[All] Jan d'Ailly is running for mayor and he is against the merger. Info here

[Louisette Lanteigne]

--- On Wed, 6/2/10, Jan d'Ailly <jan at kana.ca> wrote:




 







Jan makes sure that the facts are known and the issues are understood before a decision is made


 

June 2010


Welcome 
Jan at work
Jan at home
What others say
Jan's Blog
Contact Jan
2010 Election Issues
Election News
Archived Issues 2006

Dear Constituent,
 
In the upcoming  October Municipal elections, there will be a question on merger discussions with Kitchener.
 
I would like to make my position on the merger issue very clear.  I am against  a merger or amalgamation with Kitchener.  The evidence is clear and consistent that they do not work.
 
Firstly, taxes go up, not down, when municipalities merge.   Wages and service levels tend to rise to the higher level of the pre-merger cities.
 
Secondly, big government typically means less responsive government and more red tape. Politicians have larger wards and become less accessible and less accountable to local needs.  Meaningful public input and engagement become more difficult to achieve. A little friendly competition between the three cities in the Region does wonders to keep our local governments accountable and keep costs down. 
 
Thirdly, many very successful cities and regions, like Boston and Silicon Valley for example, are made up of many small municipalities which cooperate together while maintaining their distinct personalities. In Waterloo Region, we already thrive on partnerships and collaboration, and there is absolutely nothing to prevent us from continuing down this path even more than we do now.
 
And fourthly, we are different from Kitchener.  We have different policies and approaches when it comes to the environment and sustainability, to financial stewardship, to public engagement, to urban planning and design, and to development both in the UpTown and throughout the city. Our tax rate in Waterloo is lower. All this gets lost in a merger. 
 
Mergers have many costs and disadvantages.  So I ask, just what are the problems that the pro- merger group thinks will be solved that make the costs of a merger worth it? 
 
I would rather have a discussion on the pros and cons of our current system, the missed opportunities and problem areas. Then, let’s address them. We do not need to merge with Kitchener to make Waterloo a better place to live work and play.
 
Links to studies on municipal mergers can be found on my blog at www.jandailly.blogspot.com 
 
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.
 
 
Jan 
 





 

Jan d'Ailly for Waterloo Mayor

 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20100602/26c596da/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: JDAillyUnlockPotential200.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 7602 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20100602/26c596da/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20100602/26c596da/attachment.gif>