New year, same old BS out of Council Chambers.

We have one councillor who wants bike lanes all over town, but he rides his bike on the sidewalk downtown.

We have another councillor who wants to be mayor. But as a member of the board of directors for the Downtown Business Association, she had an improper budget put to council for approval.

She also wants Ross Street Patio back again.

Most businesses in the area were never asked for input, last year or this year. Even some of those who supported it last year said it did very little if anything to improve their businesses.

Is this what she calls leadership quality?

Smaller cities than Red Deer use a ward system. This mayor and council don’t want it because they would have to be more accountable to the people of Red Deer. I doubt many of them could pass the test.

Almost every capital project in the last year has come in over budget, or late, or needing work to be redone.

This means more tax for us all. But unlike them we can’t vote ourselves a raise to cover it.

The last one was a 3% raise to cover a 1.5% rate of inflation. Must be that new math.

Over the last three years or so around 30 businesses have closed their doors or moved out of downtown.

Some have moved right out of town.

But the mayor has told me no downtown business has been affected by everything that has happened downtown in the last few years.

I’m one of several people wondering how the flow of traffic on Gaetz Avenue got changed so that the parking is now in front of an ex-councillor/member of the DBA’s board of director’s store.

Or how does a deposit get paid to a bankrupt company for work to be done?

Or why did they have renovations done to a privately owned theatre for a near bankrupt acting group?

I guess it’s one of those just spend the money, don’t worry about accountability or getting value for what they spend.

My lease is up in May and I guess I’m one of the next businesses to close my doors.

With this group at City Hall it’s just not worth keeping a business downtown.

Jerry Anderson

jass collectibles

Red Deer