I’m sure most people have heard of negative option billing. This is considered to be a sleazy, less than reputable ploy to increase the cost of a service without proper consultation or giving you an option upfront.
A number of years ago cable companies gave customers more channels and increased the bill to customers without getting permission. This put the onus on the customer to notice this and take action if they didn’t agree to these extra channels and increased bill.
In my recollection, there was an outcry from customers, the Better Business Bureau and government agencies to stop this unethical way of charging customers for something they didn’t ask for.
As reported in the August 16 edition of the Mission Record this was exactly what our staff and council are doing to taxpayers by telling us to make an effort to do something to opt-out of spending $167,000 to change our name with no conceivable benefit. Council voted unanimously to proceed in hopes of achieving a classification change for Mission.
Staff claim the name change will improve our business potential and development.
According to the August 9, 2019 headline in the Record there is a pending disaster on the Fraser River because of the age and capacity of the sewer line at a sum of approximately of $32 million and rising. If this is true why would staff and council be so adamant to spend money on a frivolous name change which is intended to improve business and growth and therefore increase demand for the existing sewer line?
1. Given the so-called pending disaster of the sewer line shouldn’t the rational thought be to slow down the development until the sewer line is updated, not promoting growth by changing to a “progressive” City of Mission from the supposedly less progressive District of Mission?
2. With all these unanimous votes by council do we, unbeknown to us, have party politics creeping into this municipal government, akin to Vancouver and Surrey?
There needs to be a shakeup at city hall as there is no municipal recall legislation we are stuck with this status quo for another three long years.
T.B.Mortimer
Mission