It is because of rare situations like the tragedy at the Cornwall Centre two weeks ago that we get to catch a glimpse into the potential future of those that are destroyed by our less than ideal Social Services system in Saskatchewan.
I truly do feel for the families of the victims, but I feel even more for those that are tossed around in our system because our fucking government has nothing better to do with their time (and our money) than to pad their own fucking pocket books and those of their developer-friendly cohorts.
I sincerely APPLAUD the amazing folks out there, like our good friends (names withheld for their right to privacy), for doing their part in helping provide a better life for children stuck in this severely broken system.
It is amazing and rare that you get guardian angels like these people, that take the time to care for a child at any cost. They open their hearts, their home and their wallets to an amazingly gifted child who was born to an individual who has their own problems to deal with (not going to name specifics due to privacy). Our great friends spent the first few years of this child's life being the only parents that he knows. In my opinion, they rightfully deserve to be able to adopt him into their lives to be a permanent part of the family that he has known, and loves dearly, since only a few months old. Unfortuntely, solely because our great friends are of "non-aboriginal" descent, the aboriginal community has first rights to this child. No matter how long our great friends actually parent him, care for him, and love him unconditionally, they get the short end of the stick, as does their amazing blessing from God.
Our Social Services system is severely broken.
There are only two ways to fix it. Either DEMAND BETTER from Premier Brad Wall or Elect another party in 2016.
Enough is enough!!
UPDATE: This came across my Facebook feed late this afternoon. Another sad example of our severely broken Social Services program. MANY THANKS TO SPENCE BERGEN for stepping up and helping out where our system failed.
Two weeks ago Tuesday, I sent the following email to every member of the Regina City Council, Senior City Administration, the Ministry of Government Relations, my local MLA, the Premier, CUPE, the Media, and some amazing supporters and past acquaintances of myself and the efforts of those behind the Saskatchewan Taxpayers Advocacy Group. To date, not a single member has replied to this enquiry, even though they have assured the general public that they take every concern very seriously and want to make every effort to ensure that our crumbling infrastructure is taken care of long before the wants and desires of the few elite members of our great communities. (AKA The #yqrmafia)
This is evidence that there is absolutely no desire, on behalf of these politicians anyways, to actually proactively address our alleged $2 Billion infrastructure deficit.
The only thing that these individuals seem to care about is finding ways to exploit the needs of many in order to further their own distorted view of "capitalism" (which is actually Fascism). It is very easy to simply state that we have a massive infrastructure deficit. But it is far more difficult (for them anyways) to put (our) money where (their) respective mouths are and pony up when push comes to shove. As the saying goes, ACTIONS speak far louder than WORDS.
We must all ask ourselves - what do our City Council, City Administration, and Provincial leaders believe are more important to our province and our communities? Pet projects such as "Pat's Patio" ($14-24 MILLION City Square Plaza project developed on the backs of hard working taxpayers, effectively destroying any sense of community that the Regina Downtown may have had, also destroying the traffic flow and parking situation in Downtown Regina), "Mosaic 2.0" ($278M+ completely unnecessary, duplicate stadium project- awarded to PCL Construction, major contributors to Mayor Fougere's mayoral bid, and Premier Wall's Saskatchewan Party), and "P3" projects such as the WWTP upgrades ($230M+ - the "P3" however seems to stand more for Public (dollars) for Private Profit). Or desperately needed expenditures, like true infrastructure upgrades, fixing our crumbling roads, addressing the exhorbitant pension deficits and fiscally-responsible management of our municipal and provincial debt load, to name but a few.
It is clearly evident, Saskatchewan, that our politicians are waiting for the public pressure to be put on them, to demand their focus be on the needs of many, rather than the wants of just a few.
YOU DECIDE SASKATCHEWAN.
WANTS VERSUS NEEDS.
#CourtOfPublicOpinion
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Good afternoon members of City Council and Senior City Administration,
Thank you once again for taking the time to reconsider the projects that are currently proposed under the Local Improvement Program. As a very concerned taxpayer, and a representative of the Saskatchewan Taxpayers Advocacy Group, it brings me great pleasure to provide recommendations
of viable alternatives to address our crumbling infrastructure deficit,
which by your own accounts, is in the area of $2 BILLION. While I
appreciate you each might have your own opinion on HOW we got to the
point we are now or who is responsible for funding it, the fact of the
matter is we are here. And, as such, we need to work together AS A CITY to find ways to address this ever-growing problem.
As I've made very clear in my delegations on this matter, the Local Improvement Act, 1993, is entirely optional
in how it is implemented or applied, as well as what portion you choose
to fund for each project that is deemed necessary under this program.
While I disagree with your interpretation of what projects should be included under the Local Improvement Act, I agree that we have roads, sidewalks and other core infrastructure that are in desperate need of attention. Some of these needed repairs, by your own internal documents, are three to four decades past their useful life. To me, this is completely unacceptable, and to simply defer this to Administration to "come back with a report" is irresponsible and reprehensible. You owe it to the citizens of Regina to address the crumbling roads now. Not tomorrow, not next month, next year or 10 years from now. We will have to agree to disagree on what caused us to get into this situation, but the fact of the matter is you must ACT NOW.
To avoid a City-wide Tax Revolt, like the Business Tax Revolt of 1988, which is what you are sure to have on your hands soon enough, I would highly recommend going ahead with ALL PROJECTS that were recommended to you in the 2014 Local Improvement Program
list, and also any others that were scheduled to be completed within
the past 20 years that were postponed/stopped due to successful petition
drives by residents. As I have stated, and your administration should be well aware of, the primary funding for these projects is intended to be through debt financing, as per the Act. Thus, there should be zero impact to the Operating Budget for 2014 or prior years.
We all recognize it "costs money" to fix these situations, but so
does building a $278M stadium, a $25M City Square Plaza, a
questionably-needed, privately-run $250M WWTP facility, or any other
capital project that you have on your wish list. It is high time you
demonstrate to taxpayers that you understand the difference between NEEDS and WANTS. We all WANT to have a flashy BMW or a fancy house, but we don't NEED them. We all NEED to have roof over our heads, especially in the dead of winter in Saskatchewan. We all WANT to have a car for our primary mode of transportation. But we NEED to have some form of primary transportation, such as a meaningful and useful Transit system.
I implore you, as a representative of many taxpayers who are too afraid to even speak to you,
let alone come public with acknowledging they support me, in fear of
being publicly reprimanded by the likes of some on Council and those
that operate the ridiculous Twitter parody accounts. Do what you know is RIGHT. Don't do it because you're afraid of not being re-elected in 2016, do it because you know this is what taxpayers want. For you to plead ignorance to the wants and desires of Taxpayers is not acceptable any longer. If you spent the time doing your public research, like I have, and speaking directly to those impacted by these situations, and not just those who you choose to speak to, then perhaps you would be fully aware that the majority of taxpayers DO NOT want to pay extra money for these desperately needed road and sidewalk repairs. They DO WANT the work to still get done, however.
I know you might run the risk of getting sued by those that have had to
pay for the 65 projects since 2000, but so be it. If that is your fear,
might I suggest finding a way to refund those taxpayers proactively, preventing the need for good-hearted citizens to take the time and money to pursue you legally.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and I
trust that at least one of you will take the time to respond to genuine
Taxpayer concerns - regardless of your personal viewpoints on myself as a person.
Best Regards,
Chad A. Novak, CMA Saskatchewan Taxpayers Advocacy Group www.chad4regina.com
NOT-SO-BOLD PREDICTION: When the City of Regina comes back in a year ("well before the 2015 budget period") and recommends changes to how they can "fix" the way they apply the Local Improvement Program, my money is on that they will recommend completely scrapping the necessary repair of sidewalks, so that local roads can be fixed without the added costs to taxpayers. This recommendation is obvious, when you listen to the horribly scripted words that our Mayor and Council spoke last night at the Off-Broadway musical held inside Henry Baker Hall, called Regina City Council Meeting. Some of the ideas talked about last night are pretty scary. They spoke of "grading" the streets as a temporary measure, simply "capping" concrete sidewalks which are in desperate need of repair with asphalt, and finding a better solution to the ridculously inflated - loan sharkesque - interest rates that the City imposes on Taxpayers if they choose to finance said construction.
This is completely unacceptable, and utterly ridiculous that our Senior City Administration thinks that there truly are no other viable alternatives to fixing our horribly outdated, crumbling streets and sidewalks, which they continue to bitch about day-in, day-out to other levels of government. It's no one else's fault but their own (The City's) that the state of our streets and sidewalks has fallen into such disrepair as they have, to the tune of $2 BILLION, according to City claims. The Feds aren't the ones who chose to budget horribly for decades, fail to plan for a proper road renewal program, or opt to build a disgustingly over-budget City Square Plaza, or a completely unnecessary copycat stadium (Mosaic 2.0).
MAYOR FOUGERE: "[The review] is going to generate some ideas on some program changes ... or whether we even have a Local Improvement Program at all,"
HEY MAYOR:
Here are a few recommendations that took far less than a year to do, cost ZERO taxpayer dollars and can be implemented ASAP. What do you say?
Congratulations to NewsTalk 980 CJME for being the first "mainstream" media outlet to cover this story, which we broke right here at chad4regina.com!
Congratulations to the Regina Leader-Post for being the second "mainstream" media outlet to cover this story. Will they use the same excuse that Rawlco used, though, as to why they hadn't covered it previously?
Good morning Regina!!!!
After a week of unbelievable revelations of (alleged) gross misconduct on the part of several "elite" individuals within our great City, an anonymous tip came in today that stands to put all of that to shame.
In an EXCLUSIVE to the Saskatchewan Taxpayers Advocacy Group, we have become aware of a Court Action between DUNDEE REALTY CORPORATION and the CITY OF REGINA.
The apparent reason for the Court Action stems back to the original Servicing Agreements regarding the construction of Harbour Landing. Upon review of the Court Documents, the issues go back to 2009 and the file has been before the courts since July 27, 2012. It should be noted that Dundee Realty Corporation is the largest land developer in all of Regina, and most certainly is a well known presence in the Canadian Development landscape. It should also be noted that Dundee and the City of Regina have had a pretty close relationship regarding land development in Regina. Well - at least they used to. This Court challenge could certainly cause some serious shifts of power within the development industry in Regina.
It is no secret to anyone in the development industry that there is bad blood between many local companies and that of Dundee - the "big boys" - coming in and taking over the Regina development landscape. In my role at Crawford Homes, I was witness to just how big a player Dundee is in Regina, and I assure you, this is no frivolous lawsuit that Dundee has launched - which is what the City's lawyer, Ms. Christine Clifford, alleges in part of her defense against Dundee. This seems to be a popular stance for her, as this was her stance in both recent Court of Queens Bench actions that were filed against the City by myself over two pretty major issues: - The 2012 Municipal Election (alleged) rigging, and the Regina Revitalization Initiative project being subject to an independent review pending the outcome of the current CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION regarding the project.
STAY TUNED REGINA.
This story is only just beginning.
We, at the Saskatchewan Taxpayers Advocacy Group, want to thank you for your continued support, and we welcome any inquiries from the Media to expand on this breaking story.
It has become glaringly obvious that the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District has forgotten what they even exist for. Judith Veresuk, Executive Director, and Leasa Gibbons, Marketing Director, seem to think it's their own personal playground and they can play monopoly with people's hard earned money. What they don't seem to understand is that, the BID is supposed to be finding ways to - I know this might be tough to believe - IMPROVE THE DISTRICT!!!
Did you know?
The City of Regina has also changed the time limits in the immediate vicinity of the downtown from two hours to one hour?
Also, they have added more "No Stopping" zones in METERED spots along sections of the downtown.
And, believe it or not - and this is directly from a "Parking Supervisor" (senior ticketer) - there are many in the downtown core who are provided permits from the City to park free all day, who abuse these priveledges a LOT. This is known by the front line staff, but the executives (whose friends are the ones abusing the system of permits) don't care - obviously.
It's high time that the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District either remember why they exist in the first place (to represent ALL Regina downtown businesses - not just a certain family), or they be decommissioned. It is utterly ridiculous that the City was allowed to blow $10-20 MILLION of our tax dollars on the downtown traffic nightmare that is called the Plaza, which has contributed heavily to our downtown parking nightmare, not to mention cost a long time business, the Novia Cafe, their livelihood.
Today, the Regina City Council (Executive Committee) once again voted to break a provincial law and delegate their authority to Mr. Brent Sjoberg, CMA. The mayor doesn't seem to think breaking the law is a big deal, but I know I certainly do!
And then, they considered a report from consultants IBI Group, based out of Ontario, which suggested some pretty common sense ways to fix the downtown, which the former City Council royally screwed up. One recommendation is an off-street parking facility, which is something I recommended way back in February 2012 before I officially launched my Mayoral Campaign. And, it didn't cost me a dime to suggest that. (The consultant's report cost you taxpayers $300,000)
Will you please join me in demanding accountability from this Fascist leader?
Here is the video I promised you. Monday, I kicked off the March Against Corruption week right here in Regina. There is so much that is happening this week, it is hard to keep up. From the Regina Police Service being outed for breaching privacy for their friends at the Regina Dolphin Club (vis a vis the City of Regina), to City Hall voting on giving more of your tax dollars away to organizations that just don't need it, to City Hall voting on authorizing ANOTHER $100M debt for the Stadium project.
I'll try to keep updating the site with as much as I can, but it's tough with so much going on!
Seven years ago this month, I, along with many other concerned parents, fought desperately to save a school in Moose Jaw, that was in a very similar situation to that of Connaught School. Unfortunately for the Prairie South School Division, they didn't have the benefit of the - highly questionable and very subjective - "structurally unsound" excuse to use. Instead, they opted for the all-too-often-used-in-2007 excuse of "declining enrolment" that many communities were facing in Saskatchewan at the time. Oddly enough though, that school was actually bursting at the seams in enrolment, so of course, that excuse was about as valid as the questionable "structural" problems that the Regina Public School Board is claiming for Connaught School. To see this exact same situation play out before my very eyes once again - it hurts me so much, not only as a taxpayer, but as someone that was directly impacted by the disgusting actions of a select few that only have dollar $igns in their eyes. In Moose Jaw, Ecole Ross School has now been converted to condominums. In Regina, it seems that our construction-friendly Mayor and School Board (vis a vis Provincial Government) are all-too-happy to destroy rich heritage for new and flashy, just to satisfy their construction buddies.
To the parents and community supporters in the Connaught School area, I have this to say:
KEEP FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT!!!
Accept nothing less than a moratorium on any school closures until a truly independent review is done.
These situations are far too easily manipulated by those with corporate dollars wanting their way. For the School Board to claim structural issues, for example, these issues wouldn't just develop overnight. This happens due to years upon years of wilful neglect, and furthermore, when the School Board refuses to allow an independent second opinion to be provided, something stinks to high heaven.
On that note, another interesting development regarding the recent PCL Stadium Announcement:
Did you know? - PCL Construction was actually the company that provided a "very detailed" breakdown of construction costs for the Stadium Project that the Provincial Government, under the leadership of Ken Cheveldayoff and Premier Brad Wall, proposed to happen back in 2010.
In February 2010, the construction costs were pegged at $336.4 MILLIONjust for the construction of the stadium alone. Granted, this included a roof, but considering the exhorbitant inflation that Regina and area has seen in the last four years, and that figure assumably uses 2008-2010 construction rates (after all, these reports aren't just thrown together in a month), it certainly makes one wonder -
How realistic are the costs in this "new" proposal that PCL submitted to the City of Regina?
More specifically, how on Earth did PCL Construction magically shave off at least$86 MILLION (considering the current project is $250M for construction alone, and the $336.4M should be grossed up significantly to account for construction cost inflation of 4-6 years, one could reasonably assume they've easily shaved off $100-150 MILLION from the 2010 figures) and exactly what features are the taxpayers losing out on with this new TOP SECRET proposal?
One must also ask - Why is the City of Regina entrusting any project to PCL Construction, considering the horrible experience they had with the massively over budget and timeframe City Square Plaza project? (AKA "Pat's Patio" or "Hill's Haven").
The Regina rumour mill is abuzz that former Mayoral Candidate David Robert Loblaw has joined forces with former Mayor Pasquale Fiacco in a new proposed Retail/Condo development, that will have an open house TONIGHT.
Details are sketchy, but it appears that Loblaw and Fiacco have partnered up in a new condo/retail development. If this is true, this is huge news - the question is will the mainstream media pick up on this potential story or just ignore it?
For those that may not recall, David Robert Loblaw mysteriously dropped out of the mayoral race in 2012. His public excuse was "to focus on business". But his real reason? To focus on making new business relationship with one of the most corrupt in Regina? The rumour has it that this development is being proposed by one of Fiacco's business partners. It's all slowly making sense! Oh, and for the record, Loblaw's chocolate company has also been given "preferential" treatment at City and Chamber sponsored events. This is a little known FACT.
You can read all about the development below, thanks to Mr. Loblaw's incessant tweeting - shameless self-promotion - about the open house. Don't just buy into the excuse that he's simply a disinterested onlooker. The true story will all come out in due course.
@ChocolatesbyBC: LeaderPost story on tonight's Open House for new condo/retail development on 13th Ave in Cathedral: http://t.co/g2CeG1TD1l #YQR #YQRcc
What are you doing on Monday, March 31, 2014? We here, at the Saskatchewan Taxpayers Advocacy Group, are looking to join in on the global movement to March Against Corruption - Exact time and itinerary to be announced by March 28. We would be honoured if you would join us in this march. We are doing this in an effort to get money out of politics, which we see far too often throughout Canada, North America and the World. Our focus, however, is going to be right here in our own backyard, at the City of Regina. As many have recognized over the past several years, and is no secret to those "in the know", our currently elected municipal officials have let their opinions be swayed far too often by the private interests of the construction and development industry, and this must stop!
This issue became glaringly obvious as a serious concern when the City announced, not surprisingly, that their "preferred" partner for the Stadium Project was PCL Construction. The same company that was apparently behind the horribly-over-budget, and horribly-overdue City Square Plaza project. The same project that actually had a report created to advise City Hall of their numerous mistakes, and how best to learn from this project and avoid these same mistakes in the future. It is quite apparent that the City has not learned from this report, and is setting taxpayers on a course for destruction by allowing this very same company/conglomerate to tackle a $278M project, even though they failed miserably at managing a measly $6M project.
It is high time to get money out of politics, and we are very pleased to have developed a truly viable alternative, which is based on some existing and proposed legislation from around the world. We will talk about this, and much more, at the March, and look forward to bringing attention to this very serious matter that affects each and every one of you in Regina and beyond.
We are proudly standing up for our tax dollars and demand that the City of Regina become truly accountable and transparent about how they are spending our hard earned dollars.
As well, we will be calling upon the Province of Saskatchewan to enact legislation that prevents the manipulation of elected municipal officials for any private interest. It's time to get the money OUT of politics, one small step at a time. Will you march with us?
UPDATE: The "official" word given to Global Regina (after we broke the news to them) is that Mr. Hulshoff is "retiring", and that the Mayor had known about this for weeks. However, evidence would suggest otherwise - and it should be noted that this was the same excuse provided for Ms. Swidnicki leaving the City of Regina until pressed further by the media. I am very confident that this story will continue to develop over the coming days and weeks.
Well, another day and another resignation. This one is probably the biggest of them all to date. Herman Hulshoff, the Mayor's Chief of Staffs, who replaced Mark Rathwell as the Mayor's Executive Assistant when Fiacco stepped down, is no longer with the Mayor's office.
It is unclear as to whether this was a resignation or a termination, but regardless, this is big. Why did this only happen immediately after public notice of the CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION into the corruption at City Hall? One can only speculate.
Also, important to note, the City of Regina is apparently looking to amend the Regina Revitalization Initiative Borrowing Bylaw from January 27, 2014.
This is the very same bylaw which Mr. Brent Sjoberg misrepresented the truth about on January 27, 2014, in order to apparently influence the votes that evening. Our group placed a call into Service Regina, and after about 30 minutes on hold, they confirmed they know nothing about this. A call was also made to Brent Sjoberg's office, which was forwarded through to the City Manager's office, Mr. Glen Davies, and his assistant, Cathy, confirmed that she knows nothing about this.
STAY TUNED REGINA:
It's only going to get better!! You are now back in control of your tax dollars.
The winning bidder for the Stadium Build is none other than one of the MAJOR FUNDERS of the Mayoral Campaign of Mr. Michael Fougere during the 2012 Municipal Election. Is there any reason to believe this was going to be any different?? Was the RFP process truly fair and transparent, or was it as flawed as the one for the Recycling program?
As the founder of the Saskatchewan Taxpayers Advocacy Group, I am VERY PROUD to share with you the video of my delegation to the Regina Executive Committee yesterday regarding the Regina Revitalization Initiative. You will note that NOT ONE MEDIA OUTLET has dared to broadcast a single second of my speech yet. Why? What was so wrong with what I said? Scared to bite the hand that feeds them? Who knows, who cares.
The FACTS are the FACTS.
PCL Construction contributed quite heavily to the Mayoral Campaign of Mr. Michael Fougere, and others. They were also very active in the "Vote for Continued Growth" campaign that supported only one very obvious contender. This was "outside" of the budget that Mr. Fougere has to publicly disclose, and who knows how much was spent by PCL?
EMAIL SENT TO THE MAYOR AND EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM (AND THE MEDIA) THIS MORNING:
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Good morning Mr. Mayor and members of the Executive Leadership Team:
Considering the respectful requests for information earlier this week were deliberately ignored by your staff, I am hoping you could provide a response this AM regarding how transparent you feel this process has been to date. Considering that there were direct questions regarding a very simple aspect of this project - that should most certainly not be treated as "confidential information" - I am curious to know why your Team decided it was best to wait until the last minute, as has been your past practice - contrary to your public statements of being the most open and transparent level of goveernment.
As I am sure you can appreciate, there are many questions that remain unanswered regarding this project, along with a CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION (RPS File #RM14010518) into the actions of Mr. Brent Sjoberg on January 27, 2014 and the attached COURT ACTION that you were served notice of on March 12, 2014.
Could you please advise why you felt it best to keep this information secret from the public until the last minute? For such a historically massive project, which is going to raise our City debt level to record amounts, one would reasonably expect their elected officials to be open and up front about the entire process.
We look forward to your prompt reply regarding this matter. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Best Regards,
Chad A. Novak, CMA
Saskatchewan Taxpayers Advocacy Group
www.chad4regina.com
ALTHOUGH IT WOULD APPEAR THEY ARE "TRANSPARENT" TO THE DEVELOPMENT INDUSTRY AND THEIR "BUDDIES" - How nice!
Well, it turns out the rumour mill is as good as it gets here in Regina. What began as one simple Tweet from a Fiacco-afficiando (#yqrmafia elite member), turned into reality just now when the Leader Post published that there will be an announcement tomorrow regarding the successful bidder on the Regina Revitalization Initiative (RRI). Even though we had requests in on Tuesday to confirm this rumour, no one returned our calls or emails to provide any further information. UPDATE: This will be announced at a "Special" Executive Committee Meeting Friday at 11:45AM at City Hall Henry Baker Hall.
Seeing as how it has an Agenda Item # assigned to it, you should be able to speak on the matter, if you so choose.
It seems as though this "most transparent" level of government isn't as transparent as they claim - or at least not to the individual taxpayers.
But wait? What's this? The RRI project is currently under review for a CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION? And there's a COURT ACTION looking to cease all activity on it and any other Major Capital Project over $50M subject to the completion of the CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION and a FORENSIC AUDIT? Say it ain't so!
Oh, it be so, baby.
And, as I've told the City of Regina this week on a number of occasions, we here at the Saskatchewan Taxpayers Advocacy Group are always five steps ahead of the "learned" executive team at the hallowed City Hall.
What began as a major blow to taxpayers has developed into a complete and utter gong show at City Hall. With the recent letters being sent out to residents around Regina informing them that they must pay upwards of $10,000 simply to fix their streets and sidewalks, compounded on top of the 2014 Budget being passed with an increase of 5.88% to your Property Taxes, and another 8% on your Water Bill, it has become apparent that the City of Regina means business when it comes to finding ways to pay for the needed infrastructure upgrades that have been years - if not decades - in the making.
Citizens in the Whitmore Park area already successfully petitioned the City in 2010 to avoid this ridiculous payment arrangement, and are now being told that the costs are 76% higher than the 2010 figures because of estimates the City received from homebuilders "like Dundee Developments". I'm not sure why they are getting figures from Dundee, as they are most certainly NOT in the business of developing sidewalks. I've spoken with residents in the area, and they have spoken with private companies that do this work as part of their daily business, and they have confirmed that the price tag should be around $250/metre, to MAXIMUM $300/metre, whereas the City is telling residents the cost is $413.58/metre. Someone is obviously padding the numbers to make a nice little profit off of the backs of average taxpayers. To be perfectly clear, the residents of the area most certainly do want the work to be done; they just do not agree with the fact that they should be having to pay extra for this work, which I completely agree with, and any responsible Civic Government would have budgeted for. It should be noted that according to City documents, the last major reconstruction was in the 1960's. If I were mayor, there is no way that any of this work would be charged back to those taxpayers, as there should be an anticipated infrastructure renewal program in placeat least every 35-40 years.
The Mayor is, of course, standing his ground, and being as arrogant as expected, by stating that this is simply "standard procedure" and now apparently is trying to lay blame on the Provincial Government (based on the John Gormley conversation of Tuesday), because it's a provincial Act. (I'll explain more on this in a future Blog Post - because it's so out to lunch it deserves it's own post - for now, just be assured this funding arrangement is indeed an optional program that Saskatoon has opted out of - as the City has ultimate authority on how these kind of projects are funded)
So, considering the City is seemingly so hard-up for revenue to help pay for necessary infrastructure upgrades, why is it that the same City Administration and City Council that deemed it so essential to gouge individual taxpayers are okay with subsidizing profitable businesses (like the Roughriders and Airport Authority) - simply because "that's the way it's been done for years"? Yesterday, at the Finance and Administration Committee, I delegated my concerns about this double standard. Of course, most of my concerns went unanswered, and of course, no questions were asked of me, because they are just too afraid to answer the hard questions that are being asked of them. Thankfully, more and more taxpayers are stepping up their efforts to demand answers, and it's showing in the continued censorship by the City of Regina. From banning people on their Social Media channels to Councillors completely ignoring their citizens calls and pointing them to City Hall to answer questions that should be the Councillor's concerns, to City Administration and the Mayor not returning phone calls and avoiding meetings with the public, it is obvious that the City is running scared. Should they be? Hell no. Taking a page from the book of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (all personal issues aside, he is most certainly attainable and reachable as a Mayor - our Mayor could learn a lot from him), the Mayor and Administration should be readily accessible and ready to answer even the most pointed of questions thrown at them.
I brought the concerns of Property Tax Exemptions up to City Council back in December 2013, and a few other times before this. The response is complete and utter ignorance. Rather than answer the tough questions, City Council ignores and approves blindly. Again, I will bring these concerns to City Council on March 24, 2014. Will they listen? Chances are they will not - without a public outcry. Thankfully, the City is pissing many people off, so much so that they are gaining me more and more support to put more public pressure on the City and the Province to demand Accountability and Transparency from their elected officials. If they thought the Budget Meeting was a tough one, they're going to be in for a rude awakening at the next few meetings!
Finally today, please - if you haven't already - sign the online petition to demand a Public Inquiry and Audit into the Municipal Affairs in municipalities throughout Saskatchewan. This, too, I've pushed out to the media, but of course, since I'm an "attention-seeking-media-whore", they won't publish it. Ahh well, I guess I'll pay other organizations to advertise in the next few weeks. Their loss, the taxpayers gain.
UPDATE: The following was posted on the City of Regina Facebook page on Wednesday, and it is the best letter I have seen yet! Will the Mayor respond to this taxpayer? I'm betting he will give her the typical runaround or just ignore her serious concerns.
To City of Regina | Municipal Government: the citizens of your city have questions and are demanding answers. Recent fiscal decisions on behalf of the municipal government are appalling and unacceptable. I grew up in Regina and completed my first degree at the University of Regina. While I used to plan on moving back to Saskatchewan and making a home for myself there as an adult, the direction that the city has gone in (as guided by the municipal government) has greatly diminished the desirability (and feasibility) of doing so.
Fed up with the lack of respect this current administration shows to the People of Regina and in particular “those who are paying their taxes," my mother, a resident of Regina for the past 30+ years, wrote the following letter to the Mayor.
"Everyday my husband and I turn on the early morning news and are never disappointed to hear that something else is happening in the City of Regina that makes us want to pack up our house and move out West (and believe me, that is what we intend to do!).
What could be troubling us so much, you may ask? Well let’s list a few “highlights” from 2013 to present:
1. City approves going ahead with a new football stadium. What is this going to cost the taxpayers? Well let’s see: Regina city council is going ahead with a $100-million loan to help build a new football stadium for the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders. Councilors have given formal approval to borrowing the money and repaying it over the next 31 and a half years with an interest rate of 3.99 per cent. The rate will remain in effect over the life of the loan, with the city making semi-annual payments of just over $2.8 million.
Don’t get me started on why the citizens of Regina should NOT need to bear the burden of this astronomical loan when only a fraction of the Residents of Regina actually have any use for the stadium. The majority of the costs for this ridiculous project should NOT be on the burden of the Regina citizens. But this has been argued over and over and you have blinders on when it comes to this pet project of yours and Pat Fiaco’s so we won’t even waste any more time on this, other than to say that for the record the people of Regina were NOT behind this.
2. The City of Regina wants to boost property taxes by 7 % this year — the biggest hike in more than 30 years. Of course we all know that after some debate ( and likely a LOT of noise from the public), it has been decided to only increase taxes by 5.9% - how wonderful! So now we not only are paying the highest property taxes than any city in North America, we are having a steep increase (the highest in 30 years!) – all this within one year of you becoming Mayor. Congratulations!
3. Residents have to pay out of their own pockets to have sidewalks repaired- to the tune of $8,000 - $12,000 each! Really?? Since when does road and sidewalk repair not fall under a resident’s property taxes? In what universe do residents get invoiced for sidewalk repairs? I know – only one - in the City of Regina! How you can stand in front of the people of Regina with a straight face and actually stand behind such an outright abuse of the public’s interests is mind-boggling. What’s that you say? “We can petition it”? Really? When has that ever made a difference? The public speaking out against something (reminds me of the heated debates over the stadium - or see #4 below to see how effective the “public’s petitions” are).
4. The residents of Gardiner Park petition against a re-zoning of property on University Park Drive. They “petition” and attend public forums and 98% speak out against a 220-unit rental complex being permitted to be built on this site. City Council and the Mayor approve the re-zoning. Apparently it doesn’t matter that 98% of the residents in the area spoke out against this project. They attended every public forum and planning commission meeting to oppose this. But there’s another example of how the Mayor and City Council listen to the tax-paying residents of the City of Regina. They don’t!
5. The City of Regina is preparing to approve $2.55 million worth of property tax exemptions. Oh and the best part, one of the many organizations requesting exemption is none other than the Saskatchewan Roughriders! Really?? The one organization that makes the most money of any in the entire Province is getting an exemption from paying their share of property taxes? So let’s all build a stadium none of us can afford and then let’s let the Riders not have to pay their fair share of the property taxes in order to keep this city running! Sounds ludicrous to anyone who has an ounce of common sense. And the Regina Airport Authority? Really? Again, another major corporation who should not need to be exempt from paying their fair share of property taxes. And the RCMP ? Really? Why are they exempt from paying taxes? Move them to Saskatoon and let that city bear the burden of keeping them in town free of charge!
With more and more homes being built and new developments being created which bring in more revenues via astronomical property taxes, why on earth would the rest of the residents of this city have to have their taxes increased by 7%? Where on earth is our money going? Maybe you should stop approving exemptions to major organizations who can well afford to pay their fair share of taxes and stop wasting taxpayers’ dollars on astronomical loans for stadiums we don’t want or need. Start using your common sense and God-given brains. You were elected as Mayor – start working for the citizens and not the major corporations and building developers. They apparently aren’t paying the taxes (because they’re exempt!) – WE ARE!
Most sincerely,
Lori F, Tax-paying resident of the City of Regina (for the time being)
The
City of Regina Executive Leadership Team have taken extreme measures to block anyone and everyone who simply has contradictory viewpoints to the
Municipal Affairs at City Hall.
The most recent development has gone far
beyond the realm of realities and is starting to border on things only heard of in fictional movies.
Why not give Mr. Taron Cochrane a call to voice your displeasure with his censorship? DIRECT: (306) 777-7926
Recently, the City has been going through some major internal shake-ups, with the resignation of City Clerks, Executives, and Senior Managers, to the questionable appointments/hiring practices of several individuals who have performed quesionably at best. I personally have been banned from attending City Hall since the summer of 2013, even though I have never actually received any formal notification from the City of Regina in this regards. I only became aware of this after catching a glimpse of a "Post Order" that had my name on it.
It was after that date that I had filed complaints through the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission and Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA). Unfortunately, Jimmy Nicol chose to respond with a letter to the CCLA that was full of fabrications and the CCLA could help no further at that time, unless further developments were presented. After a successful Access to Information Request proved that Jimmy Nicol was indeed fabricating
statements made on that letter, I have been biding my time to determine
when it was appropriate to file a further complaint on the City's
actions.
Recently, it has come to my attention that the City's newest "yes man", Mr. Taron Cochrane - who was hired/appointed to replace the outgoing Phillippe LeClerc as Interactive Communications Manager - has been censoring posts and blocking people from the City of Regina Facebook page. I found this very ironic, given Mr. Cochrane's stance on my practice of blocking "trolls" during the Election Campaign, where he disagreed strongly that I should have made more of an effort to communicate with these individuals rather than blocking them. It is also important to note that Mr. Cochrane was hired at Regina Regional Opportunities Commission with Melissa Fiacco and Meka Okochi during the election, and had moved on shortly after the election.
As such, I feel I am well within my rights to finally publish some contact information that the City of Regina has worked very hard to keep hidden. This is not confidential information by any means, it is just information that the Executive Leadership Team would rather keep you in the dark about. Anyone who goes through the Service Regina call centre (the way the Executive screen calls) and is successful in speaking with said individuals would have access to their contact information, and anyone who meets with these individuals in person would have access as well.
Here are some direct contact numbers for your information. These are key individuals who are paid by your tax dollars, and feel they shouldn't be contacted directly by you and I, the taxpayers. They continue to have me banned from City Hall, needlessly, while they will not return my phone calls (for absolutely no justifiable reason) and have banned me from communicating with them on their Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Enough is enough.
MAYOR: Michael Fougere (306) 777-7339 Assistant: Pat (P/T-Rhonda/Amber) CITY MANAGER: Glen Davies (306) 777-7314 Assistant: Cathy
(Former) Chief Financial Officer & (Current) Chief Operating Officer & Deputy City Manager: Brent Sjoberg (306) 777-7317 Assistant: Natasha Chief Legislative Officer & City Clerk: Jim Nicol (306) 777- 7609 Cell: (306) 529-4922 Executive Director, Community Planning and Development: Jason Carlston (306) 777-7545 Interactive Communications Manager: Taron Cochrane (306) 777-7926 Manager, Regina Revitalization Initiative, Corporate Services Division: Rod Schmidt (306) 777-7879 Cell: (306) 537-0185 Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator, Office of the City Clerk: Darlene Loucks (306) 777-7070 Coordinator - Business Projects, Office of the City Clerk: Shelley Powell (306) 777-6716 Cell (306) 527-1163 Branding Manager, Communications Branch: Nathan Morrison (306) 777-6971 Cell (306) 550-5408
