Tuesday, 16 September 2008 20:24 Michael Brydon Act Local Now Blog.
As noted in an earlier blog posting, the City of Penticton has yet to fully disclose the loss of "destination casino" status for the Lake City Casino. Since the City of New Westminster is in a similar predicament, I sent a request via their website for information about their DAC situation. I received the slides from a public presentation on the topic within an hour! No Freedom of Information Act request. No months of waiting.
The differences between the City of New Westminster and the City of Penticton is this matter is striking. What follows is a brief summary:
| City of New Westminster | City of Penticton |
| Explained the province's new policy on destination casinos (standardize casinos across the province; eliminate destination casinos) | Has told Penticton taxpayers nothing about the province's new policy |
| Calculated and disclosed the implications of the new policy for the City of New Westminster (loss of 6.7% of the casino's net revenue) | What loss of revenue? |
| Clearly explained the province's proposal: a one-time increase in DAC in exchange for elimination of destination casino status and funding | Announced only the increase in DAC and patted itself on the back |
| Explained the City's process of prioritizing projects for increased DAC funding | Applied all the DAC to the South Okanagan Events Centre without any public consultation regarding other possible uses (e.g., a new performing arts centre, which would have also been eligible) |
| Explained all this in a public presentation | Has provided information only if compelled to do so by a Freedom of Information Act request; provided incomplete and misleading information |
No comments:
Post a Comment