The Editor,
Re. "PoCo not impressed with new auditor position" (The Tri-City News, Aug. 2).
With many residents expressing concern about the annual increase in property taxes together with reports such as from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business claiming municipal spending in our province is out of control as municipal governments and unelected boards escalate taxes and spending, seemingly without check, the proposal of a municipal auditor general (MAG) sounds appealing to me.
If I were a member of Port Coquitlam city council, I would enthusiastically support this position and invite the MAG to audit our municipal books. What a terrific feather in the cap that would be for PoCo council and staff to receive the thumbs up from the MAG.
A municipal auditor general would perform independent reviews of city spending and operations, and make recommendations on how to improve the way the city spends taxpayers' money. The office would also help make sure taxpayers know how city council is spending their money.
Not only do taxpayers in PoCo, but all taxpayers in all cities, municipalities and villages in our province, need a MAG that is outside council control with the power of independent investigation and the mandate to share its findings with the citizens and taxpayers.
As a taxpayer, I would appreciate an audit that holds our local government more accountable. I am not suggesting our city has not done a good job managing our money but in this tough economy, this is no time for any council to be defensive and cling to old ways of operating.
PoCo is a great city, so let's act like one and be open to an independent public sector audit.
Darin Nielsen,
Port Coquitlam
