Confidence Lost Is Not Easily Regained

I wasn't slacking off yesterday. I had inquiries to make involving  lengthy communications.
The last one related to the half million dollar software program the town purchased  about eight months ago. 
It was an expenditure of $440,000 or thereabouts,  before year's end. 
A consultant was involved so a fee there also.
I argued  against it the project. To no avail.
A couple of months later $38,000  additional funds were  requested. Something had been overlooked in the previous purchase.
You may recall the software package was for the purpose of asset management. 
A record would be kept of  daily work orders. What repairs were required. How much manpower, equipment, time and other details would be funneled into the system.
I must confess the need for that level of detail completely escaped me.
Then I received a query  from an observant resident about  manpower and  various equipment on site  to repair what appeared to be a relatively small task.
AHA!! I thought.
The perfect opportunity  to illustrate the benefit of the expensive software . 
I  addressed the question to the Mayor at a Council meeting. 
"Certainly, Councillor"  the Mayor assured me  "Just send your question to the Director.  he will be able to provide the information."
So I did. 
But I didn't... get the information.
The system is not yet up and running, the director informed me.
Weeks went by. Yesterday I forwarded an inquiry to the  manager of the I.T. department.
Is the new system up and running?
Received a response instead  from the Chief Financial Officer  advising  only Directors  provide Councillors with information. To ensure the information  is correct.
You may recall in 2010,  Directors advised Council  water rates were to increase 12% ,if I re-call correctly.
Estimates of water loss,  increased from 8% to 12%   partly  justified the increase. 
The Directors  insisted  all parks, works and fire department use of  unmetered water  was accounted for in department budgets and  not part of water loss estimates.
That year , I asked for a record of water breaks in the municipality to understand a 50% increase in water loss. 
The information was refused.
Directors  could do that in the last Council. 
It was like when I asked for  legal costs incurred  by the Mayor's practice of retaining legal counsel on her own initiative. 
Those figures were also refused. .
Despite the law that entitles all of us  access to  information on public spending.
Another substantial increase in water rates  was imposed in 2011 with  the same insistence  all  unmetered water use by works, parks and fire was charged to the various department budgets.It was not included in water loss estimates.
Which were included in calculating rates for meter users.
Finally, in 2012, it was  acknowledged  unmetered water used by parks,works and fire had not been previously charged to the various departments .
Meter users had been overcharged  in previous years by an amount 
of $470.000 or thereabouts.
Details were not provided.
Just the statement the directors could no longer justify  charging non-metered water use by town departments  to  residential and business  metered users.
It took the second year of  a  new Council. 
It took  persistence  of a handful of  residents  to wring that admission from the Directors. 
It will take more, much more, than that to restore  my confidence in information provided to me by some Town Directors.
That is a serious state of affairs.   

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