To the Editor,
Re: Event Planning for Krall Plaza given to DNBIA, June 2.
Nanaimo may become the Municipal Corporate Conglomerate Capital of British Columbia if we continue on our present path of turning public services over to private agencies.
Perhaps even more egregious than handing over the operation of our public square and our $250,000 LED screen to private interests, is the hand-off which is taking place with the incorporation of an economic development agency.
The greatest asset of the new corporation is to be its independence from the city despite being a creature of the city and receiving all its operational funding as well as a $5 million credit line courtesy of city taxpayers.
Indeed, if our problems can be solved by such privatization, which frees the creative juices of the corporate world to solve our civic problems by removing the public from the public service, perhaps we will be best served by summoning up more corporations to pave our way to success.
Why not a parks and recreation corporation, a planning corporation, a public works corporation or a finance corporation?
Nanaimo could become the first municipal corporate conglomerate as it uses taxpayer funds to generate ever more corporations to serve us better.
Is it really the case that the problem with municipal management is that it is now a public service and that removing it from political control is the magic bullet?
Ron Bolin
Nanaimo