Council begins budget planning, and not a moment too soon
CAO Cecile Arnott brought her preliminary budget presentation to council's committee-of-the-whole (COW) on Tuesday afternoon, offering councillors a first taste of what the 2013 financial plan might look like when it gets passed before the May 15 filing deadline. The next budget COW meeting has been scheduled for May 1 at...
COMMENT and ANALYSIS: The Final Word on Rossland's Budge the Budget DemocracySTORM
Well, Rossland, it's been a while coming: the final outcome of the "DemocracySTORM" on ways YOU felt our city should budge its budget. We asked three questions: 1) What should the City of Rossland spend MORE money on? 2) What should the City of Rossland spend LESS money on? 3) What other key points should council consider...
Rossland offers school district a deal to maintain K-12 in the community
Council was divided 4-3 last week in their decision to offer School District No. 20 (SD20) $140,000 per year for three years in exchange for K-12 and respite from the threat of school closures for at least five years—but SD20 hasn't indicated it will bite, and any deal with the school district will be put to a referendum...
COMMENT: Parents need to take action to prevent cyberbullying
Like most parents in Canada, I have grieved for Rehtaeh Parsons, the 17-year-old teenager that committed suicide April 7 after being sexually assaulted two years ago. After the assault, she was cyberbullied until her breaking point. As a parent, this terrifies me. I know I am in way over my head. Every parent feels that “kids...
Council tackles issues of freedom and democracy
Council discussed three major democratic issues on Monday evening, from local issues of ongoing fallout from the arena scandal and questions of transparency in email communications, to an official council stand on the controversial Jumbo Resort development near Invermere, BC. Auditor General soon to pick her cases Coun....
COUNCIL MISCELLANY: Rossland’s budget still not on the radar, Dog doo piled wide and deep, and Miners’ Hall facelift gets a nod
Did someone say budget? May 15 deadline fast approaches There’s still no sign of a budget discussion at council as the May 15 filing deadline for municipal financial plans approaches. Coun. Kathy Moore said, "I'm agitated that it's now April and we haven't started any serious discussion on our budget." She asked if there...
COMMENT: More cost overruns at City Hall
The Columbia Avenue infrastructure project is going to cost more than our beloved mayor and former CAO proclaimed. A lot more. Our new, frequently absent and significantly overpaid CAO Cecile Arnott and Mayor Greg Granstrom have so far neglected, failed, or refused to inform council what the costs of the project have been...
OP/ED: WHO REALLY OWNS CITY HALL 4: Referendum Exemptions
My last column gave examples of referendum procedures with less than democratic consequences and of a two-stage referendum process which conforms to the principles of the Yukon’s Municipal Act. In this column we will examine the rationale for the Act’s exclusion of two politically sensitive issues, budget and taxes, from the...
Imperialist feminism redux
The occasion of International Women’s Day is an apt time to discuss how abstract ideas of global sisterhood and women’s universal human rights hide the actual differences of class and social location which divide women in the real world, and how certain varieties of feminism not only cannot address the real foundations of women’s subjugation, […]
Radon gas danger to residents may cause platform problems for provincial candidates
An issue that came before council last night could prove contentious enough to end up a platform issue in the upcoming provincial election, according to councillor Deb McIntosh. This after a presentation, at council’s regular meeting, by Dana Schmidt, of the Donna Schmidt Memorial Lung Cancer Prevention Society. The issue centres around radon-prevention measures in […]
