Being mayor of any city can be frustrating; being mayor of Moose Jaw is no exception.
Frustration, apparently, caused Mayor Fraser Tolmie to give Councillor Brian Swanson a tongue-lashing at a recent city council meeting.
Swanson was the lone member of council holding back his vote of approval on the record $7.8 million sale of the new industrial park to a private company.
His stated objection was wording of the sale contract clause that allowed a transfer of the park to another owner with city council consent. Swanson lost his motion to remove “without unreasonable delay” from the contract. He feared no one knows what constitutes unreasonable delay.
The mayor tied into Swanson, asserting the councillor wants to oppress Moose Jaw development.
Tolmie may have a point. Swanson has over the years been opposed to so many programs that the label AEFO (against everything, for nothing) has been attached to his name.
While it seems petty to object to a record land deal over three words, that oversight could come back to haunt the city and council.
The mayor’s overriding frustration became evident when he attacked Swanson for raising concerns over growing tax arrears.
Tax arrears have consistently grown from $1.765 million in 2017 to a recent $2.447 million – or 38 per cent.
Swanson claimed growing property tax arrears would lead to a day of reckoning.
The mayor blasted Swanson for perpetuating the tax arrears statistic and seemed to be upset Swanson would raise the issue on the day the record land sale was approved.
Tolmie adopted a mayor-knows-best attitude in his attack. You can be sure he would conspire to vote Swanson off the island, were it possible.
To some observers, the Tolmie tirade was justified, based on Swanson’s long-standing opposition to so many things.
To other observers, the mayor was picking on the one councillor who consistently makes the public aware of thorny issues raised behind closed doors, matters the taxpayers would never hear about. Rightly or wrongly, he is seen by some voters as their hero fighting for the little guy.
Using the tax arrears matter to challenge Swanson’s attitude fails to recognize the importance of keeping a close eye on these arrears.
Anyone with a crumb of business experience knows when collections of accounts slow down something is wrong: either customers are short of cash from economic conditions or they are ticked off at the product/service being offered.
Growing tax arrears in Moose Jaw is no different. Continually increasing tax arrears are an elementary sign of tough times in the economy.
It is the duty of council members to raise concerns over issues like tax arrears. The mayor picked the wrong matter on which to lecture Swanson. The mayor’s comments suggest he believes nothing is amiss with growing arrears.
Hopefully the new industrial park owners will help boost tax assessment and take some burden off existing taxpayers.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
