The Editor,
Re: "City plans trips to China, Japan," News, March 30.
Open letter to the mayor: Mayor Brodie, on behalf of Richmond taxpayers, I would like to wish you and your merry band of arrogant big spenders a safe and happy "vacation" in Asia.
I would also like to congratulate city hall for being pro-active in expanding the "vacation" destinations (you call them Sister Cities) by adding another location to the list and squirreling away another $234,000 of taxpayers' money to cover future "vacation" trips.
Ted (Townsend, city spokesman), we sure appreciate your efforts to save money by obtaining discounted air fares but, you know, if these useless trips were cancelled, there would be an even greater savings for taxpayers.
No matter what spin council puts on these junkets or the normal buzzwords used to justify them, they provide little or no value to the Richmond taxpayer.
With surpluses (over taxation) between $1.5 million to an obscene $6.5 million over the past several years and $2.5 million this past year, along with an obvious abundance of taxpayers' money for these "vacation" trips, it will be interesting to see how council reacts to the latest RCMP contract salary bombshell.
In the meantime, I'm sure this administration will defend their arrogant behaviour by claiming to be fiscally responsible and providing strong leadership.
What is equally disappointing is how quickly the newcomers to council have jumped into the trough.
Shame on you!
Enjoy your sake and sushi.
L.B. Black Richmond
