What has been almost amusing about the recent
actions of the city council has to be the degree of
helplessness they show in the face of every decision they make.
Despite having decided to close the facilities they deemed
unsupportable, they still have not taken a shred of
responsibility for those decisions. To listen to the mayor,
this is a result of under-funding from the province. To listen
to various councillors, they essentially claim they had no
choice. Threaded throughout these excuses and failures is a
common theme of passing blame to any third party available, and
if one doesn't exist creating a diversion.
The facilities being closed are being closed
because mismanagement by the council in the past two terms has
placed the city in a position where funding is no longer
available to maintain them. That is the bottom line, and it is
the fault and responsibility of the council. It doesn't matter
whether the province withdrew funding, or the tax base was
reduced. The people we elected were responsible for managing
the situation all along. They failed to manage, and put
themselves in an unenviable position of having to introduce
cuts to recreational facilities in an election year.
Now, they scramble to avoid responsibility
for acts for which they, and they alone, bear
responsibility.
I opened with the statement that the
helplessness on the council was almost amusing. It would be
amusing if we were not continuously paying for their
incompetence, but it is made tragic by the fact that we are
paying It is sad and frightening that our tax dollars are being
spent with such a flagrant disregard for our interests.
If any of these councillors are re-elected
for another term, I suggest Sudbury may as well consider its
fate sealed. The council is creating a city-wide ghetto, and
giving any of them another term would certainly finish that
task.
Thankfully, it may be that if the surrounding
communities vote in their true best interest. they can save the
city itself from its own ineptitude.
Frank Buchan
Sudbury