Editor:
Can we afford the SCRD’s “projectitis”? A friend of mine suffered from “footitis.” He originally had a 14-foot sailboat then needed to buy a 24-footer. Finally, he confessed that he had bought a 40-foot+ sailboat. He never understood the concept of diminishing pleasure, derived from the last extra foot, versus the exponential increase in cost of that extra foot. This anecdote came to mind when reading your Nov. 13 article, “Directors cancel, defer projects ahead of budget.” New projects stand at 104, on top of 115 uncompleted initiatives from previous years; this, in addition to an undisclosed number of operating projects.
Tina Perreault, CFO, mentions that historically, annual new projects reach about 60. The tax implication of this spending illness affects us all. With so many new projects there is, “of course,” the need to hire new people; thus, 14 new positions have been authorized, unanimously, by the directors. This is in addition to the 15 full-time new hires authorized, again unanimously, by the directors, on Feb. 11, 2020 [five of which were later deferred]. This voting pattern indicates, to me, that the directors have forgotten that their fiduciary duty is to safeguard the financial interests of the taxpayers that elected them. Sadly, there appears to be little monitoring of free access to the public purse.
A reality check is in order for those representing us. Most Coastal taxpayers are retirees, many living on a fixed income. The SCRD philosophy of more projects, more employees and higher taxes has to stop. It must be replaced by a strict fiscal discipline of lower expenditures, reduced staff, lower salaries, higher productivity and “talking straight.” A bit of critical thinking and risk/cost benefit analysis would serve well the bureaucrats and directors. Kudos to the Coast Reporter for this coverage.
Jaime Gonzalez, Gibsons
