Apparently, up until this past July 13, city council waged war in our local courtrooms without giving much thought as to how high a price taxpayers would be forced to pay.
After spending a whopping $66,430 over budget in the litigation category for which $60,000 was budgeted, council established a policy to keep it informed of the city's legal spending, a case of the cart being ahead of the horse.
The yearly legal spending got out of control with the city's involvement in three major lawsuits -- the Property Owner's Association suit involving the secret meetings of council past, the waves between the city and the houseboat owners and the city's own action against the law firm which represented it in the Centre Square Mall development agreement.
The purpose of this editorial is not to weigh the pros and cons of each individual action, but, rather, to voice displeasure over the fact the city was engaging in these actions without being kept up to speed on the legal costs, a totally unacceptable management practice.
Now that we have a policy in place to keep council informed of its free spending ways, hopefully, it will be taken one step further.
In the future, city council, like any responsible management team, should take the time to fully explore the financial repercussions of any legal stance and weigh those costs against any possible gain.
Overspending in one area of a municipal budget almost always results in cutting back in another.
Yellowknife South MLA Seamus Henry wants to give the facts a chance when discussing the smouldering issue of the proposed road to resources.
The facts aren't in dispute. Hay River Mayor Jack Rowe is lobbying for the road to start in Rae-Edzo because he sees business growth for his constituents.
Factually speaking, Hay River is only 20 minutes from Highway 1. It is a fact that Hay River has the infrastructure to provide goods and services to drivers heading North.
Yellowknife can provide those goods and services too. But we may not get the chance if somebody doesn't start lobbying as hard as Jack Rowe is. And that's a fact.
Red Green, hero to homespun do-it-yourselfers across the nation, is here in town tonight. He's come to the duct-tape capital of the country to film a Christmas special.
Seeking inspiration, he's put the challenge to Yellowknifers to bring him their best duct tape solutions. You know he must be serious about it, he's offering prizes.
Those of you who have made a career out of patching together trucks, taping over leaks in boats and re-attaching floats to Cessnas are on notice to give Red Green something to talk about when he gets back to Possum Lodge. This is the sort of challenge that Yellowknifers will rise to, about that we have no doubt. So, bring your best down to St. Pat's high school and let's show Red what we're made of, or at least how we fix it.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
Home maintenance is a fact of life, but I'm not quite comfortable with it.
I have to admit, I'm not one of those people who watch Bob Villa every week and nod in agreement as he points out which tools best suit the needs of a given project.
Circular saws, hack saws, jig saws. I know they're all sharp and I know I should avoid them.
Shingling the roof isn't something I've ever done, nor something I can ever see myself doing. The same holds true for car repairs. I certainly wouldn't consider fiddling with the timing belt, touching the transmission or even going near the engine.
On the other hand, changing the spark plugs and doing an oil change are things I think I could handle if I make the time and find somebody with enough patience to show me.
It's not that I'm totally inept. I can change a tire. I also have successfully boosted others' vehicles without having the battery blow up in my face, although I cringe every time someone asks if I have cables.
Even around the house, I've been known to perform a few miracles. Recently, the doorknob that was practically hanging off the front door to the Drum office was replaced. Guess who? Yep, I did it. All by myself too.
I didn't stop there, though. I installed a new deadbolt afterwards. For your average person, these jobs are probably "no-brainers," absolutely routine. But, I was pretty darn proud when I finished and the door opened and closed properly (thankfully there's a side entrance/exit to the building so we couldn't have wound up trapped in the office if anything did go terribly wrong).
Just last week, there was an insert in the newspaper from Arctic Energy Alliance. The guide contained dozens of useful tips on home and small businesses maintenance.
I immediately thought, "Hey, this is something my dad would probably appreciate." It did occur to me that I too should run through the checklist, particularly the plumbing section.
You see, ever since we moved in, the taps have been performing a few cruel tricks. Neither constitutes an emergency, they're just annoying.
For some reason, the cold water starts out cold, but quickly warms up and runs hot for about 20 seconds before finally turning cold again.
Then, lately, the taps have added another prank to their repertoire. Unpredictably, after turning on the tap, there will be a gurgle and then the water will explode out of the faucet at one million pounds of pressure per square inch. It doesn't happen often, but, when it does, I never expect it and I always wind up drying the water droplets off myself, the counter, the cupboards and whatever else happened to be within the vicinity.
I would think the air in the pipes would be affecting others in the community, but I haven't found anyone else with the same problem, yet.
In some people's minds, admitting that you don't have a sense of mechanical know-how is equivalent to forsaking your manhood. Well, the way I see it, I think it's better to be honest than a self-professed handyman who can't get the job done.
Besides, women are equally capable of fixing the plumbing. Anyway, if anyone out there thinks they know what the problem may be, stop by, please. I'll be sure to show you the new doorknob.