If We Do Not Learn From Our Mistakes We Are Doomed To Repeat Them.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Good The Bad and The Ugly": 
The money isn't for the benefit of the thirteen Arboretum members - it is for all fifty-five thousand of us to enjoy their efforts.
(So much for the Season of Goodwill)
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Good The Bad and The Ugly": 
I have found the Master Plan for the Arboretum Project. It seems just fine & ambitious. What it does not supply are facts & figures about how to achieve the aim. Perhaps taxpayers would be more sympathetic to money requests if they were confident of the financial management being as solid as the planning for plantings.
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When I first heard of the plans for the Arboretum, I thought of Edwards Gardens . I went there with a cousin on a visit from Scotland. A famous singer  made a video  there and that's how they  heard of it in Scotland. 
It was a  summer day. Wedding parties were lined up to create memories of a special day.It was magical . 
Years later, it wasn't hard to persuade me  the  ravine on Lambert Wilson's former farm would lend itself  well to that purpose.
The Arboretum group were already active planting memorial trees  behind the Seniors Centre. They were creating  beauty and not costing the  taxpayers .
I was in full support of using some of the asset from sale of hydro to create an Edwards Gardens. 
But that's not how it worked out. 
The money came from tax dollars.
The first contract awarded by the  group was for weeding  flower beds. 
My illusions were not the fault of the group. 
They were mine. All mine. 
The parks department does the heavy lifting. Yes, there's lots of  volunteer labour.   
But decisions about money are made by people who are not accountablefor the decisions.
An entire parks and urban forest budget needs  to be funded.  Every year we planted  trees. But we never budgeted  to maintain trees we already had. 
Adding to the payroll is a tough sell. 
Yet, every year  we commited $100,000. to a group  who were not elected,  to spend as they see fit. 
We are staring at a 7%  annual increase in taxes, yet we give away 
$100.000. like it was pin money.  
As we  know, they are  not the only group with free access to public money in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
They are one of a number .
They are a special interest group. 
They are favoured.
They are preferred. 
All groups  have special interests. I doubt any one believes theirs doesn't count. 
All  are entitled to fair  and equal consideration from their Council.
All  cannot receive $100,000 of taxpayers money every year  TO SPEND AS THEY WILL.
We are not speaking of wasting money. 
Or  stealing money. 
We are talking about the elected body making  the decisions they were entrusted to make.
The main one, and surely the one that means  most to  people who are compelled to pay taxes, being managing the money we have the power to take from them.  
Giving it away to small groups to handle, regardless of  priorities, is not  good fiscal management.
Or stewardship to any degree.
It is not a criticism of the Arboretum.
It is a criticism of the elected body of which I am a member and am prepared to acknowledge a previous error in judgement that started this particular ball rolling.       
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