Liz James UpsetsThe SkyTrain Lobby

It seems North Shore News weekly columnist, Liz James has upset the SkyTrain Lobby with her most recent article, “No shortage of projects for the new AGLG“.Ai??Ai??So much so, that an email to Ms. James, from a SkyTrain lobbiest comes very close inAi??libeling her good name.” The fact that Ms. James has been on the SkyTrain/TransLink/ Canada line file since the late 90’s is ignored.

The SkyTrain lobby’sAi??main Fraser ValleyAi??voice is a high school student who calls himself an “analyst“, yet has absolutely no credentialsAi??except that heAi??runsAi??the SkyTrain for Surrey web site. This so called analyst was in diapers, when Ms. James first started researching transit issues in the region.

What set the SkyTrain lobby’s hair alight is the following;

If so, they would do themselves an injustice because, as provincial andAi?? federal taxpayers they too are funding the bottomless pit that is TransLink, itsAi?? gold-plated SkyTrain projects and its unwieldy, costly governance structure.

In particular, when it comes to “achieving value for money,” it would be aAi?? relief for your office to settle once and for all the TransLink-manipulatedAi?? comparative cost debate over SkyTrain versus Light Rail Transit technology.

If you were to do that – without political interference – I have no doubt youAi?? could save taxpayers billions of dollars in capital and debt-servicingAi?? costs.

Really, that’s it? The only thing that Zwei could complain about is the claim that SkyTrain and LRT are different technologies – they are not, as both are railways and adhere to the same principles of railway operation.

What makes the SkyTrain lobby go white withAi??panic is an independent audit of the SkyTrain light metro and an apples to apples comparison between SkyTrain and light rail.

Gerald Fox, noted American transit expert, clearlyAi??understood this,Ai??when he wrote:

It is interesting how TransLink has used this cunning method of manipulating analysis to justify SkyTrain in corridor after corridor, and has thus succeeded in keeping its proprietary rail system expanding. In the US, all new transit projects that seek federal support are now subjected to scrutiny by a panel of transit peers, selected and monitored by the federal government, to ensure that projects are analysed honestly, and the taxpayers’ interests are protected. No SkyTrain project has ever passed this scrutiny in the US.

Ai??ByAi?? Elizabeth James, Special to North Shore News January 30, 2013

Read more: http://www.nsnews.com/news/shortage+projects+AGLG/7892438/story.html#ixzz2JZ48ulOd

“We are most interested in hearing from members of the public who haveAi?? suggestions of areas where the AGLG can be most helpful to British Columbia’sAi?? local governments by conducting performance audits that may identify ways toAi?? improve value for money or highlight best practices.” aglg.ca

Ms. Basia Ruta, CA Auditor General for Local Government, Surrey, B.C.

Dear Ms. Ruta:

Congratulations on your appointment as British Columbia’s first ever auditorAi?? general for local government.

We have waited a long time for this day and look forward to reading yourAi?? reports, as we do those of B.C. Auditor General John Doyle.

We appreciate your offer to consider our suggestions about your work andAi?? understand that your mandate is to conduct performance audits to evaluateAi?? whether councils are providing good “stewardship of public assets” andAi?? “achieving value for money in their operations.”

In that vein, I offer my own thoughts for your consideration.

A review of the information on your website notes that your first milestoneAi?? will be the release of what will become an annual service plan – the firstAi?? expected sometime in April.

Bearing that in mind, I hope that over the next few weeks you will have timeAi?? to review the Community Charter/Local Government Act – the foundation upon whichAi?? our local government structure is built.

Recent experience here on the North Shore suggests there is an urgent needAi?? for a clarification and strengthening of the legislation that covers conflict ofAi?? interest and the public hearing process.

In that regard, if you should schedule a review of the City and District ofAi?? North Vancouver, I urge you to consider the two municipalities concurrentlyAi?? because, as residents support mirrored councils and staffs for a combinedAi?? population of only 131,000, many of them want to see a facilitated dialogue onAi?? the pros and cons of amalgamation – no matter what some politicians wouldAi?? prefer.

I agree and suggest that a politician who denies citizens that opportunity isAi?? in a direct conflict of interest.

My next suggestion also touches on democratic process.

If British Columbians are to play a meaningful role in determining theirAi?? local destiny, the act must be returned to its pre-charter status with respectAi?? to referendums.

The charter’s “alternative approval process” is unwieldy and nothing moreAi?? than negative-billing: “Council plans to do such-and-such unless enough of youAi?? read this advertisement and tell us not to.”

And now, Ms. Ruta, we come to a long-standing North Shore bug-a-boo: ourAi?? regional transportation authority.

If you compare the Aug. 9, 2001 report and recommendations on TransLink byAi?? former provincial auditor-general Wayne Strelioff to the November-December 2012Ai?? reports of TransLink Commissioner Martin Crilly and the Efficiency Review byAi?? North Vancouver’s Shirocca Consulting, I believe you will find significant roomAi?? for improvement with respect to value for money. Commissioner Crilly notified meAi?? on Sunday that two further reports by Shirocca are due to appear on his websiteAi?? on Feb. 1.

Taxpayers elsewhere in B.C. might believe another review by you would focusAi?? too much on the 22 Lower Mainland municipalities.

If so, they would do themselves an injustice because, as provincial andAi?? federal taxpayers they too are funding the bottomless pit that is TransLink, itsAi?? gold-plated SkyTrain projects and its unwieldy, costly governance structure.

In particular, when it comes to “achieving value for money,” it would be aAi?? relief for your office to settle once and for all the TransLink-manipulatedAi?? comparative cost debate over SkyTrain versus Light Rail Transit technology.

If you were to do that – without political interference – I have no doubt youAi?? could save taxpayers billions of dollars in capital and debt-servicingAi?? costs.

In general terms, council budgets increasingly suffer from the downloading ofAi?? what were previously provincial responsibilities – with insufficient funding toAi?? support the services.

Although that applies throughout the province, the problem is exacerbated forAi?? North Shore residents who are disproportionately burdened by high property-taxAi?? assessments and by Metro Vancouver regional decisions over which they have noAi?? direct control.

No control because the charter does not require members of council to pollAi?? the majority opinion of their colleagues before they vote at the regionalAi?? committee level.

At regional tables it is a case of voting one man’s – or woman’s -Ai?? opinion.

So the final item I would like to see reviewed – before the 2014 municipalAi?? election – would cover the pros and cons of allowing citizens to elect the boardAi?? of the Greater Vancouver Regional District.

Never again do I want to hear that a member of council must “take off his/herAi?? North Shore council hat, when sitting at a regional table” as one councillorAi?? said.

“No taxation without representation” is such an important concept that,Ai?? earlier this month at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the citizensAi?? of Washington, DC reignited the fight that began in England in the 1700s. Why doAi?? we still tolerate it at the regional level in B.C.?

So thank you for the invitation Ms. Ruta; I hope you will receive suggestionsAi?? from many other British Columbians.

You have my sincere best wishes as you carry out your work in this politicalAi?? viper’s nest of a province.

Footnote: Ms. Basia Ruta began her five-year fixed term on Jan. 15, 2013.

Nominated by an appointed five-person Audit Council, Ruta comes from OntarioAi?? with an impressive resume that includes more than 10 years with the auditorAi?? general of Canada.