YORKTON - It seems about this time of year – mid-May and quickly approaching June and the wonderful months of summer – that we get extra busy.
There’s outdoor events most weekends, the lure of the fishing hole and golf course or tennis courts, the garden to tend and of course the expectation of a vacation.
But, as we head out to such events on Yorkton streets weaving where possible to avoid holes in the pavement, bouncing over others and hoping the muffler stays attached, it might be time we turned at least some time to thinking about the municipal election which will be held this fall.
Now it would be unfair to lay the blame for the pothole infested streets of Yorkton at the feet of the current Mayor and Council. The deterioration of street asphalt, sidewalk cement, and underground water and sewer lines are the result of decades of not spending enough – largely because it was financially impossible – to renew such infrastructure.
Really Yorkton, and communities across this province and country have been fortunate most infrastructure has long-outlived what would have been expected at the time of installation.
However, what happens in 10, or 20 years?
That’s a scary question to consider possible answers too, but consider councils must.
The issue of aging infrastructure and the problems created is largely one of how to fund repair and replacement – a matter of budget.
Now this edition of Council may have had long debates on the issue of needing ever more dollars for infrastructure renewal during budget deliberations but the public will never know since this group has chosen to talk about how best to spend taxpayer dollars in-camera, behind closed doors, away from the eyes and ears of those paying those taxes.
It seems such a decision runs counter to the oft heard rhetoric of recent municipal election campaigns in the city for greater transparency in terms of the workings of the city.
It might seem a good question to ask Councillors seeking re-election as to why they don’t talk about spending taxpayer dollars in open Council.
It would be a good question for any new names on this fall’s ballot too. Are they going to push for that elusive transparency in how Council determines a budget?
It is after all sort of a companion question for candidates to go along with how does the city catch-up on infrastructure renewal?
Two answers that aren’t likely to fly very well is more municipal taxes. The year-over-year increases cannot continue forever.
And, looking to the higher level of governments for more might seem reasonable – realistically they can’t afford it either – at least without again raising taxes.
What we need are some fresh ideas to explore, and hopefully as the local campaign gets under way in earnest this fall some of those ideas might percolate to the top.
