No Compelling Reason

Anyone who openly or secretly supported the Graniteville ratepayers struggle with City Hall over the parkland had to love the reason the OMB gave for their decision. There was “no compelling reason” for the City to sell for development the land in question. Perhaps it is a good precedent for any future fights to fend of the City in its quest to sell public property.

It might also be the tinkling of a little bell in council’s ear about how they are directing the staff resources in opposing resident’s wishes for parklands. Is there a compelling reason for doing this? Sure, let us build up the Reserves so we can borrow money at better rates. If the sale of municipal bonds was not over-subscribed every year, that alone would be a compelling reason to get the rates lower.

There seems to be some compelling reason to set money aside for more sports fields, but when you hear that the maintenance / condition of the present fields leads to under-use, one wonders if more is better. If we are unable to maintain the ones we have, what will be the cost of more playing fields? Maybe we should be utilizing the school playing fields or extending hours of operation on the fields we have. Is there some compelling reason to create more playing fields when we have infrastructure crumbling under our feet?

There must have been some compelling reason for the District Health Unit to increase its budget expectations, much to the City’s dismay. That reason seems to be the Ontario Government’s direction to change the area and levels of service. If it is a Provincial directive, why is the Province not paying the total cost? Now that the hospital is almost underway, maybe we can safely start asking questions of the Province again.

If the Berettas that the Police Department uses are defective, that sounds like a compelling reason to replace the guns. But if the guns are defective, why are the Police not going after the manufacturer to either fix or replace the guns? Maybe some budget pressure might be a compelling reason for someone to go after Beretta for a partial refund for the defective guns.

As council goes through its Status Quo budget process, perhaps it is time to look at some programs to see if there are compelling reasons to continue with some levels of service. As we listen to the Federal candidates espousing the changes they will make to the Status Quo in Ottawa, we might expect the same re-examination of what the City provides for their tax dollars. However, with municipal elections still months away, perhaps there is no compelling reason to do so.