Mayor’s Trip to China: A slow boat?
At Monday’s Council Meeting (August 17, VICC, 7 pm), Staff will bring forward a request that Council authorize an extra $11,000 in 2015 travel funds for the Mayor to travel to Shanghai and Beijing in China.
It is difficult not to notice that the information backdrop to this request for $11,000 in extra funds, echoes that in many City reports where grand assertions are made from scant substance. For example:
- How does this trip relate to that taken last September by NEDC?
- Why is this trip important as Mr. Angus has already said that the Hilton Hotel deal is coming this fall?
- Will the Mayor raise there, as he did here, questions regarding SSS Manhao suing the City for expenses which they supposedly undertook, but failed to perform upon, relative to the Conference Centre Hotel?
- What kinds of offers will the Mayor be authorized to make on behalf of Nanaimo and its City Council?
- How will the Mayor deal with the language question? His hosts will entertain him in English, but if he does not have a capable Mandarin speaker with obligations to us rather than them, very important by-play will be missed. He will need a good interpreter. This significant expense is not currently included.
- Who else is going along on this junket? How are their expenses being covered? From some other taxpayer funded source such as NEDC or the DNBIA?
- And why, if this is for the purpose of economic development, is NEDC not paying for the Mayor’s expenses. Isn’t this double dipping?
Councillor McKay was a prolific user of standard City expenses: 2012-$7,500.33; 2013 – $14,972.89; 2014 – $11,232.10. Have the benefits of these expenses been so clear that we are prepared on so little information to top up his 2015 expenses by another $11,000+?
Ron Bolin
Posts and Comments on Nanaimo Governance 
Hi Ron, You certainly go on & on about just about anything to do with city council. Is there anything, I mean anything that meets with your particular requirements as to how the city is governed. I think not. Lee Travino, the golfer, once said “I can hardly wait to get up in the morning and find out what I have to say today” Sound familiar ? I suggest you revise the name of this page to Ron Bolins’ rant and raves, the existing is I found, veru misleading
Have a good one Ron.
Ron Cumming. Thanks for following the blog. I’m sorry if you find it too hard on Nanaimo’s City administration, but having worked for governments at a number of levels and in various countries across the world, I find Nanaimo’s way of doing the big things disturbing. There is a lot to like in the little things. Perhaps you could show me where I am overly negative and point out the happier notes of our governance in those areas. The VICC perhaps? The SARK affair? The Colliery Dams? The ongoing hotel saga?
I await your happier picture.
Mayor McKay is a big supporter of the Oceanview/Cable Bay project.
The Cable Bay proponents are about to go to Council to restate their commitment to the project.
There is also a study to be made on the costs of building a bridge to Gabriola Island; the bridge would require a road from the ferry road through Cable Bay lands.
The Chinese are taking their money out of China as fast as they can.
Connect the dots.
I am happy that Mr. Bolin follows the city affairs and when necessary holds council’s feet to the fire. We indeed need some one to watch how the city administration conducts business . Often it seems decisions were made without enough information. This is how we find ourselves with costly mistakes.
Maybe Ron can ask just who will accompany the mayor to China.
Could it be WIlf Richard, Glen Brower or Roger McKinnon?