City Council wants you to participate in a budget deliberation exercise, but doesn’t want you to be prepared for that debate. They’d rather keep the budget figures to themselves until the evening of debate and then distribute the numbers.
When asked why, our mayor’s response was that changes are often made right up until the last possible minute before the presentation to council and the public. City staff try their best to provide the most up-to-date and accurate information for the budget presentation. Most times, this means that the information is not available prior to the meeting.
Council members are made aware of what the numbers are in advance of that and have the responsibility to make them available to residents. Staff could be asked to publish the budget numbers online a day or two ahead and highlight those that are tentative. At least this way we, the taxpayers (the ones who have to come up with the cash), would get a chance to analyze the figures and determine meaningful questions. If Council really tried engaging the public by keeping us informed, we could become part of the decision-making process instead of having to operate on blind trust — or distrust.
Al Pastars
Parksville