It looks like Halloween has come early on the Sunshine Coast. The tricky part is that most of those on the receiving end of the surprises aren't feeling like they've been treated.
Right now there are a lot of Girl Guide leaders who have given many precious hours of their time to youngsters in our area who are shaking their heads in disbelief. It appears that the District of Sechelt council has decided it would be good thing to tax the Guides' Camp Olave property. We can see why the councillors think that's a good idea - $128,000 would look good in any local government's coffers. But from where we sit, the optics aren't very good. Why, we wonder, are the Sechelt politicos singling out only that property to bring out of the tax-exempt category? This is a move they may want to rethink. There's a dearth of activities for ordinary kids on the Coast already. Don't go after one of the few that everyone can afford.
Another group of folks who appear to be dressing up as the Grinch this Halloween are those who want to dismantle the mural at the Pender Harbour Aquatic Centre. With little consultation with the artists, Ken Walters and Emily Gray, the Aquatic Society is planning to grind off the mural and replace it with a high wall of tiles. Not much of a swap, in our estimation, and certainly not an indication of respect for the two artists who spent many long hours creating this work of art. The other part of the equation that rankles us is the use of taxpayers' money for yet another project that seems neither necessary nor popular.
And the final group of people who seemed to celebrate Halloween just a little early with a nice big party to which only a select few were invited were the mental health workers on the Sunshine Coast. On Tuesday the entire department was required to attend a team-building day at the Sechelt Golf and Country Club. What, we wonder, was the cost for this play day?
Here's what we object to about this public display of taxpayers' money at work. First of all, it just plain looks bad. We keep saying there's no money to help the Arrowhead Club, the only place on the Coast for mentally ill people to gather together, to pay for a temporary clubhouse. And while we realize that budgets are budgets, and God forbid that one line ever be transferred to pay for another, perhaps there should have been more thought given to just how the retreat would look. And to those who say that being in the mental health service sector is draining, stressful work, we say, we know. But given the times, there is likely no one working for a living on the Sunshine Coast who doesn't face stress every day in their working lives and none of us have taxpayer-paid breaks.
Please, no more tricks. Happy Halloween.
