Tourism?

Who is paying for all of the “free stuff”? I’m not talking about all the swag you see Council members wearing (the logo shirts, jackets, hats, etc.). I’m sure those are taxable benefits. I’m talking about the “free” entertainment and the wages of the many party planners who are bringing it all together.

Despite being blocked on the Towns Facebook page, I do see some of the great mini concerts and celebrations the Town is planning. Yes, many will be free. But will they? Of course not! Your taxes are going to soar even higher and they will continue to say it is all because of the previous elected Council.

Your party planning Council is preparing to “Wow” everyone with a summer to remember. But what are their true intentions? This will be a massive continuation of rewarding those who helped them get elected. Just watch the spending habits by following the monthly cheque registers. It’s no surprise seeing the same regular businesses get their share of the pie monthly.

But who is paying for this new focus on parties? If you are a typical family living in one of the many neighborhoods in Wasaga Beach, there are no new splash pads for your kids. There are very few events planned at the RecPlex organized to have our children enjoy the community they live in. I haven’t heard of any massive trail improvement programs, sidewalks for safety or announcements of a new outdoor pool? Despite a 60 Million Dollar double pad arena in our hockey / skating town, no announced improvements to or an extra outdoor skating rink has been discussed.

But, you WILL pay your share of the costs for all of the Beach One entertainment that will attract people to the centre of councils universe. Many businesses from outside of Wasaga Beach will rush to the area, benefit from the Council Commitment of our taxes and take their profits home at the end of summer.

Exactly WHAT will all of this cost us this summer? lol… That’s the funny part. The CAO is so busy pretending to have 3 hour question and answer sessions with the public that he can’t help our Treasury department get the public cheque registers posted for public display in a timely manner, …so who really knows?

Today is May 10 and the March Cheque Register is still not posted. Why? Are all of the cheques not written yet? Are they contemplating how to label certain expenses? I’m guessing it is because Council does not want the public looking over true costs of items/ events when the events are still fresh in our minds.

I can only imagine how long the delays will be at the end of summer when the volume of payments will have ballooned again. I look forward to the year end audits as well. Will they finally post reports that show the REAL cost of the Smith Medical Clinic? YOUR TAXES ARE PAYING FOR PEOPLE FROM OTHER COMMUNITIES TO ACCESS MEDICAL SERVICES!

I just Can’t wait to see the budget documents this year, filled with the budgeted and actuals columns.

The biggest two expenses I hope EVERYONE focuses on this year are entertainment and the Medical Clinic. On top of the municipal budgeted items the different departments will spend, there will be all kinds of added expenses approved by council for these areas. (Staff hired, etc.) More importantly will be the new ability to spend whatever they want with our new entertainment corporation. It will certainly be interesting to see what (if any) reporting the public will be privy to with this new corporation. The one item that I took note of in the presentation council approved was the four positions created to operate this corporation at a cost of $427,000.00 yearly. That leaves $63,000.00 of the initial half million of your tax dollars used to fund this party planning arm of Councils reach. Actually, if you look even roughly at the finances that were used by the Deputy CAO to justify this new corporation it was all based on the two TPAL concerts apparently being profitable. I don’t think they were! So many known costs did not appear in that report and not a SINGLE elected member of our Council questioned it. They all nodded yes when told to vote. Wow! How much did it truly cost to put those concerts on? Our Council should look up the concept of “fiduciary responsibility”. Mayor Brian Smith used to quote those words all of the time. I challenge him to demand a complete, detailed “all in” financial report on the two concerts. They should have done that BEFORE approving the entertainment corporation funding.

Back to this summers entertainment…. It will all be pumped up and promoted to us locally as great for tourism. It’s starting now, and they will undoubtedly have the desired reaction they seek of “Wow, look what Council is bringing us.” But I urge you to look behind the wizards curtain. Ask the important questions…. What is all of this costing? What is the target audience? Who is ultimately paying? Why have the municipal portion of our taxes gone up more than 17% since this Council took office?

We are constantly told by our Mayor that our only industry is tourism. I disagree. It was at one time, but no longer. We have become a bedroom community, a community with a thriving, diverse collection of small home based businesses and professionals who work from home. Sure, we have tourism and we always will, but more than ever before, I think it is important to realize that our main industry is not a specific industry at all. The Town of Wasaga Beach is now best described as a great place to live! The Beach at Wasaga Beach has always been and always will be described as a great place to visit!

Maybe…. Just maybe, we can find Council members wise enough to embrace those as separate and distinct focuses in the future and TRY to ensure that “tourism” starts to fund itself!

But, hey…. Although I am critical of our Councils focus, their favours for friends and their irresponsible spending habits, they do throw a good party!

Oh… remember, Neither our Mayor nor our two CAO’s live in Wasaga Beach. This is OUR problem until we find a way to make it theirs.