Mayor Krog on Borrowing Without Consent
“I don’t see it as undermining the vote
under the AAP. I see it as council taking the leadership role that it’s elected
to undertake. Public office is not about pleasing a minority. It’s about doing
what’s right for the larger community.”
— Mayor Leonard Krog, CHEK News
Let those words sink in. On the page his contempt for public opinion may not
fully come through, but it is there.
This is the same Mayor who once said that if the AAP for the public works yard
failed, Council would be stuck with a referendum.
Now, when more than 8,000 taxpayers — over 10% of eligible voters — opposed
that massive loan, Krog dismisses them as a “minority.” Meanwhile, his own
mandate came from less than 17% of eligible voters.
With that razor-thin support, he believes he can saddle Nanaimo taxpayers with
staggering new debt. City Hall staff and Council are now poised to add another
$185 million in borrowing — the equivalent of a 15% tax increase locked in for
the next 20 years.
It seems a kind of political virus infects our leaders: the belief that we can
keep running up the tab without consequence.
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