Mixed messages

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: April 13, 2011 1:00 AM
Bob Spiers voting against a budget is as predictable as Charlie Sheen doing something stupid.  In fact Spiers, even acknowledged his track record Monday when he opposed the 2011 financial plan, which includes a 0.24 per cent hike in property taxes.  “I’ve never seen a city budget yet that I’ve liked. We could have done better,” he said of his personal goal of something under zero.  But what Spiers did next certainly raised some eyebrows.  At the same time that he was reiterating his concerns about the process, he was openly encouraging the rest of council to approve the document because of the looming deadline to have a budget in  place under provincial legislation.  Not sure of what he had heard, Coun. Shawn Lee got Spiers to reiterate his position.  Lee, who has developed a reputation for being calm and controlled, was less than impressed.  “You can always vote against something when you know the rest of council is going to vote for it,” he told me in direct reference to Spiers.  Mayor Wayne Lippert was caught off guard by Spiers’ approach.  “It was an interesting take on things,” he said.  Ultimately, there was nothing wrong with Spiers opposing the budget, particularly if he believes some of the revenue figures aren’t accurate and more pencil sharpening could be done.  But how does he reconcile those views with the fact that he urged his colleagues to give final adoption to the financial plan?  If he truly was concerned about the financial implications on taxpayers, he would have thrown out a tabling motion, called for the budget to be reopened and the midnight oil burned to meet the legislative deadline of mid-May.  It’s unlikely a seconder would materialize for such a motion and the budget would have still received final blessing. But at least Spiers could claim he had done everything possible for taxpayers.  It would have been abundantly clear who voted to hike taxes — even if it’s 0.24 per cent and will only probably translate into a couple of extra bucks for the average home.  Instead, Spiers’ rallying of the troops behind the budget makes one wonder where he actually stands.