A former Vernon councillor feels the city should be cutting some of its staff, in order to reduce spending.
Barry Beardsell claims positions like the transportation demand coordinator and the real estate manager are not needed, and are a waste of taxpayers money. "Each time you have a position like that with the surrounding costs, it's sort of a 90 to 100-thousand dollar position." Beardsell
(pictured) has no plans to run for council again this fall, but says if he was on elected rep, he would reduce staff, curtail some services, and cut back on infrastructure projects that aren't vital, such as one on 20th Street for boulevard landscaping. In response, Mayor Wayne Lippert says they did review all positions but decided the city gets better service at less cost to have a full time real estate manager, instead of hiring a lawyer to handle leases. Lippert says council also decided it was worthwhile to keep the TDM position to continue programs aimed at reducing vehicle use. The city is looking at a 0.24 percent residential tax hike this year.
Barry Beardsell claims positions like the transportation demand coordinator and the real estate manager are not needed, and are a waste of taxpayers money. "Each time you have a position like that with the surrounding costs, it's sort of a 90 to 100-thousand dollar position." Beardsell (pictured) has no plans to run for council again this fall, but says if he was on elected rep, he would reduce staff, curtail some services, and cut back on infrastructure projects that aren't vital, such as one on 20th Street for boulevard landscaping. In response, Mayor Wayne Lippert says they did review all positions but decided the city gets better service at less cost to have a full time real estate manager, instead of hiring a lawyer to handle leases. Lippert says council also decided it was worthwhile to keep the TDM position to continue programs aimed at reducing vehicle use. The city is looking at a 0.24 percent residential tax hike this year.
2 comments:
"instead of hiring a lawyer to handle leases"-what kind of lame duck excuse is that!
Barry's presentation at Monday's public hearing was excellent. The taxpayers of Vernon are, indeed, fortunate to have a technically compentent person dig deeply into the city's budget process and expose many of the abuses and shortfalls. I hope Council responds accordingly. A good first step would be a rigorous external review.
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