To the Editor,
Nanaimo voters showed they’d had enough.
We re-elected the persistently questioning Three Amigos, thrusting Bill McKay into the mayor’s chair with a two-to-one thrashing over incumbent John Ruttan. We let other free-spending incumbents with attitude know their time was done; a couple made sure they did not run again and a couple more went down in flames. Only Diane Brennan squeaked into the final spot; her power-base of colleagues gone.
Now is the time for the new mayor and council to tell special interest groups the free money hand-outs are over; from the arts to senior city staff and unions. The Colliery dams are to be left standing.
The new and improved council needs to show, in practice, it works for the average taxpayer who elected them – those of us who want basic city services without all the frivolous spending bestowed upon us by an outgoing regime who sent our yearly tax bills sky-rocketing.
Most of all, McKay and his new batch of politicos need to tell senior staff they are the elected officials in charge and if the high-paid help doesn’t like it – there’s the door.
Good luck to the new council. Watch our bucks, ask lots of questions and don’t slide in motions at the last minute through the back door.
Kevan Shaw
Nanaimo