Paul Lalli says he's seen enough. The District of Squamish's fiscal mismanagement over the last few years has compelled him to run again for council to bring predictability to taxpayers and explore "outside the box" concepts for generating revenue."Last year's 10.5 per cent increase is unacceptable," said Lalli after announcing his intentions Monday (Sept. 22). "Borrowing to pave roads is poor financial planning." The two-term Squamish councillor and former mayoral contender said it's time to explore new ways to generate money - ideas such as corporate naming sponsorship of the Adventure Centre, utilizing some of the district's five rivers for independent power production, and introduction of a municipally-administered lottery system."The province makes millions of dollars every year on lottery systems whether it's 6/49, BC/49, scratch and wins, etc.," he said. "We need to see if they [the province] will allow us to do this first, and if not, we need to lobby them to get our share of [B.C. lottery] revenues."He said another crucial way to bring taxes changes to a predictable level is by beginning the budgeting process earlier, and setting priorities at the outset."In every other business you have a clear set of priorities and you move forward with them and you know how you're going to budget with them. This is something you clearly want to tell staff right from the beginning.'"Lalli came onto the Squamish council scene as the youngest candidate ever elected at the age of 24 during a May 1996 byelection. He had six-year run as councillor and during a bid for mayor in 2002, lost to Ian Sutherland by 540 votes. He held positions with the Municipal Finance Authority, Property Assessment Review panel for School District 48, the South Asian diabetes action committee and the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District. In 2006, after collecting 2,200 names for support, Lalli was removed from his bid to represent the federal Conservatives by challenging incumbent Conservative MP Nina Grewal in the Surrey riding of Fleetwood-Port Kells. The reason, Lalli said, was the party was protecting Grewal. Lalli is now a 37-year-old husband and father of two young girls. He's been publicly vocal about his opposition to the SLRD's proposed Regional Growth Strategy lately, weighing in on the matter in letters to the editor, council and public meetings. He is on the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corp. (SODC) board, having joined three months, and says these lands are the key to Squamish's economic future.
