A Zero With No Plan

Ottawa's bumbling Mayor continues to bluster and bluff. Yesterday he pontificated to a group of business leaders and city councilors about his "plan" to be a total zero. Some reactions.

"We've seen over the last year that this is the mayor's style, all pomp and no substance. The mayor's answer seems always to be to privatize the whole of the city." Sean McKenny, president of the Ottawa and District Labour Council

“He has no vision, he has no plan” Gloucester-Southgate Councilor Diane Deans

Even the cantankerous Randall Denley of the Ottawa Citizen added his voice to the refrain:

“Mayor Larry O'Brien's "budget plan" is not much more than useless bluster. The secret in his secret plan was that there was really no plan at all.”

Larry 0 was once again bereft of any real ideas on how to meet his valley-boy osh-gaw commitment. Since it is clear Larry 0 has no clue on how to run a city, maybe it’s time we start giving him some help. Larry, free of charge, here is some starting advice.

0. Your zero means zero campaign is a zero idea. No councilor (who is not from the right-wing rural fringe) thinks this is possible. No city columnist thinks so either. This includes the Ottawa Sun (not exactly known for its progressive views). Almost none of you bureaucrats think so either.
1. You can’t eliminate city employees by waving your wand. Since you’ve only run a staff outsourcing outfit you might not know that it takes employees to provide services. Cities need employees to run services such as libraries, pools, arenas, and day care.
2. OK, I understand you have some primordial need to cut somewhere, anywhere. I’ll give you this one. Every year the police ask for a increase in their budget. Every year they get it. Why not start by denying the police a 9% budget increase (equal to a 1.5% increase in city taxes). Crime is at its lowest in 20 years. Why are we increasing the police budget?
3. Stop building expensive roads until we have a transit plan (um, did we not have one already?).
4. Pressure the province to provide more equitable funding. Even you mentor Sam Katz did this in Winnipeg.

Larry that is three more ideas that you provided yesterday (privitizing parking does not constitute an idea). I’ll hand you some later. Maybe others will have some ideas for you too! Perhaps you would learn if you spent more time listening and less time pontificating.