In her book “Sudden Death,” Civil rights activist Rita Mae Brown wrote ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’ This quote is often misattributed to Albert Einstein. So even if I didn’t learn the true meaning of this over the last few budget cycles, at least some of us have learned something today.
Every year, the East End gets a paltry list of investments representing a shrinking piece of the pie in this city. Every year we fight to get 2 or three little projects in and every year we vote for the budget with a promise that it’ll be better next year. The next year comes and we repeat the cycle of disappointment, scramble, press, and then promises. Except this year was different. Despite the best intentions of some, including the Mayor and his staff, we’re left with vague maybes, underfunded promises and another “maybe next year.”
Cette année, je dis non. Ce n’est pas suffisant. Nous méritons mieux que cela.
We deserve better than finding out a year later that staff didn’t mean what they put in writing on my budget highlights. Non, nous méritons ce qui nous a été promis, à savoir un nouveau sentier autour du parc Apollo Crater et un nouveau revêtement sur l’avenue Tompkins. Nous n’avons eu ni l’un ni l’autre.
Nous méritons mieux que de venir à une discussion sur le budget sans aucun projet proposé dans notre banlieue à discuter.
Nous méritons mieux que de ne même pas pouvoir obtenir de la peinture routière pour améliorer un problème de sécurité sur Wilhaven Drive. Ce projet devait être financé par mon budget temporaire de modération de la circulation, qui est littéralement la seule dépense discrétionnaire dont je dispose pour répondre aux besoins des habitants, et je ne peux même pas obtenir l’aide du personnel pour quelque chose d’aussi simple.
We deserve better than getting zero out of 63 proposed improvements to ageing infrastructure in our ward.
Nous méritons mieux que de puiser dans les réserves de l’argent que nous ne pourrons probablement même pas dépenser cette année pour acheter quelques votes de soutien à ce budget, mais que d’être incapables de trouver quelques centaines de milliers de dollars pour paver une seule rue résidentielle demandée dans quartier 1.
So I’m not going to do the same thing over and over again. I’m not going to support a budget that delivers nothing of true substance for the East End. I’m not going to hang my hat on another promise to be broken next year. If staff want support for their proposed budget next year, they will actually put in an effort to make sure resources are allocated fairly. This budget makes no such effort. It’s insulting and I’m not prepared to put on a pantomime that everything is perfect and we’re all going to sing kumbaya while we invest in some regions and neglect others. While we allow streets in Orleans to crumble. While we take an entire year to do a design for a pathway that already exists. While we take an entire year to do a geotechnical study for a street that is in such bad shape that it cannot be simply resurfaced even though staff have told me for the last five years that it’s fine. While we allow our festival Plaza that hosts events attracting thousands of people to get to such a state that seniors can’t even walk down the street without tripping and falling. While we continue to pretend that it’s OK that entire banks of streetlights have been out for over a year and not even a temporary solution can be found to enhance safety. While we make zero investment in vital infrastructure connections to support growth in the south of Orleans. While we treat our rural village neighbours like they are second class citizens, and ignore their infrastructure needs by funnelling their property tax dollars to other areas of the city.
Je suis heureux que certains de mes collègues aient pu bénéficier de l’investissement crucial qu’ils méritent dans leur communauté. But if I vote yes to this budget, I am consenting to the East End being ignored again. I do not consent. And I will vote no, because voting yes over and over and over again has gotten us as close to nowhere as one can possibly get.
Do better next year. And start now. You have the list of investments that we need. I’ve prioritized it for you. And every year that we wait to make these crucial investments, the more urgent they become and the longer the list gets.
Merci.
