Cuts to the parks department show bad judgment
By Letter to the Editor on June 30, 2021.
Editor:
I read with dismay about the City’s plans, based on the KPMG report, to cut services to our parks.
My father was a municipal gardener in the UK. He was in charge of about 40 gardeners and labourers who cared for all the parks, flower beds set between the divided highway that went along the edge of the town, and the flowers beds and grass on all the traffic circles, as well as other flowers beds and expanses of grass throughout the town.
These areas were beautiful and often commented upon by travellers. When I left the UK in 1975, the cuts had already begun.
When I went back a few years later all of these places were overgrown, full of dead branches on trees and shrubs. The parks were no longer an enjoyable place but areas to be avoided.
Today I see the same thing happening here. Yes, because of COVID, work in the parks and other areas had to be scaled down. However, continuing to neglect these places seems an exercise in futility. Instead of regular maintenance, something that keeps things under control, we will be left with an enormous problem beyond the capability of the City to solve. Someone already wrote about the weedy rose garden dedicated to those of us who have had breast cancer.
Is this a way to bring honour to this cause?
Where we live In Sunridge, there are lots of dead trees and shrubs – is this not a fire hazard?
Lethbridge has become known for its beautiful parks,trees, shrubs and flowers.
Retirees have selected this as a place they want to live in. Will they continue to do so?
Do we perhaps have too many managers?Our taxes should go to the services we pay for and the result of paying taxes should be visible.
Ruth Kereliuk
Lethbridge
-1
So while Jason Kenney slashes billions off our corporate taxes to benefit his rich friends and tries to buy votes. He under funds our Towns and Cities and this is exactly what you can expect, or watch your property taxes go through the roof. Our Municipalities will have no choice, as anyone from the world of finance will tell you. We certainly didn’t have this problem when Lougheed was running the show.
how kpmg still exists is testament to how big corp never gets slammed for its sleaze…like govt, i guess. here is a tip of the iceberg, where kpmg has facilitated sleaze. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kpmg-emails-denial-shell-companies-isle-of-man-1.5998374 like hsbc and its sleazy history, it is astounding that the assets of these companies are not seized under proceeds of crime laws, and further, that no officials get tossed away for lengthy periods. https://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2013/investing-news-for-jan-29-hsbcs-money-laundering-scandal-hbc-scbff-ing-cs-rbs0129.aspx
why is the city using a company like kpmg for anything?
Lethbridge has the most parks in Canada per capita. Someone has to pay for it. We have 2 choices #1 cut services and maintain parks more or #2 raise taxes. I for one do not like #2. I love our green spaces but most of the time they are empty and under utilized.
Beautiful parks? Where? Been to Indian Battle Park lately? Weeds, dead trees, rubbish everywhere. And it’s not the workers at fault, it’s the managers who need to go.
maybe it is a handful of people that are leaving/dumping rubbish everywhere. if everyone picked up after themselves…but, i guess that thinking is idealistic. as for dead trees, i believe it is best they are left to serve the nature that is alive.
Dead trees equals serious fire hazard.
So while these phony conservatives continue to look after the well-being of themselves and their rich friends, giving away billions in royalties and increasing tax breaks for their rich friends, people wonder why our parks are in such a hell of a mess. Gee people wake up.
Just think of all the taxes at the pumps we have paid to fix roads that they used for general revenues and ignored the roads. Add that to the Orphan Well mess that they deliberately dumped in our laps. To put it bluntly Albertans have been treated like morons and they let them do it.