Has council done enough on budget?

On Tuesday, March 29 at 9:30 a. m. in the council chambers at Shire Hall,  the council will present its final budget for the year 2011 to the public.

The council and staff have been working on the budget for several weeks.  Have they done enough?  Have they cut enough expenses?

Many candidates ran on a “zero increase in the budget’.  Have they achieved this?  It does not look like they have.

They cut a small amount from EDO office but did they cut enough?  Some councillors think that the EDO is responsible for the Bakes buildings on Main Street and the wineries settling here.
Is that really the case?  The latest announcement is that there is gong to be a solar factory here.  If we ask the owner of that factory why he came to PEC is he going to say because of the EDO or might he say that the Cleaves encouraged him to come?  Or he might say he just decided to come to PEC.  Is there any evidence that the EDO is responsible for any of the industries that have located here?  Have they ever put out a statement supporting what they have done and how they achieved it?

There were some councillors who have stated that they did not value, don’t like or do not understand the EDO.  Maybe there are other people in the community who feel the same way. One councillor said we get good value for our money.  Can the EDO prove that?

Now maybe it is time to look at other budgets.  Who pays for gasoline for the truck drivers to take County Trucks home at night?  They should be left on Lake street in the county barns or whatever they are called and signed in each morning and out each night with the miles they have travelled and why.  It is necessary to be accountable.

Councillors must remember that it is the taxpayers’ money they are spending and in a lot of cases very foolishly.  We the taxpayers cannot affford to spend money on things we do not need.  Council must be certain that they need what they are spending money on.

Doris Lane
Picton