Mr. Sinkler's letter of Saturday, Oct. 31 regarding the fake brickwork being added to the foot bridge over St. Albert Trail has hit the nail right square on the head. Some of the projects that our elected officials and managers are proceeding with are frivolous and have no added value for our small city. The fake brickwork and the painting of the sidewalks in a multi-coloured pattern are examples of how our tax dollars should not be spent at this or any other time.
Some examples of this type of misuse of taxpayers’ dollars can also been seen in Edmonton: such as the infamous chrome balls along the Whitemud freeway, the over the top and long delayed "iconic" Walterdale suspension bridge and the $1 million budget for art at the new Edmonton transit centre to name a few. These are part of the reason that the City of Edmonton is looking yet again at a tax increase of close to five per cent.
Maintaining, improving and expanding our roads, sewers, schools and medical system has to take priority over other "nice-to-have" projects. One of the best comments regarding the state of the roads appeared in the Sun newspaper a few years ago with a large flower planted in a large pothole in the middle of the street. The infrastructure requirement in Alberta has grown dramatically in the last decade largely due to economic boom and requires large capital investments to accommodate the growth. That in itself is reason enough for our politicians and managers to be much more prudent with our tax dollars. Each project and request for funding needs to be closely reviewed and scrutinized for the added value of the community, at all levels of government – municipal, provincial and federal. Our tax dollars need to address our infrastructure, health and education systems. Any special interest groups that do not service the greater good of the community at large but only a small portion needs to raise the necessary funds for their cause on their own and not draw from public funds.
A customer of mine, a self-made and successful businessman, once told me: "There are wants and there are needs; first look after the needs and when they are satisfied, then if, and only if, there is extra left over you can look at the wants. However there is still no guarantee that we will be able to acquire what we want."
Rob Pritchard, St. Albert
