(News columnist) Mr. Rushton, you promoted the City of Abbotsford takeover, and you spoke at public meetings about our obligation to pay our fair share to join this great place.
People like you and John Les were instrumental in encouraging Area H to accept this merger as a logical progression of the area.
You did not want a vote on this because you knew it would not pass.
You will note there were really no big specific promises from the city about what they would give us when we joined the fold. They were big on vagueness.
Other than a slightly larger police presence and the garbage pickup that you pay for, there is no difference.
You will, at some future date, be able to develop your property as a subdivision which you could never do with the Fraser Valley Regional District.
I’m sure this was always a prime motivator of yours for encouraging the takeover.
Is the ditch cleaning a bone-headed bureaucratic idea? Of course.
But you of all people should never complain. You wanted Abbotsford – you got it.
You had small bureaucracy, you had small taxes. Now you have mega-bureaucracy, you have mega -taxes.
You get the idea.
Take heart when paying your taxes this July – you are just paying your fair share.
Soren Larsen