LETTER – Councillors are giving taxpayers silence, debt and excuses

I’m sorry to say it, but re-electing Coun. Bass would be a costly mistake. Alongside the rest of Kamloops council, she has shown little regard for the city’s long-term financial health, while faithfully rubber-stamping the wishes of City Hall’s well-fed bureaucracy. Under this regime, the city has managed the remarkable feat of needing to borrow $40 million just to keep the lights on. That takes a special kind of talent.

Coun. Bass has also allegedly helped turn the code of conduct process into a political weapon, costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars on complaints that went nowhere. If there were Olympic medals for wasting public money, this council would be on the podium.

Perhaps most troubling, this council has increasingly shut down direct communication with citizens. Coun. Bass herself has indicated she does not like speaking directly with the very people she was elected to represent. Apparently, public service now means avoiding the public.

Kamloops deserves councillors who listen, question spending, and remember whose money they are spending. Right now, taxpayers are getting silence, debt, and excuses.