COUNCIL WON'T STOP SPENDING - EVER

 

MAYOR KROG: BORROWING WITHOUT CONSENT

 

“Public office is not about pleasing a minority. It’s about doing what’s right for the larger community.”
— Mayor Leonard Krog, CHEK News

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THE FACTS:

• Over 8,000 taxpayers — more than 10% of eligible voters — opposed the $130M works yard loan.
• Mayor Krog dismissed them as a “minority.”
• Krog was elected with less than 17% of eligible voters.
• Council now set to add $185M in new debt.
• That equals a 15% tax hike for the next 20 years.

Let that sink in, Nanaimo.

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.

Let that sink in.