Municipal

This Time it’s Field User Fees

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In reading Barry Crocker’s statements concerning the imposition of user fees next year I was appalled by his cavalier attitude towards increasing the cost for kids to participate in soccer. Not to mention his total lack of logic or reasoning concerning the new fees.

Mr. Crocker apparently has not met a fee he is not happy to impose, thereby increasing the cost to participate and play soccer. With his attitude that parents have bottomless pockets from which to pay fee increases, he should be on city council.

Fee increases do not occur in a vacuum – they are added on top of what it costs to play soccer already. An additional $10 – $15 is going to deny some kids playing soccer.

“It’s not going to affect us at all. It will probably cost kids $10 to $15 a year more”. Mr. Crocker: if it puts the cost up $10 to $15 it IS going to have an affect. If it had no affect fees would not go up.

According to Mr. Crocker 20 years ago Abbotsford had the best fields anywhere. It follows that in order for Abbotsford to now be “…near the bottom end of the list in terms of what is spent on sports fields” City Council has chosen to invest and spend less and less on fields and maintenance.

Why would one expect this behaviour to change just because Abbotsford will now be imposing user fees? The City has demonstrated by its behaviour over those 20 years that playing fields and park maintenance are a low priority for the City.

There is no evidence that imposing user fees for use of fields will in any way change the City’s neglect of fields and parks. Whether Mill Lake parking fees or user fees for sports fields these “fees” are about City Hall’s inability to manage their finances in a responsible manner and that has City Hall seeking to hide tax increases by calling them user fees.

“If we get three or four all-weather fields I think it will be worth it because the kids will be with us.” I do not recall City Hall making any announcement about building three or four all-weather fields?

If there is an agreement in place that City Hall will be building these all-weather fields and bring playing fields up to par and maintaining the fields as they should, let’s hear all about it. If not …

“The biggest problem will be the administration of it.” There is a simple solution to this. That is to do what Mr. Crocker should be doing: standing up for the soccer players not making excuses for another revenue grab by the City.

Consider, Media

Thoughts on Responsible Reporting

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I was reading the new Science Fiction novel by a favourite author of mine in which media could be sued over misinformation in their reports and any consequences arising from less than complete and balanced information in reporting events.

It was only a minor point in the world and culture built by the author but it set in motion a train of thought when I saw the television news coverage of the death of Alberto Morgadinho.

Flash back to the story of the Canadian Tire store clerk who was fired for not letting the thief get away with stealing items from the store. The tone and tenor of the reports was that the clerk was a hero and should be rewarded not fired. News reporters went so far as to harass the store owner seeking a statement about why the store has a policy that resulting in firing the heroic (media tone/spin) clerk.

When the owner refused to comment, media “proved” the policy existed by interviewing other store clerks who knew that they were to let thieves getaway and call the police.

Not once did I see any reports that examined the whys of such a policy and whether, in light of the whys, this was a reasonable and intelligent policy. Even when they were glossing over the fact that this was not the first time this clerk had confronted a thief.

Flash forward to the tragic events surrounding the death of Alberto Morgadinho who, in attempting to interfere with thieves at his place of business, was run down and killed.

One report had his daughter stating how stupid it was that the thieves had killed Mr. Morgadinho over a few dollars worth of stolen items. A statement which contains a great deal of truth, but a statement that also fails to acknowledge a very important truth.

Yes killing someone over a few dollars of stolen merchandise is stupid.

However, it is also less than intelligent for a man such as Mr. Morgadinho to get himself killed over those few dollars of stolen merchandise. I wonder what Mr. Morgadinho’s reply would have been if you poised the scenario of his death to him, asking if dying under these circumstances and for simple goods that could be replaced was a good decision.

I found myself pondering the question of whether Mr. Mr. Morgadinho had seen the earlier television reports on the actions of the “heroic” Canadian Tire clerk. Wondering if seeing those reports had influenced Mr. Mr. Morgadinho’s actions on the day he died.

It is only stuff and can be replaced. The only rational, intelligent policy is a policy of doing nothing to interfere with thieves taking merchandise, instead protecting the lives of people – lives which cannot be replaced.

Careless, unbalanced and not thought out reporting can kill. Unfortunately, unlike the world created by my favoured author, media is not held accountable in anyway for the consequences of their poor reporting.

Bit of a sticky wicket, eh what?

Issues, Municipal

Numbers of Hungry grow in Abbotsford.

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I allow myself one lotto 6/46 ticket whenever the pot gets over $10 million. An inexpensive chance to dream … and you never know – somebody has to win it. But even though the pot was $15 million I did not by a lottery ticket, instead spending my $2 on purchasing a $2 food bank donation coupon at Safeway.

It just seem a wiser way to spend my ‘mad money’ considering how demand for meals and food have soared over past weeks.

Disturbing is not a strong enough word to describe the flood of new faces, new people, looking for food and a place to sleep at night that has been occurring. When you stop to consider this trend, frightening is a more accurate word to describe the implications.

The new people have swollen the numbers of people in need to the point that those who provide meals have literally run out and had to scramble to find something to serve in order that everyone got fed at least something.

Those serving meals find themselves needing to provide more meals, but facing the reality of less donations and generosity from the public.

The Abbotsford Food Bank, facing the reality of more hungry people and the effect the economy has had on donations, has had to reduce the amount of food it gives to individual clients. Help is needed to fill the shelves as we head into summer when traditionally donations to the food bank go down. Going into this summer the shelves are looking bare at a time demand is quickly climbing. Abbotsford’s Food Bank could use a drive such as that being undertaken in Vancouver to restock the Food Bank’s shelves.

As a community we all should look at how we are spending our money to see if we cannot find a few dollars we could spend being generous to the growing numbers of people in our community in need of generosity simply to eat.