Taxation Without Representation – City of Airdrie – A Series On Lack Of Transparency And Accountability Of Municipal Governments
Poly Tics . Social Studies
From: Al Neitsch
Sent: Friday, February 16, 2024 2:46:30 PM
To: Peter Brown <Peter.Brown@airdrie.ca>; Mayor <mayor@airdrie.ca>; Airdrie-East <airdrie.east@assembly.ab.ca>; Airdrie-Cochrane <Airdrie.Cochrane@assembly.ab.ca>; Blake Richards – Member of Parliament <blake@blakerichards.ca>; Office of the Premier <Premier@gov.ab.ca>; MA Minister <Minister.MunicipalAffairs@gov.ab.ca>
Cc: Tina Petrow <Tina.Petrow@airdrie.ca>; Candice Kolson <Candice.Kolson@airdrie.ca>; Heather Spearman <Heather.Spearman@airdrie.ca>; Al Jones <Al.Jones@airdrie.ca>; Darrell Belyk <Darrell.Belyk@airdrie.ca>; Ron Chapman <Ron.Chapman@airdrie.ca>
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] The Optics of ‘Taxation Without Representation’
Mayor Brown,
Thank-you for your letter of February 3. I started reading it on the 7th but stopped after reading the words, “always great to hear from you”. I found them somewhat disingenuous, given previous exchanges, and at the time had just about had enough of the non-responses and overall insincerity that comes from the people that are supposed to serve the people. This, inspite of the recent perceived reversals of non-government agendas, ones that put Albertans and families first, the ones that come from other levels of government. I read it fully only two days ago. While I appreciate your responding, it seems that you may not be willing or able to understand the points made or have not examined any of the materials that have been sent to you collectively for context, as seems to be the case with the councilors and managers that are also to serve the people.
The majority of working class taxpayers and families are painfully aware of the high cost of inflation on everything and the added injury of taxation and rate hikes without representation. We hardly needed examples. The majority of us that have to pay these added costs do not have the luxury of enhancing their incomes to cover these added expenses. Whether you all work hard or for long periods of time or not is subjective on your part. What are you working hard on? Whether you have a pension plan or not adds no comfort to our experience. Those of us that are already receiving pensions are seeing that the C.P.P. or any other private pension plans are not sustainable against the ongoing inflation crisis. If you are not open about your total compensation packages, might we assume that most of you have side hustle interests or other C.O.A. corporate benefits to make up for any compensatory shortfalls, including pensions. I sincerely doubt that you are all driven to serve the public purely out of altruistic motives. Whether you are collectively working for the common good of the citizens of Airdrie could be objectively questioned given the agendas, policies and purviews that you adopt – and by the very obvious reluctance of The City of Airdrie to be held transparent or accountable by recent restrictions to engagement. That you said, and I paraphrase, that the public should not influence policy was disturbing, and very telling.
The optics of a public servant’s ability and willingness to influence their incomes, ones that keep pace with manufactured inflation, where the people they are to serve have no such capacity, are not made clear by your response. To say that you are collectively doing what other municipalities are doing by way of compensation does not exclude you from being self aware to what is happening in the community that you are to serve. Did any of you gratefully decline? Who is this ‘independent body’ that determines your worth?
I find it hard to believe that The City of Airdrie is totally unaware of the non-government agencies that have infiltrated municipal governance and ‘policy’. You have been presented with information to help you identify the pervasive influence of U.N. Agendas 21 and 30 and all of the other U.N.E.S.C.O. organizations like U.N.D.R.I.P. and I.C.L.E.I. The City of Airdrie’s involvement with the C.M.R.B. also warrants scrutiny. The hope is that you would collectively choose to examine any articles for your discernment and use them to establish points of ethical policy. The reality is that there is a collective policy to not acknowledge their receipt and seemingly a greater policy of not even reading them or responding with substantive content. Not everything presented to you, that does not align with your initiatives is a conspiracy theory to be dismissed. To ignore facts without full public engagement could be labelled as ignorance but to know the facts and act in a manner that may do harm in the short or long term is malfeasance.
Your recent response does not address any of the points or questions that have been previously presented. Without repeating all of the concerns and questions that have already been asked and ignored, seemingly in favor of pursuing social engineering and sustainable development initiatives, please focus on the overreaching questions that you are required, as public servants, to answer. To be clear, these are not accusations.
- Are you employees of the private corporation known as The City of Airdrie whose sole purpose is to develop and manage municipal finance, infrastructure and public services?
- Are you agents of un-elected, global, non-government entities who have either been compromised or incentivized to engage in cultural or social change agreements and contracts that violate The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and national sovereignty?
- Did you collectively swear to provide full transparency and accountability to the citizens you are to serve?
- Is the office of the ‘Chief Administrative Officers’ beholden to or operating on behalf of any non-government agencies?
As a closing point, to challenge me to run for office if I think I can do better does not promote transparency or proof of ethical governance. It sarcastically suggests otherwise. It implies a sense of righteousness that drives so many people to do what they do or to not do what they shouldn’t. It’s not helpful. Recent municipal ‘affairs’ such as that in Chestermere and other cities and towns are very eye opening and require further questions and action. There seems to be greater interest in municipal ‘affairs’ of late. May this movement grow.
I might consider your challenge to run and accept your kind offer of financial support but recent and ongoing personal setbacks are very likely preventative. Because of these setbacks, I was seriously considering stepping away from what I see as problematic in the place where I choose to call home and the province and country where I hope my daughters might thrive and raise families. This recent exchange has made me re-examine my intentions and for this I thank you. You are correct that opinions are protected under ‘The Charter’ – at least for now – but so are the facts upon which opinions are based. The obligation of full disclosure by government to the people they are to serve is also covered under ‘The Charter’. This is not opinion. Granted a lot of these communications contain some level of rhetoric and opinion but as you said, “We are not perfect”. We too have “the very best interest of our residents & businesses in all that we do.” As a gesture to promote transparency and accountability, could The City of Airdrie not hold ‘town halls’ to invite public engagement that go beyond the restrictive process currently in place?
Sincerely, With Others, Without Malice,
Al Neitsch
Windsong, Airdrie, Canada
Also:
Can you please help us understand the compensation structure of our public servants? Can you please also provide details on other compensation that C.O.A. public servants have access to such as per diems, credit cards and paid memberships? The City of Airdrie’s website does contain a lot of content and text but as your employers we task you to clarify. Is this published information incorrect?
Sent from Mail for Windows
From: Peter Brown <Peter.Brown@airdrie.ca>
Sent: Saturday, February 3, 2024 8:50:40 PM
To: Al Neitsch <awneitsch@hotmail.com>; MA Minister <Minister.MunicipalAffairs@gov.ab.ca>; Mayor <mayor@airdrie.ca>; au.minister@gov.ab.ca <au.minister@gov.ab.ca>; Office of the Premier <Premier@gov.ab.ca>; Danielle Smith <danielle@daniellesmith.ca>
Cc: Airdrie-Cochrane <Airdrie.Cochrane@assembly.ab.ca>; Airdrie-East <airdrie.east@assembly.ab.ca>; Tina Petrow <Tina.Petrow@airdrie.ca>; Al Jones <Al.Jones@airdrie.ca>; Ron Chapman <Ron.Chapman@airdrie.ca>; Heather Spearman <Heather.Spearman@airdrie.ca>; Candice Kolson <Candice.Kolson@airdrie.ca>; Darrell Belyk <Darrell.Belyk@airdrie.ca>
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] The Optics of ‘Taxation Without Representation’
Sorry forgot to clarify our City Manager does not make $450,000 as u stated in your email, his base Salary in the 270 s with no bonus .
Regards,
Peter
| Peter Brown Mayor (Tel) 403.948.8800 Ext. 8820 (Fax) 403.948.6567 peter.brown@airdrie.ca |
https://facebook.com/mayorpeter.brown
This transmission and any attachments/enclosures contain information which is confidential and/or privileged and is intended solely for the use of the person(s) to whom the message is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible to deliver it to the intended recipient, please be advised that any review, disclosure, copying, distribution or use of this communication, or taking action on its contents is strictly prohibited. If you received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and permanently delete or destroy this transmission, including any attachments/enclosures, without reading, copying or forwarding it to anyone else
From His Lordship/Worship – A rant on the price of things while showing an inability to comprehend or interpret published public information.
From: Peter Brown
Sent: Saturday, February 3, 2024 7:28:20 PM
To: Al Neitsch <awneitsch@hotmail.com>; MA Minister <Minister.MunicipalAffairs@gov.ab.ca>; Mayor <mayor@airdrie.ca>; au.minister@gov.ab.ca <au.minister@gov.ab.ca>; Office of the Premier <Premier@gov.ab.ca>; Danielle Smith <danielle@daniellesmith.ca>
Cc: Airdrie-Cochrane <Airdrie.Cochrane@assembly.ab.ca>; Airdrie-East <airdrie.east@assembly.ab.ca>; Tina Petrow <Tina.Petrow@airdrie.ca>; Al Jones <Al.Jones@airdrie.ca>; Ron Chapman <Ron.Chapman@airdrie.ca>; Heather Spearman <Heather.Spearman@airdrie.ca>; Candice Kolson <Candice.Kolson@airdrie.ca>; Darrell Belyk <Darrell.Belyk@airdrie.ca>
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] The Optics of ‘Taxation Without Representation’
Hello Mr Neitsch, always great to hear from you and sorry for the late response . I believe within your commentary there was a couple of questions I could answer fixed daily charges’ of 10% and 13% respectively. Can we expect water management and waste removal enhancements? Answer No, our businesses are subjected to the same inflationary challenges as every other business. I hope your sending your emails to dairy farmers of Canada as milk has doubled in Price? My brand of cereal went from 5.99 to $11.50 I believe Kellogg’s deserves a call, not to mention every other food product across the spectrum. Been to Home Depot lately prices of OSB, lumber & building materials price levels never seen in the history of tracking pricing. How about housing historic highs in Alberta & across the country. Increases in interest rates, I hope you have emailed the bank of Canada to show your disdain. How bout energy prices, gas , electricity through the roof. I wonder if a municipality gets a discounted rate, unfortunately we do not. The price of automobiles, I bought a brand new Nissan king cab for $14,000 back in the day, the same truck today is over $60,000 wow. How about insurance costs? What about Provincial and federal taxes and fees, we are minuscule compared to those guys Can you imagine what it costs just for Energy to Heat a community Pool, or a rec center or to keep ice in our arenas frozen. If you’re speaking for those people who are struggling, I hope your not just focusing on COA.
Council salaries, yes after 4 years we received an increase, I can send you the policy if you would like? We compare ourselves to other like size municipalities such as St Albert, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Grand Prairie, Lethbridge etc. Further we have an independent body review the comparable’s & they determine the increase not Airdrie City council. None of Airdrie City Council claim overtime and have no pension. Personally, I am working most every day, and I am not complaining as I am aware of my role in the Community. My colleagues all bust their humps as well, so if you feel strongly, we are overpaid, then I look forward to your future assertions.
I hope u decide to run for public office one day (I will sign your nomination papers and pay the $100 bucks) We are not perfect, however I know everyone in our organization has the very best interest of our residents & businesses in all that we do. If you don’t think so, well under the Charter of Rights and freedoms your entitled to your opinion.
Have a great weekend.
Regards,
Peter
| Peter Brown Mayor (Tel) 403.948.8800 Ext. 8820 (Fax) 403.948.6567 peter.brown@airdrie.ca | 400 Main St. SE Airdrie, Alberta T4B 3C3 www.airdrie.ca | |
https://facebook.com/mayorpeter.brown
This transmission and any attachments/enclosures contain information which is confidential and/or privileged and is intended solely for the use of the person(s) to whom the message is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible to deliver it to the intended recipient, please be advised that any review, disclosure, copying, distribution or use of this communication, or taking action on its contents is strictly prohibited. If you received this transmission in error, please notify the sender immediately and permanently delete or destroy this transmission, including any attachments/enclosures, without reading, copying or forwarding it to anyone else.
From: Al Neitsch <awneitsch@hotmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2024 3:57 PM
To: MA Minister <Minister.MunicipalAffairs@gov.ab.ca>; Mayor <mayor@airdrie.ca>; Peter Brown <Peter.Brown@airdrie.ca>; au.minister@gov.ab.ca; Office of the Premier <Premier@gov.ab.ca>; Danielle Smith <danielle@daniellesmith.ca>
Cc: Airdrie-Cochrane <Airdrie.Cochrane@assembly.ab.ca>; Airdrie-East <airdrie.east@assembly.ab.ca>; AirdrieToday.com <headlines.airdrie@newsletter.greatwest.ca>; AirdrieCityView.com <members@airdrie.greatwest.ca>; Tina Petrow <Tina.Petrow@airdrie.ca>; Al Jones <Al.Jones@airdrie.ca>; Ron Chapman <Ron.Chapman@airdrie.ca>; Heather Spearman <Heather.Spearman@airdrie.ca>; Candice Kolson <Candice.Kolson@airdrie.ca>; Darrell Belyk <Darrell.Belyk@airdrie.ca>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] The Optics of ‘Taxation Without Representation’
| CAUTION: This email originated from outside the organization. Do NOT click on links or open attachments you do not trust. |
To Our Public Servants, Elected or Not,
Optics can be defined as a branch of physics or medicine that studies electromagnetic radiation, heat, color, light and their interactions with matter, and instruments used to gather information from these interactions. Fundamentally, optics is the study of light and sight.
Recently, during the development and deployment of politically correct speech, optics can be defined as the aspects of words, action, policy, or decisions that relate to public perceptions. The concept requires that in ‘modern’ politics, elected and un-elected public servants should be judged, not by their actions but the first impression their actions or words make. Most often this new parlance is weaponized to control a narrative or popular opinion to gain and hold power and enact policy and legislation that may not be in the best interests of citizens, whether they are made aware of them or not.
‘Taxation without representation’ is a term, slogan or situation that is most often associated to one used by American colonials against British rulers. Taxation without representation refers to a populace that is required to pay taxes or increased fees and penalties to a government authority without having any say in that government’s policies.
Examine the optics of recent developments in the City of Airdrie. Using recently altered or enhanced formulas for calculating property assessments, The City of Airdrie has unilaterally imposed a 6% property tax increase on already heavily overtaxed, working class property owners. This while bemoaning the new provincial infrastructure funding framework as ‘disheartening’ and as construction began on a $65 million multiuse facility and library that will no doubt experience cost overruns. Whether this project was actually needed or had overwhelming public approval, or was based on some other metric should be examined in detail. To add to the higher cost of ‘The Airdrie Advantage’, citizens of Airdrie have also experienced an increase in natural gas and electricity rates from other service providers. Further, The City of Airdrie has unilaterally imposed utility rate hikes averaging 5% without actually improving any of these services. Most notable are the increases in water and waste collection ‘fixed daily charges’ of 10% and 13% respectively. Can we expect water management and waste removal enhancements?
The extra burden of these tax and service rate hikes on citizens can not be overstated. The last four years of economic, health and social hardship have taken its toll on family and personal incomes. The common folk, especially pensioners and seniors are rarely able to increase their incomes to accommodate unchecked inflation and taxation. If there is to be an Alberta advantage to living in Canada, affordability should be a priority.
Not so for elected and un-elected public servants. It’s notable that City of Airdrie mayor and councilors were recently entitled to and ‘awarded’ 10% pay rises that coincidentally and conveniently cover the tax and utility rate increases they imposed on the citizens they are to serve. The unelected Chief Administrative Officers’ 2022 first quarter combined projected compensation is published to be $707,300 annually with current CAO receiving in excess of $450,000 annually. This substantial cost and current values should be explained in detail. The total cost of other compensation and benefits, including per diem perks for elected and un-elected public servants is not transparent. Full public disclosure should be a requirement, and not require a FOIA request.
Given that The City of Airdrie is not a representational council for ridings, districts or the citizens in them, the question remains of who our public servants really work for. If they are able to negotiate or receive financial advantages for themselves while imposing a higher cost of living against the people they are supposed to serve without transparency and accountability, there is need for change.
You collective thoughts?
Sincerely, With Others,
Al Neitsch
Windsong, Airdrie
Alberta, Canada
‘Taxation without representation is tyranny’
A slogan of the American Revolutionary War from years before. The colonists (common folk) were not allowed to choose representatives to parliament in London, which passed the laws under which they were taxed. To be taxed only with the consent of one’s defacto? representatives in Parliament was a particularly cherished right of the people under English law, a right dating back to Magna Carta in the thirteenth century. Each additional tax caused fresh resentment among the colonists. Taxation without representation is one of the principal offenses of Britain listed in the American Declaration of Independence. The very fine line between the lip service being given to preserving Democracy and the onset of authoritarian collectivism has long been broken.
Chestermere mayor calls inspection report ‘distortion of facts’
https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/chestermere-mayor-calls-inspection-report-distortion-of-facts-1.6331220
The connection between the MOMA and the municipality of Chestermere affair bears further scrutiny. It seems there might be more of a story here. Might a follow-up article be titled ‘How Bad Does A Ministry Have To Be To Get Fired?’