surrey and the Board of Directors of the Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society, asking for their consideration for inclusion of the Township of Langley in their plans for the 2010 Heritage Rail Demonstration Project. This project is currently planned to run from Sullivan Station to Cloverdale. Township of Langley Mayor Rick Green is suggesting it run into Milner, as there is much interest in building a heritage rail replica station at the Milner site.  -30- Full Text of NDP Release: For Immediate Release: May 6, 2009 NDP WILL PRESERVE RAIL AGREEMENT Langley – Yesterday Mayor Rick Green and his council released a memorandum referring to the ‘long lost’ Master Agreement, which not only defines some land use arrangements between the Province, Municipality and the Railway, but also ensured 33% of the traffic on the line for crown use. In exchange, the CPR is allowed to build rails and use 66% of the rail capacity on the provincially owned land. “Gordon Campbell has made a mess of transit in the Lower Mainland,” said Stephany. “The BC Liberal plan is an unfunded wish list. It won’t get more people out of their cars, won’t make transit more convenient and it won’t make transit more affordable.” The NDP will stand behind planning for a comprehensive light rail transit system serving the South Fraser region. It will be closely integrated with the bus and SkyTrain systems. The plan will review options including the interurban passenger rail route. “Because we stand for a comprehensive light rail transit system for the South Fraser region, we will be very interested in any options that become available to us, including crown use of the interurban corridor and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) rails through Langley,” said Stephany. In a letter to Kathleen Stephany, Mayor Rick Green asks for the support of the NDP for the renewal of the Master Agreement, set to expire this August. He also requests Stephany's commitment to light passenger rail. In fact, the only thing that has ever held back the West Coast Express is the fact that the wheelage must be leased from the railway. The Master Agreement allows the province to run of a huge amount of trains on the CPR line at no cost. “We already own the rails through the remainder of the interurban corridor. This is the first step to establishing an effective, reliable, and cost-efficient community rail service,” added Stephany. “The NDP will definitely extend the agreement with CP.” -30-

NDP On A Train to Nowhere

Some locals are suggesting that the NDP are the heros of rail service in the Fraser Valley. Another local blog sings the NDP praises. Well, just look what the NDP will do to rail service on Vancouver Island. Do we really want the NDP mucking around with rail in the Fraser Valley?

The NDP's announcement that they will move ahead with rail bed and track improvements on Vancouver Island is yet another unfunded commitment that the NDP have no ability to actually deliver on.  Let's look at what the NDP said and contrast it with the facts:

• By the NDP's own numbers the cost of upgrading the rail line is estimated at over $100-million.   Yet the NDP only committed $35-million for the project over five years -- that's two electoral cycles.  This funding will not come close to upgrading the rail line.
• The NDP claim they will raise the $35-million through their questionable “Green Bond” financing scheme.  In other words, the $35-million investment in the E&N Rail corridor is contingent on British Columbians giving their money to the NDP.  Would you invest your money with the NDP?
• The BC Liberals announced $5-million in funding for the rail line in November to provide property tax relief and to undertake a $500,000 study to determine the costs and viability of upgrading the E&N rail line for freight and passenger services.  The NDP voted against this funding and clearly were not interested in seeing the business plan before committing to the project. 

It's clear from today’s announcement that the NDP have learned nothing from the disastrous fast ferries project in the 1990s.  Just like the fast ferries, the NDP's announcement today commits them to upgrade a rail line with no business plan in place, no idea what the project will cost and only $35-million in funding for a project that even the NDP believe will cost tens of millions more. Perhaps even Carole James realizes this is yet another disastrous NDP policy and that's why she chose to skip the announcement today. 

The True Cost of a Witch Hunt

Blair commented on our last post. He opined that if you use a staff rate of $50 per hour (including salaries and benefits) and multiply that by 1,300 hours, you would end up with $65K and not our $100K for the cost of the Mayor's Standing Committee on Finance. The same standing committee that Mayor Green and Councillor Richter wishes to make a permanent fixture and add more bodies to it. The mayor believes that as most of the staff time is already covered by the budget, then it is no additional cost of the Township. We aren't sure how that computes.

We do know that if "Blair" is the same person that posts elsewhere is the same man, he is a very smart man and gives much thought into what he writes. Therefore, our Editorial Board has investigated this matter to give Blair and our readers an accurate read on the cost of this Mayor's Committee witch hunt that produced a very slim and lame report.

Here is what we learned:

1. Our calculations are very conservative. Almost all of the 1,300+ hours has been consumed with the use of senior ToL staff, as required by the committee queries and complexity of the tasks.

2. This calculation of hours did not include the many, many hours of time for ToL Administrator Mark Bakken.

3. Our figure was for TIME only and did not include materials. All that paper for photocopies and many of them colour copies because of the nature of the data (figures). You will recall that Councillor Charlie Fox measured a pile 2 feet high of materials that he received during his absence and that ONLY consisted of Finance Committee materials. More was produced upon his return.

Here are some details that Blair and others may find of interest:

Time:
1,300+ hours from January 2nd - March 15th
178 days @ 7+ hours per day
Average Hourly Rate/Level of Staff $80/hr. (w/o benefits)
Rough Order of Magnitude = $106,000 (with some supplies & benefits)

Tasks / Preparation:
Agendas & Minutes
Research
Finance Committee Inquiry Responses
Complex Financial Analysis of all Items
Preparation and Delivery of all Slide Shows
Preparation, Reconciliation & Re-Calculation of Several Model Budget Versions
Reformatting Spreadsheets (4+ hours each due to linkages)
Photocopying and Binding of All Materials
Circulation & Delivery of Materials
Meetings, Research & Compilation - Local Governement Finding Details
Budget - Staff Recommendations & Models

We stand behind our calculation and we trust that the Township will publish the actual figures and include benefits and material costs.

Today's Township Council Meeting

*** Council Update May 5, 2009 ***

We have just learned that yesterday several noteworthy things happened at Township Council. Here's the short-list:

1. Mayor Rick Green asked the Administrator Jason Winslade to clarify that "only staff time" was involved in the Finance Committee work and that the exercise didn't cost hard dollars. I guess Green figures that the 1,300+ hours spent on the committee work could not have been better spent on other things and that these are "free hours". Go figure!
2. Kim Richter clarified that her recent trip to San Diego was not on the Township teet. It was on the Kwantlen (another) public teet.
3. Kim Richter will be going to Portland, OR for a conference on the Township teet. She justified it by saying that she won't be attending some other teet bun toss events. 
4. Grant Ward left the in-camera at least 30 minutes early. We have no details other than Ward felt some other councillors were acting like children and he didn't want to be involved with the mess as an informed source reports. 

There will only be a 3:00pm Special Council Meeting today, Monday, May 4, 2009 at the Municipal Facility's Fraser River Presentation Theatre. This information was posted to the Township website late and we re-post it here for your information.

Apparently the Mayor's Standing Committee on Finance cost the taxpayers of the Township almost $100,000 in the 10 weeks that they operated. We assume this $100K does not include the cost of people on salary that worked until 9:00pm many evenings to compile data for the committee. 

The Mayor Green and Councillor Kim Richter has expressed a desire to expand the number of people on this committee and examine each ToL department. This committee idea by Mayor Green was a very costly exercise for such a slim report that said nothing of any value. But apparently the mayor feels compelled to march on with this work and the expenses related to it. Councillor Charlie Fox would like to see proper department reviews  that won't cost anywhere near $100K, and directed by the people who know these areas. After all, this Finance Committee spent much of their time trying to figure out how things work and why certain expenses were placed in various "baskets". Far from productive work for sure. Councillor Richter is always talking about a cost-benefit analysis, so we gather she will support this motion given the facts and costs involved. See the Councillor Fox Notice of Motion below. 

Minutes of April 20, 2009 Special Council Meeting

Agenda for May 4, 2009 Special Council Meeting

Doc 1

Doc 2

Doc 3

Doc 4

Doc 5

Doc 6

Doc 7

Doc 8

Doc 9

Doc 10

Doc 11

Doc 12

Doc 13

Doc 14

Doc 15

Councillor Fox presented the following Notice of Motion within the deadlines according to Council's policy: 

Corporate Department Reviews

Whereas:

The Mayor's Standing Committee on Finance has cost the taxpayers of Langley a significant amount of time and financial resources, and

There now appears to be a desire on the part of the committee to review each department within the Township for efficiencies and financial wherewithal;

Therefore be it resolved that:

Each Division engage the services of an appropriate consultant to undertake an Organizational Review, as the Fire Departments has done, to review ways to increase efficiency and reduce costs provided, however, that they also advise if the Township has adequate staff levels for the Services they provide, and

That each Divisional report contain both recommendations for improvements and strengths within the Division, provided that the costs are not to exceed the amount spent to date by the Mayor's Standing Committee of Finance; and further

 

That Council Priorities Meetings be set to occur concurrently with the Mayor's Standing Committee on Finance meetings so that Council may interact with the Committee to better understand their perspective and to make for a more efficient use of resources.

Children and Spouses of Public Officials Debate

We brought this out of the comments below for all to see. The ball is in Councillor Richter's court. Will she take the high road or ???

 Jordan Bateman said...

While I appreciate your kind words and support, I do truly believe that it should be off-limits for people to talk about the children of public officials. We can debate politics and policy without resorting to that kind of gutter activity.

It's unfortunate that my council colleague has chosen to allow certain comments on her website, but if she chooses to engage in such personal attacks there's not much I can do. She has to deal with her own conscience at the end of the day. 

I would ask those of you who have respect for me and/or my public office as a councillor to refrain from mentioning things about my kids. I also ask you extend the same favour to Councillor Richter. 

Whether you feel she deserves such respect or not, her children are not public figures and should be off-limits.

Jordan Bateman

May 3, 2009 4:18 PM

 The Langley Record Editor said...

Jordan,

Nice to see you are reading here, as we've not seen you since the inaugural. We appreciate your comments and have no concluded a straw poll of our Editorial Board.

We have agreed that children of public officials should not be drawn into these discussions. Of course spouses that help write blogs and such are fair game. In the interest of doing the right thing, The Langley Record is willing to remove comments about the children of you and Cllr. Richter if she also removes the offensive posts on her blog. Let's see if Cllr. Richter can take the high road?

May 3, 2009 6:24 PM

FOR FRED AND OTHER MALCONTENTS:

And this is for Horny Toad who apparently could not read the other website traffic stats that we posted previously. Perhaps this chart will be easier for him to understand. If anyone is a broken record it's Fred (aka Horny Toad). We don't miss you buddy. Your constant re-questioning, despite our provision of facts and research we gracefully provided to you, consumed our time. The fact is that most of our posts are longer than on other blogs, complete with more links and indepth research. People come back to read and they read more pages. But by the time they have read all of these facts and links they run out of time to comment. What part of comprehensive don't you understand Fred?  

NDP "Tax Hioliday" Could Mean Permanent Vacation For Small Business and Workers

You may have heard Langley NDP candidate Kathleen Stephany offer a "Tax Holiday" to small business to help them cope with an NDP-proposed hike to the minimum wage. The NDP is saying that this hike in required because people are raising families on a minimum wage salary.  This is yet another clear indication that the NDP does not know how to be fiscally responsible in a good or poor economy. BC Liberal Mary Polak pointed out that Stats Can tells us that the majority of the people working for a minimum wage are under 25 years old and live at home. Here is more commentary on what this "Tax Holiday" alone will cost BC's small businesses. 

Commentary

The NDP's proposal for a one-time "tax holiday" for small business will do nothing to address the crippling effects of the NDP's additional new taxes and wage policies that could result in hundreds of business closures and layoffs for thousands of workers, says Finance Minister Colin Hansen.

 
"Small businesses employ more than one million people in our province and for the NDP to pretend to be the friends of small business with their latest platform is completely disingenuous," says Hansen. "This one-time, stop-gap payoff will do nothing to remedy the long-term effects of the NDP’s other taxes and their reckless commitment to raise payroll costs for small businesses."
 
The NDP platform commits to a "tax holiday" for small businesses that will lower small business taxes by half a percentage point for a single year, after which the tax will go up again.
 
Meanwhile, the NDP's commitment to raise minimum wage by 25 percent will result in a year-over-year cost of $450 million on small businesses. Their punitive $155-million tax on private liquor retailers will add further costs to those small businesses.
 
In contrast, the BC Liberals have already permanently lowered small business tax rate by 44 percent, and have committed to making them the lowest in Canada by April 1, 2012. This is a commitment the NDP have refused to honour if elected.
 
"The NDP isn't fooling anyone. Their platform and tax plan will be devastating for small businesses, their workers, and their customers. Thousands of jobs are on the line, pure and simple," says Hansen. "Small businesses are already working hard to stay afloat and protect their employees during this global economic crisis.  For the NDP to weigh them down with more taxes and costs is reckless and irresponsible."

Monday Topwnship Council Meeting

A different kind of schedule this week for Township Council. There will be the usual Special Meeting of ToL Council at 3:00pm, but NO evening meetingat 7:00pm.

For whatever reason there is no advance Agenda available on the Township website. There are also no public links to any of the information, memos or reports that will be discussed at this Special Meeting.

Special Meeting of Township Council

3:00pm - 5:30pm (?)
Fraser River Presentation Theatre
4th Floor, Municipal Facility

Agenda & Report: NOT AVAILABLE