Editor's note: This is a letter to Mayor Rob Kirkham. It was copied to The Chief for publication.
This is to express my utter disbelief at these tax and utility rises. Helmut Manzl is right on in The Chief ("The tiresome DOS two-step," Quantum Leap, April 11). Two- to four-per-cent rises would be OK. I am a pensioner and cannot afford these huge increases. I see, for example, new district employees using leaf blowers on Glacier View Drive - a futile make-work activity indicative of spendthrift behaviour.
The Adventure Centre has morphed into a tourist booth coffee shop from a potential marketing/tourism venture to bringing in Californians and Germans to our outdoor paradise. "Profligacy" is the byword, it seems. Stop hitting the person in the street. Get some new incentives and ideas into this town to pay taxes. I was just in Leavenworth, Wash., for my umpteenth visit. This is a beautiful replica Bavarian village (with complementary industry) that pulls in 2 million people a year since they adopted a German theme in 1964. It is booming in the USA's downturn. Compare this to the 1950s lookalike downtown Squamish and all the industrial metal waste lurking in areas all around Squamish. Pick a theme and get all the businesses in on it.
Fair's fair... we did get the Gondie, but new, visionary councils here we come.
Peter Austen
Squamish
