I’m sorry to read that you blew the ‘snow removal’ budget by waiting too long to push snow and ice to one side of the residential streets last year. And I understand that you want to leave your position with a feather in your cap by creating another skate park and another spray park. The problem is that nothing can band-aid your monolithic overspending legacy of the Civic Yards, and the under-spending for services that impact all of us. Our children can use the existing parks, but our seniors and those with physical disabilities need to be able to navigate our streets and sidewalks in relative safety and convenience. Maybe if you dip into Red Deer’s savings and investments to take care of the common folk, we might see the value in a nominal increase in property taxes. Would we notice a 1% increase for real service? I think not.

Steve Mantle

Red Deer