When our household budgets experience a shortfall, no matter what the reason, we decide to put off any extravagant items or things we were going to purchase or do. Even if money had been set aside to buy or do these things, that money goes instead toward covering the shortfall we’ve experienced. Smart way to run a household.
The City of Nelson is our household. We have had a budget shortfall in transit. The “extravagance” in our household, many would think, is two-fold.
1. The purchase of a new 4X4 pickup truck specially painted black and white for the Nelson Police Department and the number of hours the mechanic put in to install everything associated with a police vehicle, a couple of weeks worth of full time hours everyday.
2. News from the public works department that all NPD vehicles are being repainted black and white to match the new truck. From what I’m told, the reasoning for this is so they all look “retro.”
Please, somebody, tell me this just is not true. I have seen the new NPD truck. I know that to have a vehicle painted like that, the city had to special order it. And to even consider having all the vehicles repainted in such a manner is even more of a slap in the face to many people, even those who don’t take transit. This is where your tax dollars are going!
People, countries, provinces, and yes, even cities are realizing the need to redistribute money that may have been set aside for extravagant items. To think that the ones who are running our “household” seem to not be able to control their spending power so would rather buy unnecessary expensive vehicles and waste even more money repainting all other vehicles to match the new one.
The money spent on this (and the heron sculpture as well) ridiculously wasteful undertaking should be redirected to areas that are either experiencing a shortfall now or in danger of a shortfall.
Yes, I do take transit almost everywhere I happen to be lucky enough to go but have no problem with money going to other areas that aren’t doing well either. I feel that if city council would get themselves out of their financially wasteful attitudes, things would run a lot smoother and there’d be more of us who would benefit, not just a select few.
After all, isn’t that what’s supposed to be the most important, to be able to benefit the majority of occupants of a household?
Jill Wilson
Nelson