Abbotsford Councillor Dave Loewen has started a campaign to have taxpayers from other jurisdictions pay for the lack of infrastructure in Abbotsford.
In a Tweet sent out at 2:54 pm Wednesday, Loewen says, “Urge your #MP to promote and support #federal investment in #infrastructure in the next #budget. #Abbotsford #Vancouver http://t.co/elib3J3P”
So … the fact that the City of Abbotsford has been unable to update its infrastructure (water pipes that are too small, sewage treatment plant in need of upgrades, roads etc.) because it has no money to do so and its DCC fund is in arrears to the tune of some $13,133,000 our friends and neighbours from outside of Abbotsford – you know – the Canadian taxpayers – should be the ones who pay for our infrastructure deficit?
Careful Dave. Some of our Abbotsford taxpayers consider themselves Canadian taxpayers too. They might feel you’re asking them to pay twice for your mistakes.
Oh and by the way … speaking of aging infrastructure … you should read about our aging police force that is apparently causing our taxes to be so high in Abbotsford.
For the non-Twitter generation, if you take all the hashtags out it reads – Urge your MP to promote and support federal investment in infrastructure in the next budget. Abbotsford Vancouver.”
(P.S Dave – Twitter etiquette is to use no more than three hashtags ‘cause otherwise nobody can figure out what you’re trying to say. And the hashtags you’re choosing are pretty esoteric … #MP, #federal, #budget … really??)
No wonder council hasn’t bothered updating our water, sewer or roads we pay so much for policing in Abbotsford it artificially inflates our taxes when compared to other cities in the Fraser Valley.
Dave Tweets here.
The link included in his Tweet goes here.
Editor’s Note:The ‘Derp’ internet meme above was created by an Abbotsford Today visitor.
Dave Loewen, along with most of the current Council chose to squander Abbotsford’s tax dollars on glitzy, showy mega projects, rather than use the money entrusted to their care for the boring, bread and butter needs of our City, water, sewer, ageing infrastructure, facilities for our local needs.
Council talked about needing more recreational facilities as far back as 2005. If that was a legitimate need back then, what can explain the enormous campaign launched by Council and staff to get a ‘YES’ vote for the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre?
How did the needs of our local boys and girls, teens, middle-aged and seniors get so badly derailed, in favour of millions and millions poured into the white elephant on King Road – for BIG NAME STUFF ONLY.
Ah, but now we’ve moved into the big leagues. We can play with celebrities now. The AESC was never built with the needs of our own people in mind – at the very time that Mark Taylor was lamenting the shortage of facilities for our town, he and the movers at City Hall used every resource at their power to jam
through the ill-conceived Plan A.
But they did not know how to operate the monolith, so any profit that might, eventually, have come our way, now heads south in Global Spectrum pockets. Worse followed when Council bribed a hockey team to play in the AESC, with an annual $5.7 million guaranteed subsidy. That sneaky deal was kept from our eyes for 9 months.
Dave Loewen, you bear a huge responsibility for the very bad state of our finances. We see no contrition from you. Only the same inability to comprehend what it means to care for and watch over the City that you want to govern.
Your proposed multi-million cash gift to the Y shows a man and his colleagues bereft of common sense.
The municipalities do require infrastructure funds
from the Federal and Provincial government, when
it comes to water and sanitary sewer infrastructure
given the enormous costs of new water/sewer capital
projects.
Abbotsford, however, was informed in September, 2006,
just before the plan A vote about the need to increase
DCC’S, in order to pay for new water infrastructure,
but, they did not increase DCC’S, until, begin of 2008
and then, by 2010, the rates were back to less than 2007
levels.
The city had unprecedented building permit values,
until end of 2008 and one of the highest DCC rates,
yet, paid, the least into water.
The question remains:
How much in infrastrucutre funds should the federal and provincial government hand over to a municipality, which has been financially irresponsible with the taxpayer’s money, not collecting adequate infrastructure funds to pay for priority needs of water,sewer,roads
for, it’s growing community?
As I recall, Mr Loewen, previously stated, it is important for
the City of Abbotsford to find new sources of revenue, rather
than depend on the federal and provincial government for funds.
So, what changed his view on this issue?
Deceit, perhaps the change in his view is that if he can secure funding from the Prov/Fed’s, he gets some brownie points and gets to keep his job.