Stance and Balance

Our second home is Whistler.  I pay attention, reading both local newspapers most weeks.

In an unprecedented election in November, every incumbent on the council was swept from office.  Given the dysfunction over the past year and level of anger (some of it very Tea Party-like), I was surprised for there seemed to be two sides and I thought one would prevail and one not.  Not the case: total change.

The outgoing Mayor Ken Melamed is a friend and a great person.  He navigated the Olympics in 2010 and I think history will treat him well.  I’ve now gotten to know the new Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden a little and while a conservative for my taste, she is committed, smart, and anxious to diffuse the evident anger in the community.

But gnawing at me are the many letters and claims leading to the election that our taxes go up and up.  So here is a reality check.  My property tax  bill in 2003 was CAD3355.  My property tax bill in 2011 was CAD3420.  It has been up and down a bit:  range CAD3321-CAD3596.  Spin is everything?

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 5th, 2012 at 5:38 pm and is filed under Whistler. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.