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Bell: City hall tries scaring us away from cutting their fat

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Be afraid, be very afraid.

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Be so afraid you won’t ever want cuts to the city budget. Just too much of a nightmare.

Services cut, lives at stake, a possible Apocalypse Now.

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Yes, here we go again.

The oldest trick in the book but there’s a sucker born every minute.

And when it comes to re-electing city politicians and making sure city hall never smartens up, Calgary is chock-full of suckers.

This time, the city has to cut $60 million. Taxes are crippling small business. The big blue playpen is forced to face reality.

The empty offices of downtown can’t bail out the porkers at city hall this time.

The trough has to get a little smaller.

Of course, more than a few of the seat warmers elected by Calgarians have their heads up their … well, let’s just say, where the sun don’t shine.

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They believe the city has no spending problem. They look at city hall and see a lean machine. They feel sick at the sight of scissors let alone picking them up and, God forbid, using them.

Then the news breaks. The news breaking every single doggone time talk turns to cuts. The news holding you hostage.

You want cuts, we’ll see how much you like them.

There’s the head of the union for Calgary firefighters. His name is Mike Henson and he doesn’t return my call. Maybe he’s new in town.

He talks to others. He somehow finds out the fire department faces a possible $9-million cut to their budget.

Wonder who leaked that number? Just sayin’.

Henson says the cut could affect front-line firefighting. Yikes! Who wants that?

He says the time it takes for firefighters to arrive at the scene could go up. The fire department is understaffed. Burn baby burn!

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Then the firefighter union prez says something he figures won’t be popular.

He’s right. Listen to this swill.

“Perhaps residential taxes have to increase to make up for that money,” he says, of the dough lost in the downturn of the downtown.

“We live in an A-1 city with A-1 services. If we want these services someone has to pay for them.”

Spoken like a man leading a union wanting to score a 5.5% pay hike over two years for its members.

Methinks his comments have backfired no matter how much we do respect those who run into the burning buildings while we’re running out.

The fire department bigshots aren’t talking. The fire department tells you to talk to city hall. The city says they won’t have a statement out Tuesday.

You know how this runaround works.

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Mayor Nenshi says police, fire and transportation is where the money is.

But the mayor tells us the city brass isn’t trying to scare anyone.

The bosses at city hall are terrific, he says.

“They really do things in a very, very thoughtful manner,” says His Worship, the one-time rebel against the city hall establishment.

“They don’t play games like that.”

No, no, if there’s a place they never play games it’s city hall. Gag.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi. Photo by Gavin Young /Postmedia

Ward Sutherland is a councillor on the city’s police commission. The city is asking the cops to cut a certain number.

Sutherland says the commission will vote on what kind of cut they’re willing to accept and that number will go back to city hall.

He expects everybody at the city, including the cops and firefighters, will have to cut something.

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“No one is going to get off scot-free. Everybody is going to have to share in the pain.”

By the way, nothing is decided until late July.

On this day Joe Magliocca is a councillor with a lot to say.

Joe, is city hall as lean as it can be?

“No. Big No. They friggin’ burn money like crazy.”

Magliocca says it shouldn’t be hard to find $60 million.

“It’s not rocket science. I could find it myself. We have to put the axe down.”

Jeromy Farkas is disgusted. He knows the game.

“This round of cuts needs to be the most radioactive option so it won’t fly with the public. Classic scare tactics.”

Farkas wants fluff cut before essentials and salaries before services. His crystal ball says that won’t happen.

The city group doling out dough to the arts crowd have a $12 million budget, doubled from last year, and they’ve been asked to cut $400,000.

That’s less than 4%, way less than the firefighters.

“B.S., peanuts,” says Coun. Sean Chu, summing up the situation perfectly.

rbell@postmedia.com

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