Changing course on HMCS Yellowknife is a lot easier than altering the spending habits of the multi-million-dollar municipal government in city hall, as councillors found out last Monday.

Two motions (by Cheryl Best and Bob Brooks) to trim taxes and the $29.4-million budget by two per cent were defeated, with Blake Lyons voicing the strongest opposition.

Lyons holds fast to the false premise put forth by city administrator Doug Lagore that any cut in his administration means a cut in services and or projects.

A favorite smokescreen Lyons employs to mask his blind defence of Lagore's burgeoning budget and the city's growing debt is to challenge councillors to point to the specifics of "so-called fat" at city hall.

Best suggested departmental directors are the best ones to decide how to streamline city hall and she's right. But the leadership and the will must come from council.

How can councillors ignore the fact that federal, provincial and territorial governments have been budget-cutting and downsizing for the past several years?

How can they ignore the falling price of gold and the real possibility the city's tax base may shrink by 10 to 15 per cent if the worst should occur?

They can't and Ald. Robert Slaven wins the bonus prize for coming up with a very reasonable compromise which, much to council's credit, was adopted.

Slaven asked city staff to propose contingency plans for shrinking tax revenue. There should be one further instruction tacked onto this task -- the first five per cent should result from a leaner, more efficient city hall.

Any $29-million organization that can't figure out how to do things a little better lacks the corporate leadership needed in the 1990s.

Other governments have done it. Now it's the city of Yellowknife's turn.

We're not sure how many dining establishments this city can support -- restaurants have a tendency to last only a year or so before the banks call in the loans. But for now, the eating is good.

Giorgio's is open again at long last in the ashes of the Sweetgrass. The Unicorn pub has also returned from the grave, this time with a new Greek restaurant upstairs. And across from the courthouse, there's the new Black Knight pub, where a full menu is promised soon.

If variety is the spice of life, then Yellowknife diners are in for a hot few months. Whether or not everyone survives, it's good to see such enthusiasm in the local service sector. Good luck to them all.