https://tofinonews.blogspot.com/2011/10/why-tofino-didnt-get-sewer-grant-in.html
This is not satire.This actually happened !
Saturday, September 22, 2018
Letter From Dorothy Baert
Open letter from Dorothy Baert to Tofino News Blogspot readers.
Every
once in a while I go to this blog site. I do this because even though
it is often a cauldron of misinformation and innuendo, none of which
could actually be verified in the light of open scrutiny, it is a place
where issues and irritants are shouted out, and is therefore as good a
place as any to find out what’s on peoples minds.
I
am motivated to respond to the question raised about my not attending
the Open House for the Liquid Waste Treatment Plan. I could not attend
but this doesn’t mean that I am not paying full attention. We have a
very serious situation here which is the excessively expensive cost
which is untenable for a community of 2000 or even 3000 people. That it
is being built for the use of 15000 people indicates a gap that raises
such inequity and extreme burden that in my view it is essential that as
an entire community we say, yes we want the plant but we will not, we
cannot, pay full freight to put it in.
It
is my view and my intention whether on Council or not, to lobby in
every possible way to have the two higher levels of government pay 100%
of the capital cost. I am cautioned that this can’t be done but I have
been told that time and again since I got on Council and I say, you
don’t know if that is true until you have tried, until there is
absolutely no further possibility.
Some
of the work that has been done, despite your platform of contempt for
the work that Councillors have been doing, has been to lobby for the
better deal for Tofino. This town punches well above its weight and we
are seeing real movement. Recently at UBCM, that conference that some on
this blog hate that we go to, meetings were had with Ministers but this
time, there was a difference. They were listening when we said we need a
tax tool on visitors to pay for infrastructure, even if it is only 1%.
They
had listened to feedback we have given as a small community when we
said repeatedly we can’t undertake capital costs AND operations costs on
our own. Again, they heard and announced that communities up to 5000
residents can apply for 100% capital funding, a one time ask for up to 9
million, something that hasn’t been heard of for decades. Even though
that money is there, getting it for the LWTP has another obstacle but
those details are for a different forum.
The
Tourism Minister responded to the great lobbying work of our Mayor and
others in the Resort Municipality collaborative to ensure that the RMI
monies continue to flow and come back to us as matching funds to the
Additional hotel tax. This means there are now new opportunities to
create amenities that residents, businesses and visitors can enjoy
without it being a burden to the resident tax payer.
The
bigger news is with the MRDT funding (and the new online tax fund) and
the opening up of options that can be directed to housing and
infrastructure. This will take community collaboration but the offer is
on the table. We worked for that.
And
finally, yes, I live here. Tofino is my home and has been for 30 years.
I have also been affected by the chronic housing shortage and have had
to respond to the needs of my business for housing. This has meant a
temporary but happy exile that has allowed me to spend summers with my
grand children. There, you have it.
I
campaigned in the previous two runs that I would engage and support
open dialogue and would reach out to the community where I needed
feedback on issues and I have done that in a number of ways. My
preference is to talk with people directly or to solicit their opinions
by occasionally reaching out through Facebook or email, as I did when
the RCMP building was being proposed. I go to the Tofino Vent and Praise
forum where people do vent frustration and where there is dialog,
information and engagement, none under the dark cloud of toxic trolling
anonymity.
Anything
else you would like to know, feel free to call or email. Like all the
other hard working Councillors, past and to come, we want to serve our
community and hear what is affecting peoples lives. As hard as it can be
to do, we want to be part of the solutions that make a better
community. How about you?
Dorothy Baert
250 726 5565
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)