Editor:
When FABS wanted a "better" Sechelt last Nov-ember, I recall they touted that a more fiscally conservative council was their primary issue. However, the last three councils were far more conservative. Just look at the rate of tax increases from 2003 to 2011, then compare it to this year's. Thankfully, councillors Shanks and Lutes either voted against the 2012 budget or raised red flags.
Now yet another senior District manager has been fired without cause. Add that to the CAO's termination, and the taxpayers are on the hook for over $300,000 - all because Mayor Henderson felt Sechelt should "go in a different direction."
Yet he concedes later that, "No, we don't have a plan. We're not working to a specific agenda" (Coast Reporter, June 22). That seems unusual when seeking a new management course.
He states, "We can build the team and make it stronger." How, by firing those who might have differences of opinion?
If he wanted to change direction, letting contracts quietly expire would have saved us a lot of money and been a far more equitable approach. Is the mayor's new (yet to be determined) direction to have everyone see things through his lens? If so, he loses the capacity for those around him to see issues from all sides.
People like George Cuff, one of the best municipal consultants in Canada, states that having the ability to encompass opinions and ideas from many perspectives is an essential building block to good local government.
I do hope the mayor and "his" council establish a cost effective management plan soon that allows the District's staff to truly think independently and work for the well being of all the 9,500 residents and taxpayers of Sechelt.
Keith Thirkell
Sechelt
