Mayor should live within catchment

DEAR EDITOR:

I don’t know what alternate dimension Penticton has slipped into but it’s not a good one. Rod Serling from “The Twilight Zone” would be impressed. A 9.7% tax hike? Are you people bloody serious?

In case you haven’t noticed, the country is in an economic crisis the end of which is nowhere in sight and you dare start toying with the idea of a tax increase? Amazing, to say the least.

Let’s start with the new mayor. Just about every jurisdiction on the face of the planet requires an elected official who draws a salary to reside within the catchment boundaries of said jurisdiction. Not the universe that Penticton seems to be orbiting around in.

Logic would point to that, at best, our new mayor would be eligible to run for a seat on the RDOS board. Certainly not a chair at Penticton City Hall.

I totally get that “stuff” happens and you have to roll with the punches while adapting and overcoming unforeseen problems so I make the following suggestion. Shortfall? Then by all means go to the same trough where council of the day magically managed to find “free” money to build some poorly-designed and executed bike lanes. We live in a democratic society where majority rules and I am quite confident that the majority of Pentictonites wanted nothing to do with this pet project of a select entitled few... but we were never asked.

A novel concept I know, but that’s how my mind works. Council, you are elected to do a job and not treat the taxpayer as a vehicle to pay for your play things.

Daniel Pontes

Penticton