Jednesday, May 6,1992 & OurWiEWS Adrian RAESIDE Budget boldness sk Castlegar city council to A=: a mountain and it won't. Ask it to put out a budget, though, and council will respond one tough financial rock at a time. The 1992 city budget must be con- gratulated. In the face of uncertain economies and fluctuating inflation rates, Castlegar has presented its cit- izens with an honest budget. Unlike our provincial government, Castlegar made a promise and stuck to it, reducing its residential tax rates by two per cent. While two per cent may not be much, it’s certainly better than the staggering increases most British Columbians are facing. The 1992 residential rate shows Castlegar’s commitment to its citi- zens. It is turning its cheek to the almighty dollar in favor of fair taxa- tion levels. Sure, it would be easy to point to Celgar and Pope and Talbot and dis- miss this tax break, saying the city is padding its coffers with its major industry but that isn’t the case. Two examples prove that. First, the SW Mss MAA WS WS yA 1992 budg I hate budgets. D PERN ~»BAEAKAWAY, WO SSS RE9y has me baffled fractions were all about, I Heck; to me, budgets rank right up there Wth the Edmonton Oilers, cucum- bers, blisters and black eyes. Put yourself in my posi- tion. Here it is Tuesday morning: to my left is the 41-page 1992 City of Castlegar budget, to my right is freshly brewed Peter Harvey-style coffee. passed that quiz, barely scraping out a 60 per cent. Even today, numbers are hard on me. Between balancing my cheque book and filing my income tax return (which I still haven’t done), numbers get the better of me. So. what does all this mean? Besides making a lm Wednesday, May'6,1992 dThe News OtherVIEWS Please address all letters to: Letters coWHE EDITOR I have been invited by CURB to vote for or against relocating our work yards to the industrial park. How magnanimous of this group of non-political citizens. However, I have, already voted yes to this move, when I voted for the current city council in 1990, so this exercise is superfluous. On the other hand, I did vote yes in the sewage referendum and I was one of the few who bothered to stride — not swagger as Mr: Harrison put it — to the poll to vote yes on the paving referendum, even though Crestview Crescent was nowhere close to being on the paving list. Call me an altruist. In news releases, letters to the editor, etc., etc. CURB states, that $850,000 can be better spent on street rehabilitation. I, and many, many citizens of Castlegar, who happen to live at Crestview Crescent, would like the city to look into our subdivision being the very first street to be paved. As you might recall, this area was slated for rezoning to light industrial last year. Many, many citizens of Castlegar, (i.e. my neighbors), protested this unreasonable request for a change of our status as a quiet, residential area and city council listened. Democracy in action. However, when this rezoning request was turned down, the city license inspector must have approved a license for an owner of a heavy duty excavation company to run his business from his home in our subdivision. Dump trucks and trailer trucks carrying heavy equipment move back and forth on our street — at any time of the day and at any day of the week, quickly breaking down our, already, deteriorating pavement, plus creating dust and noise problems. As I am certain that this citizen would not be operating the business without the city’s consent, the licensing practices should be reviewed...We have many young In the May 2, issue of The News, Mrs. Jean Fitzpatrick writes that the decision regarding the mall proposal at the interchange has been left up to the Coalition Unaccpeting Rash Bureaucracy and that somehow we have been given a controlling voice in this rezoning issue. Well, Mrs. Fitzpatrick, as far I know, CURB has not been given any more control in the rezoning of the properties than anyone else. Many people attended the public meeting when Mr. Laing presented his proposal to council and everyone had the opportunity to speak. As presdient of CURB, I, and the members, attended the meeting although we support all developments in Saving my vote for the 1993 polis families and several wheelchair-bound friends in this area and my worst nightmare includes mangled tricycles and wheelchairs. From the above statements you might deduce that I do not believe that my city should be run by a pressure group. And you would be right. To put it more succinctly, I “unaccept” — I am still searching for this verb in my dictionaries — a group who is asking me to vote, “Yes. . . (Don’t Move Works Yard)”. We will all have a chance to vote for city council in 1993, at which time I shall exercise my right to do so. After having, carefully, scrutinized the. candidates platforms, I will cast my votes for civic- minded persons who will look after the well-being of all Castlegar citizens. As an aside, but related to city bylaws, my husband and I will fill out the questionnaire included in The News and formulated by the Official Community Plan Update Committee. Some of us have been notified that Crestview Crescent was not included in the list designating area spokespersons? Probably an oversight, and, with the chair being filled by a Crestview Crescent resident, it must have been assumed that we are being looked after? In closing, I noticed the paragraph in the Harrison Comparison (April 29), in which he mentioned CURB’s concern about the cost to taxpayers, because the city crews will shuttle back and forth from one promise that I’ll never i L Letters to the As much as I want to kick Harrison become a math teacher, end of town to the other. I always assumed Editor Castlegar, we felt strongly that council should work with the parties that are chat the dikiancs ion heve to these was going to be affected by this mall. s.p. HARRISON taxation rate for Castlegar’s major | up my heels and enjoy the industries has also fallen — by 0.54 per cent. As for homéenwers, the $7.34 homeowners will be paying per $1,000 of assessed property value is a good deal, especial when you con- thickest of Peter’s prime |- Comparison sider that the rate was hovering near or above $10 just two sho: No one likes taxes, but when they’re made fair, at least they’re eas- ier to swallow. java, the budget awaits me — staring at me endlessly, not much. Truth is, I want- ed to enjoy my cup of cof- fee before I started p knowing full well that no matter how many my hair out. That caffeine boost is just times I add up the figures, totals and pay- ments I'll come up with 20 different conclu- sions. It reminds me of the scary day in 1976 when, as a Grade 6 student at Courténay’s Puntledge Park-Elementary, Mr. McFadden popped a surprise fractions test on me. ! e Page 1 — ding. : (Fast forward ° Page 41 — ! ding. Despite not truly understanding what what I needed before I started bouncing off the walls trying to understand this thing. Brace yourself Castlegar, here I go. ° humbh, interesting, no kid- with me if you will) humbh, interesting, no kid- please see HARRISON page 7 LV. Campbell Aug. 7, 1947- Feb. 15, 1973 Streef TALK Jessica Saville Castlegar “Yes.” Clifford Hansen Castlegar “Yes, it is.” Question: Do you think racism is a big problem in British Columbia? ian 4 ¥ Kris Allam Castlegar Jeremy Drazdoff Castlegar “Yes, we're giving the Natives a hard time.” “No, not really.” Lora Wolff Castlegar “Yes, some people are very set in their ways.” Castlegar News P.O. Box.3007 Castlegar, B.C. VIN 3H4 or deliver them to 197 Columbia Ave. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and not longer than 300 words. Letters MUST be signed and include the writer's first and last names, address and a telephone number at which the writer can be reached between 9a.m. and 5 p.m. The writer's name and city or town of residence only will be published. Only in exceptional cases will letters be published anonymously. Even in those cases, the name, address and phone number of the writer MUST be disclosed to the editor. The News reserves the right to edit letters for brevity, clarity, legality, grammar the same as from there to here? to include your property. As I recall, your property is not going to be rezoned and this is what you would like to see done and you have very valid r is for the r property. Regrettably, your only recourse is to go to council and persuade them To presume that CURB has the controlling voice in this issue is wrong, we are only able to state our opinion like everyone else. I wish you luck. ing of your I also believe that our hardworking city crews are entitled to lunch and coffee breaks where ever and whenever their President, CURB contract specifies. It is a novel idea, but this is after all Michael J. OConnor May 1992. Ingeborg Thor-Larsen Castlegar Abortion must not be funded The letter written by June Leposo prompts me to write my own views on the matter of abortion. Since the law allows the killing of a life it doesn’t follow that I and the general public should be forced to participate in this action by the use of public tax money. Pregnant women have won the right to kill their babies. Do they have the right to use public funds? I say no. If they choose to copulate without protection how can they believe that it’s not their responsibility? On moral grounds, I do not condone abortion. My conscience forbids me to sit back while others fight the cause of freedom for all. If a woman chooses to abort her pregnancy let it be on her head alone. Doreen Moore Genelle Harrison continued from page 6 Seriously, though, there are some interesting things to be found in the 1992 budget. Take the relocation of the public works yard, for example. The city has been saying this maneuver will cost taxpayers $850,000. Perhaps it’s a typo, but the 1992 budget allocates $875,000 to the move. Another interesting feature about the budget is the cost of lanning. The city is spending $30,000 to come up with a maintenance master plan, $20,000 to fire hall planning and taste. and $20,000 to RCMP building planning. So far, $70,000. Now the good one. The city will spend an additional $40,000 to develop a strategic financial plan. Almost ironic, isn’t it. Okay, so I won’t become a math teacher, but there’s nothing stopping me from becoming a planner. In fact, on my mother’s list of Things Scott Should Do With His Life, a planner came in at 103, seven ahead of a journalist. There is plenty of good news in the 1992 budget, though. Take downtown revitalization. It is getting $1,588,630. And then there’s Meadowbrook storm sewer maintenance, which is being allocated $28,000. Most pleasing to me, though, is the survival of Castlegar’s fledgling Victim’s Assistance Program, which will get the promised $10,000. It’s nice to see the city taking a_progressive role in aid of its less fortunate citizens. Castlegar can’t embrace 100 per cent of the congratulations, though. The Castlegar RCMP — in particular Const. Russell Sangster — should be applauded for making victims’ assistance a 1992 priority. Oh yeah, I almost forgot taxes — the tell-tale sign of any budget. The city has done well here, as well. As promised, homeowners will receive a two per cent cut in taxes, while major industries will get a 1.5 per cent cut. All other categories — like it or not — get dinged six per cent. So, that’s it, that’s the budget. It wasn’t so bad. Heck, I even have all my hair.