Monday, July 17, 2006
Re: Lynne Ganske's, city employee, letter
So Ms Ganske feels the citizens of Abbotsford should be delighted that they do not have to pay bribes to get things done? Interesting attitude. However, I do believe that one could make a very strong, cognizant argument that the extravagant wage rates paid city workers in fact represent a bribe. Although many forced to deal with the city bureaucracy may well prefer a system of direct payment of bribes in the belief that this would increase the probability of getting things done.
Ms Ganske speaks of “not uncommon to skip their coffee break or even their lunch hour”. Based on any of the reports of interacting with city workers I have every heard this sounds like an Urban Myth. Which like the tale of the purchase of a new, mint condition corvette in which someone had died for only $300, has a bad odour about it. Perhaps the problem lies in a misperception. The idea behind “keep this burgeoning city functioning smoothly” is that it should function smoothly for the consumers of city services – the taxpayers – not the people who are SUPPOSE to deliver those services.
Ms Ganske states “If we were in tough times”. I guess if you are being paid excessively rich wages and are demanding these wages continue their spiral into the stratosphere the enormous tax rate increases imposed this year and threat of onerous tax rate increases in future do not represent a burden or “tough times”.
The truly repugnant and extremely disturbing statements are “Taxpayers dollars are spent on every imaginable luxury” and “we freely spend on superfluous items”. Does Ms Ganske find these practices outrageous? No, she just calls for “taking care of our municipal workers” on behalf of herself and her fellow employees. There is no suggestion of reforming these unacceptable behaviours; rather Ms Ganske appears only to be concerned with getting a piece of the pork barrel at the expense of the poor, over taxed citizens of the city.
I do certainly agree that Ms Ganske is correct to suggest that “It is time to stop taking a good thing for granted”. Ms Ganske obviously has lost any appreciation for the job security and wasteful city employee wage levels.
It would be satisfying to suggest replacing the current staff so that they could experience time in the real world and perhaps learn something about hard work and delivering value for money in EARNING ones wages. Regretfully this is an impractical idea. Nonetheless her statements make it clear that what is desperately needed at City Hall is not more squandering of taxpayer money but a massive Attitude Adjustment for the entire bureaucratic structure. Clearly the employee change this city has a dire need for is new management to set a clear example and embark on a new path; to demand and spread, from the top to the bottom of our city civil servants, a new attitude of service, a strong work ethic, imaginative planning and development, consideration of the needs of all citizens and solid, frugal financial management of taxpayer dollars.
Ms Ganske speaks of “not uncommon to skip their coffee break or even their lunch hour”. Based on any of the reports of interacting with city workers I have every heard this sounds like an Urban Myth. Which like the tale of the purchase of a new, mint condition corvette in which someone had died for only $300, has a bad odour about it. Perhaps the problem lies in a misperception. The idea behind “keep this burgeoning city functioning smoothly” is that it should function smoothly for the consumers of city services – the taxpayers – not the people who are SUPPOSE to deliver those services.
Ms Ganske states “If we were in tough times”. I guess if you are being paid excessively rich wages and are demanding these wages continue their spiral into the stratosphere the enormous tax rate increases imposed this year and threat of onerous tax rate increases in future do not represent a burden or “tough times”.
The truly repugnant and extremely disturbing statements are “Taxpayers dollars are spent on every imaginable luxury” and “we freely spend on superfluous items”. Does Ms Ganske find these practices outrageous? No, she just calls for “taking care of our municipal workers” on behalf of herself and her fellow employees. There is no suggestion of reforming these unacceptable behaviours; rather Ms Ganske appears only to be concerned with getting a piece of the pork barrel at the expense of the poor, over taxed citizens of the city.
I do certainly agree that Ms Ganske is correct to suggest that “It is time to stop taking a good thing for granted”. Ms Ganske obviously has lost any appreciation for the job security and wasteful city employee wage levels.
It would be satisfying to suggest replacing the current staff so that they could experience time in the real world and perhaps learn something about hard work and delivering value for money in EARNING ones wages. Regretfully this is an impractical idea. Nonetheless her statements make it clear that what is desperately needed at City Hall is not more squandering of taxpayer money but a massive Attitude Adjustment for the entire bureaucratic structure. Clearly the employee change this city has a dire need for is new management to set a clear example and embark on a new path; to demand and spread, from the top to the bottom of our city civil servants, a new attitude of service, a strong work ethic, imaginative planning and development, consideration of the needs of all citizens and solid, frugal financial management of taxpayer dollars.
# posted by James W Breckenridge : 4:04 PM
