Guelph needs better leadership. Would voting against the proposed $34-million Guelph Police Services headquarters renovation have been my best choice politically? Yes. Would that have been the right decision? No. When this first came to council in December 2013, I voted against the renovations because a business case wasn’t available. I stated that council should only vote on these projects after business cases have been completed. The council constantly faces decisions on complex projects like this and a business case defines, assesses and evaluates whether or not to proceed and/or which approach to take. While I’m loathe to saddle the next term of council with the GPS headquarters’ costly renovations, three things convinced me this was the right decision: First: the third-party business case prepared by KPMG, which cost $70,000, showed renovating the building was the best of all available options. One of the report’s most significant comments warned that “GPS will be forced by regulators and/or labour relations to act now to resolve one or more of the (issues) if the project appears delayed or stalled.” Second: my conversations with front-line police officers who told me about the dangers associated with the current building. There were many health and safety issues in dire need of repairs and/or renovations to protect them and the public they serve. Third: if we didn’t renovate now, it would cost the taxpayers more to renovate later. As I said to council, “I’m biting my tongue as I vote for this.” The decision is right. The process is wrong. Even before last week’s vote, mayor Karen Farbridge had already committed the taxpayers to millions of dollars in capital expenses for the renovations to GPS headquarters: engineering staff admitted publicly that the plans were already being processed. This has reminded many about a new multi-million dollar facility for the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Board. Then, the mayor led a costly failed legal confrontation against them and the Provincial government. Her actions in these cases were and are irresponsible to the taxpayers of this city, who deserve better leadership. Here’s the rub: Mayor Farbridge has sat on both of these boards for the past seven years and would have been part of the discussions pertaining to these buildings. Where was the proper planning and foresight for these buildings over these last seven years? Guelph needs a mayor that respects your tax dollars. To respect them we must plan properly, we must save properly and inform properly. In this case, this clearly wasn’t done. As mayor I will make sure we evaluate Guelph’s needs correctly the first time. This means: 1) Putting policies and procedures in place that will allow Council the time it needs to make the right decision about costly capital projects 2) Making sure Council sets aside the funds today for the capital needs of tomorrow. 3) Inform council, staff and residents properly. Find out more here: abetterguelph.ca
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 15:52:45 +0000
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