Editor:
To all Township residents, I think we’ve had enough pettiness in council. Let’s think before we vote this time.
If we vote independent then we all have a voice in council, because they need us behind them to stay in council, where the incumbents only vote on what they’re
told, “Like a puppet on a string.”
Think before you vote, who do you want to run our wonderful Township with no childish bickering this time? Do come out and vote, have your say.
S. Douglas, Aldergrove
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Editor:
I would like all the voters of the Township to ask themselves what the current Council has done for them in the last three years.
I come up with nothing.
Perhaps they have no time after spending so much trying to blacken the mayor or trying to stuff an overpass we don’t want down our throats.
When I go into the polling booth I will ask myself this question, then vote to replace the lot.
John Winter, Langley
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Editor:
There is an old saying in the grocery business; “one rotten apple spoils the box.” A truer quote could not be found for the existing situation with the present mayor – an old grocery man himself. The recent revelations regarding his behaviour are a testament to how he has brought shame and embarrassment to the position of mayor and the Township as a whole. As a community leader there is an ethical and moral bar that is set and it is higher than that for the average citizen.
He has proven by his actions to have failed as a community leader and this makes my decision on November 19 an easy one. I urge all voters to not vote for the ‘rotten apple’ or his slate. To do so is to endorse his shameful behaviour which has cast serious doubt on his or his slate-mate’s ethical standards. A vote for any of them is a vote wasted.
W. Tarasoff, Langley
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Editor:
Snoozers or doers? Who gets your vote?
Councillor Grant Ward was obviously not listening to the debate at Monday’s council meeting. He attempted to make his notice of motion to waste more tax dollars on lawyer fees while the rest of council were discussing the future of grow-op houses.
Mayor Green irritated powerful people when he reopened the Brownshak debate. His comment that “he was surprised”, when he really wasn’t surprised, has caused him immense grief. He apologized, and that should have been the end of it.
Ward’s notice of motion last Monday night is just a continuation of his negative attitude. Ward voiced his decision not to co-operate with the mayor immediately after the last election and has been true to his word, disrespecting the voice of the electorate.
Mayor Green has been working on vast improvements for the residents of Langley and has accomplished most of his election promises. Just imagine what he could do if he had a council that wasn’t stabbing at his back or snoozing.
Sue Leyland, Langley
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Editor:
I have just returned to an accumulation of three weeks of local papers after having been on vacation.
The fact the “Brownshak affair” is still alive and of alleged interest to anyone is beyond belief. In retrospect it is yesterday’s news about nothing and yet the Council has blown $100,000-plus on legal fees to date on it, to of no avail, and Councillor Grant Ward wants another bottomless pit of cash devoted to a public inquiry? Does this represent prudent fiscal stewardship in perilous economic times?
This is nothing but a red herring perpetrated by current council members to enfeeble the electorate’s memory on a string of 5% per annum tax increases, appalling management skills (re the LEC in terms of paying out $8.3 millions to partners with whom there were no contracts and missing the opportunity to collect a $5 million federal grant because staff “forgot” to apply for same), signing a secret deal for the Mufford Crescent overpass assuming it was a “railroad job” all residents were in favour of and would hold still for — the first three items on a long list of perfidies which will be re-examined as the campaign rolls on.
The electorate, unlike council and the provincial government, is bright enough to realize we are entering challenging economic times for the next several years. Is the current spend-thrift council and a new untried mayor the group you want to entrust your future personal and municipal fiscal health to?
E. Lee Lockwood, Aldergrove
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Editor:
B.C. municipal politicians have been hiding behind the veil of in-camera meetings and in the opinion of many, including councillors in Prince George and Mission, are doing it inappropriately. I agree! The subject was recently argued out at the Union of B.C. Municipalities meetings.
In government of all levels the rules for in-camera proceedings are loosely based around discussions involving legal property and personnel issues. The trouble with the outcome is that parties and individuals in government can warp these guidelines to hide anything they choose and they often do.
Much of Langley Township’s government record of the last decade has been shrouded in secrecy, only exposed when descisions are already made with little or no public input. In my opinion this has led to many of our high profile municipal problems. Our current Mayor has shown by his record that he believes in the people’s right to know the facts and be appropriately consulted on matters that are important to them.
I would request that the two new candidates for mayor state their views on what they consider appropriate use of in-camera procedures as well as the major planks in their respective platforms in their bid for the mayor’s chair. Their policy positions so far have been characterized by a deafening silence.
Robert Moats, Langley
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Editor:
A man walks out of a burning building with a gas can in one hand and a lighter in the other. The fire department arrives and starts putting out the blaze. The police get there moments later.
Who should the police arrest and punish?
In some people’s view of Langley Township politics, both the arsonist and the fire department should be arrested. If you are looking to turf out both Mayor Green and the incumbent council over the conflict at Township Hall, that is exactly the illogical tact you are taking.
Don’t be lazy in this campaign. Read the Lidstone Report and see for yourself who is to blame for this mess: the Mayor who misled Township Council, Township lawyers, an independent lawyer, and Township staff. The Mayor lied to the local MLA. The Mayor falsely accused innocent citizens and Township staff of wrongdoing. The Mayor even misled the newspapers on the same issue when the public first got an inkling of what was happening. If a leader can’t be trusted to tell the truth, how can anyone work with him?
Don’t arrest the fire department — Council — for doing what they had to do to stop the destructive, untruthful occupant of the Mayor’s office.
After all, the thing on fire was Mayor Green’s pants.
Scott Cave, Ft. Langley