It is always a good thing to see elected leaders counting their pennies in these troubled times. With tens of thousands of Albertans out of work and food banks struggling to meet the needs of hurting families, we should expect no less. City council went public with its expenses last week and overall, it looks like each councillor made some attempt to do his or her part in our collective battle with economic adversity.
Some people will howl with rage over the mere principal of politicians expected reimbursement for the costs they incur for the common good, and as shear fun as that may be, let’s keep things in perspective. For the most part these people are doing us a big favour with all of the time they put in to attend countless meetings on behalf of the city in addition to the usual Monday afternoon session.
Still, they are big boys and girls, so let’s take a little poke starting with Mayor Nolan Crouse. We know he faced a little heat in the past for his less than fastidious accounting system and it seems he has graduated from the shoebox approach with a $2.06 mileage claim for a four-kilometre trip. Several on council also submitted bills for printer cartridges and toner adding up to hundreds of dollars. If they actually read all of those reports, taxpayers likely got a good deal.
We are also pleased to see Coun. Sheena Hughes putting in a claim after purchasing Robert's Rules of Order last June. Since she had already been on council for almost two years, let’s hope it is a replacement copy.
And sometimes we see a little altruism. Nobody would argue that it’s necessary for all councillors to be connected in the electronic sense, but only Bob Russell is limiting his claim to 50 per cent of his household Internet bill.
Last year Coun. Cam MacKay made the shall-we-say most creative claim for his Tagalog lessons, that helped him converse with St. Albert’s Filipino community. Not be outdone, he is now claiming $645 for a program called The Landmark Forum, “designed to bring about positive and permanent shifts in the quality of your life.” We hope it makes him a happier guy.
Guten Tag
Last week the Villeneuve Airport’s recent transformation showed results when an international flight touched down on its runway.
In the past, pilot and businessman Hans Bruening would have booked passage on a commercial flight but now that the Villeneuve is available to international travellers he had the option to fly his personal plane.
Not only was Bruening’s trip great for the region and the airport in terms of exposure it was also an opportunity for airport management to discover what it can be doing better.
Bruening said parking options and services were difficult to find. That is something management has taken note of and it will endeavour to ensure the airport is marketed the best it can be.
It is great to see the airport poised to become a contributing factor to the regional economy and hopefully with more improvements we will begin to see more business opportunities dropping out of the sky.
