Caradonna’s pay and his performance
I congratulate Victoria Coun. Jeremy Caradonna for orchestrating his stealth 25 per cent salary increase. Smart move.
Most people get their salary increases after an annual performance review and, clearly, he would not receive any increase based on his actual performance.
As a resident of Vic West, I sent an email to Caradonna regarding a safety issue in the neighbourhood on Jan. 31.
To date he has not replied to my email, nor has he even acknowledged receipt.
Value for money: Absolutely none.
JoAnne Bonnyman
Victoria
Victoria council: Back away from the trough
Victoria Coun. Jeremy Caradonna has said good governance requires a level of service and dedication that fair wages can enable.
Good governance? What has this cabal of councillors given Victoria in good governance?
Hmmm, let’s see, oh yes in order to help beleaguered businesses in the downtown area get more customers, they decided to extend the hours of paid meter parking from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
What next, I wonder, perhaps meters that only accept bitcoin?
Then they tackled the onerous dilemma of the Centennial Fountain, how many hours and wasted money did this consume of their good governance?
Meanwhile, dope deals and addicts are shooting up in door ways and on the sidewalks of Blanshard and Douglas streets. Downtown is unsafe and along Pandora Avenue the undead and zombies roam.
This Quixotic group of councillors should stick to what they were elected for, to serve the fine citizens of Victoria and provide us all with a safe and clean Victoria. Good governance means that processes and institutions produce results that meet the needs of society while making the best use of resources at their disposal.
So back away from the trough and get back to work making this city of Victoria wonderful again.
Robin Goldie
Victoria
They were unprepared and maybe unqualified
Did none of these low-paid councillors check out the pay and time required to do the job before they applied for it?
Seems like it should be a normal procedure rather than going in unprepared and possibly unqualified. Coun. Jeremy Caradonna seems to have found these details only after he accepted the job.
Taking the job and then voting himself and others a hefty raise seems like a major conflict of interest. He did not mention how much time is considered full-time or how many councillors are engaged in other part-time paid activities.
In the interest of transparency, we need to know the full details.
Dorothy Mullen
Victoria
Higher standard needed from city councils
Let’s face it, The average city councillor’s business IQ is not impressive. We test the limits of “the greater fool theory” every election.
Our tolerance for amateur meddling is on display.
Serial vanity projects take precedence over traffic sclerosis and nasty architectural growths some call development. Alpha builders rule and our streets are starting to resemble a city in decline, Soviet style for sure.
We have the word of objecting councillor Marg Gardiner of how agenda flipping conceals the public eye from the controversial.
Don’t we deserve a higher standard when so much is at risk? Is the concept of “cost benefit analysis” foreign to our underpaid guardians of the bloated budgets in their care?
Isn’t there a strong case for demanding greater transparency and efficiency and then paying them a commensurate level of compensation?
Look around. It’s obvious we are getting what we pay for.
Russell Thompson
Victoria
Admire those who run for council seats
I remain amazed that our citizenry still considers running for a spot on a local council.
I admire those who dare to take it on given the nasty rhetoric, disrespect and lack of civility directed to our elected officials, which sadly is on the increase.
John Stevenson
Victoria
Fate of Alix Goolden hall is civic abandonment
Having conducted many concerts at the beautiful Alix Goolden, I am distressed to see it gradually falling toward disuse as a concert hall.
There are now established encampments attached to the temporary construction-type fencing that was thrown up in a desperate attempt to keep people off the building itself. The state of disarray and disorder gets worse by the day. Temporary is turning out to be a very long time.
When the fence was put up several years ago, the police department offered protection at the front entrance to allow opening the fence directly in front of the main entrance to permit patrons to enter, and to serve as a fire exit during concerts.
However, that police protection was subsequently discontinued due to budget restraints. As a result, the Conservatory has had to impose severe limits, to about 50 per cent capacity.
No balcony seating was allowed at my last Singalong Messiah concert three months ago, because there are now insufficient fire exits.
As well, many groups’ customary patrons no longer feel safe even approaching the beautiful heritage building. The site has become less and less viable as a performance venue and leaves many would-be users searching for alternatives.
Having such an important performance venue so compromised represents a huge loss to the community, the performing arts and the Conservatory. The city appears to have abandoned its responsibility here, as there is no plan to either moderate or correct this situation.
Purchasing Herman’s Jazz club, as laudable as that might be, does nothing to counter-balance this serious civic abandonment.
Hilary Sandford (Coupland)
Victoria
Thoughtful approach for new housing
Re: “Victoria’s Official Community Plan survey is a flawed process,” commentary, March 25.
Thank you to Phil Calvert for clearly laying out all the problems with Victoria’s OCP consultation process. I, too, am concerned about the limited ways we’ve all been asked to respond to the provincial government’s monumental changes to zoning.
The proposed blanket, homogenous redevelopment of Victoria and the entire Capital Regional District is a disaster in the making with massive environmental and cultural downsides.
It is too easy to charge those of us calling for caution with NIMBYism. Yes, we need more housing, but it must be thoughtful and fine-tuned to respect local needs and environmental factors, from Garry Oak meadows and watersheds, to urban canopies and green space.
I live near Mount Tolmie, part of the Bowker Creek watershed and near a salmon creek that has been lovingly restored over many years.
Yet, the OCP calls for massive development and densification along the entire length of the culverted creek from McKenzie to Lansdowne.
The Suzuki Foundation tells us that “British Columbia has the richest biodiversity of any Canadian province. It is home to 76 per cent of Canada’s bird species, 70 per cent of its freshwater fish species and thousands of other animals and plants.”
We are stewards of this extraordinary ecosystem for all the generations to come, not ourselves. We must build carefully.
Susan Hamilton
Victoria
Belfry doubles down with another play
After cancelling their production of The Runner, an action with undertones of antisemitism and censorship, the Belfry Theatre is following up with a play with strong antisemitic tropes.
The Lehman Brothers is ostensibly a play about the downfall of the American banking family, but productions and reviews of this play usually downplay or ignore a sad reality.
As quoted by a more perceptive reviewer, in the Guardian newspaper: “Unfortunately, it is also profoundly antisemitic. Not in a crude way — a clumsy turn of phrase here, a jarring stereotype there — but in its innermost essence, connecting a modern audience to malevolent beliefs about Jews and money that are buried deep within western thought”.
This is, in my view, the face of antisemitism in Victoria today.
Marcus Handman
Victoria
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