Capital Furs

So.

For anyone whose been here for awhile knows, sometimes I enjoy writing long-winded emails to various politicians and exercising my right as their boss to tell them when they're fucking up. Usually I get some wimpy reply where they deny blame but I gotta say, one of them has finally given a reasonable response... figured I'd share with anyone who cares XD

For those that aren't in the municipal government loop, Rainer Bloess is the counciller for the Innes ward (east end) which is where I happen to live, that's why I emailed him....

_________________________________________________________________________

Hi Mr. Bloess,

I've lived in Blackburn Hamlet within the Innes ward for most of my life and figured I'd finally take a minute to send you a message and maybe get a few answers, since the Council itself seems to be doing a rather dismal job of providing any to, well, anyone. You've always been someone my parents have appreciated as a counciller, and I've appreciated as well due to your involvement in something several years ago that affected me directly.

Because of that, I'll try to spare you the brunt of my frustration with the current state of affairs in Ottawa in general, which I'm sure you've noticed is growing worse in the face of large issues that nobody seems to want to deal with. Light Rail, Sewage, the recent (repeat) flooding and absolutely ridiculous wastes of taxpayer dollars involved in nearly every decision made by the current council.

To keep from simply ranting at you, I'd love to hear exactly what Council is planning to do to address these issues. Lets start with something simple, the millions of litres of sewage being pumped into the Ottawa River. Has there actually been any action on this? I understand the rainfall lately has been heavier than normal so to dump money in preparation of an exceptional weather trend is ridiculous, but surely that can't be the only reason for this. I'd love to know what exactly council plans to do about this, especially in the wake of a $450k fine because of it. Because of the complete failure on the part of the city to handle its own sanitation properly, we as a city have lost a good chunk of change and frankly I don't see anyone being held responsible for it. That's my money being taken from me and just thrown (pardon the pun) down the drain. I heard a lot of talk, a few firings of people who (naturally) turned around and sued the city anyway, yet still millions of litres of sewage are pumping into the river on a regular basis.

How about Light Rail? I'm hearing estimates of 20 - 30 years to get this constructed, yet it seems like its been years since the topic was brought up in the first place. Being the representative of the Innes Ward, I sorely hope I don't need to ask whether you supported the East-West or North-South plan given that you were elected to represent an eastern ward. Not a single spike has been driven into the ground to start construction on this plan (If a plan has yet to even be chosen), but $177M has already been lost (or will be lost shortly) due to the council's failure to hold to a contract with Siemens. I don't think I need to state that $177M is a lot of money. I would never have to work another day in my life, nor would my children, or my children's children, or THEIR children, etc, etc, if I had the money the city just threw away once again. Perhaps that comment will put into perspective why I (and many many others) are upset by that amount being lost for absolutely no reason besides incompetence.

The library being built soon downtown. I won't get too deep into this one because frankly, I don't think the idea stands on its own let alone with any form of close scrutiny. How much was it? $40 million dollars when all is said and done? (Apologies if the numbers are off, I don't have the benefit of paying $100k+ for reports and studies.) Why not move it down to all that open space on Lebreton flats that doesn't require the demolition and construction of a new building, nor the exorberant rates on land within the downtown core, yet it's still a 5 minute bus ride from the Rideau Centre. Sure having to take OC Transpo anywhere is nothing but a chore and a hassle hidden by the outright exaggeration by OC Transpo itself. They claim an 80% satisfaction rate, yet I'm pressed to find a single person I've ever talked with about OC Transpo that would say they're satisfied. But that's something I won't bother you with since the problems a frequent rider, like myself, could bring up with OC Transpo could fill a book.

Finally, I'll only bother you with one last issue I'd like an explaination for. Recently council moved to create a 'cut off' age for OC Transpo student passes. I'm sorry Mr. Bloess, as much as I respect you as a counciller, I have to say I'm extremely disappointed in your move to not only support this motion, but to second it. I'm lucky in that I'm still under that age cap, but this is a cash grab pure and simple. A cash grab by a city that claims they need the funds, yet can still find $40 million dollars to spend on a library, or $177 million to just give to Siemens. This is disgusting, and quite frankly, has made me question whether I'd vote for you in coming elections as I have in the past. I understand your reasoning, and the reasoning is sound if you completely discount any shades of grey inherent in such a decision. The city has plenty of money for affordable housing, a concept notoriously awash in abuse and squallor yet is apparently so strapped for cash that it sees no issue with penalizing those citizens that want to better their education, lives, income, whatever, by attending post-secondary later in their lives. I'm sorry if it sounds callous, but that seems like backwards prioritizing to me. Affordable housing is necessary, but so is incentive to actually return to school. Unless this council's plan is to leave everyone dependant on affordable social housing, I don't understand these combination of decisions. I work full time, pay my own way through school without the use of student loans, volunteer as a scout leader and as a teaching assistant yet still manage to pay rent... yet those people who never bothered doing any of that are living in nicer houses than me, with nicer things than I have. Working in a pawn shop across the street from the social housing complex in Blackburn I get first-hand experience with the nice things these 'victims of poverty' own and it seems the only way I'll ever afford that 42" plasma television I've always wanted is if I quit my job and let the government take care of me. This option sadly, is almost appealing. Imagine that, nicer house, more money from welfare than I currently make working, and I don't have to worry about anything resembling work. This is NOT a good thing that it's almost an appealing option to live off the city's handouts as opposed to actually contributing something back to society.

Anyway, I'm sorry this ran a little long, if it isn't obvious I'm frustrated as most of Ottawa's citizens are and I see no end to the general disinterest at council in actually resolving any major issues facing Ottawa, intent instead of pet projects such as Mr. Cullen's 'hand sanitizers on buses' initiative... which again, is far more worthy a cause than helping older citizens attend school with the benefit of student-priced bus passes. I know you're only 1 vote on the council, and I'm only 1 lone nut with a computer so I don't imagine I'll change anything by writing this email save to feel like I at least made sure my voice was heard, so if you actually read all of this, thanks.

_____________________________________________________________________

His reply:

Sean,

You and I should meet, I have not had the chance to respond to your other email and you have raised a number of issues.

On the student pass, you may be aware that the age restriction has been reversed.

As I said, we can chat out the other issues you have raised.

Rainer

____________________________________________________________________

I'm half-tempted to take him up on it, it'd be interesting to hear some (hopefully) straight answers from one of them for once.

wow!! kudos on u dude!!

Take him up on it dude.

Then run against him, or for him and then against him!

Then work your way up to provicial politics and finally federal where we can vote for first Furry Prime Minister of Canada :P

Kesslan wrote:Take him up on it dude.

Then run against him, or for him and then against him!

Then work your way up to provicial politics and finally federal where we can vote for first Furry Prime Minister of Canada :P

HAHA AGREED!!!

Hes retiring I think xD

He ran for the federal Liberal nomination for the riding and lost... badly. Hes been a councilperson for like 13 years now or something though.

I've actually considered a career in politics, but I don't have the money or the patience for it. I'm bad at double-speak :P

Meer for East end! :P
Meer in 2010, building a better, fuzzier world. With bigger eyebrows.

Definitely meet with him, though. Prepare a mental list of talking points and pick his brain a little.

And yeah, you're too honest for politics.

disagree.

i hope you feel better after emailing the guy. really.

this being said, it was most likely a waste of time. unfortunately, many consecutive minutes, while i could type his response in less than thirty seconds, as could most people here. this is not good representation.

and that's even if we're splitting the finer hairs of a system few people beleive in at all. just because its smaller scale than the federal system doesn't mean the city is any more respectable or honest.

he's a politician. he's a peice of garbage. his full time job is to lie to us all while living in the pockets of large regional intrests. on our dime.

dude, you know he's less than scum. deep down you really know it. don't even give the guy five minutes. you're actually better off watching tv in that time.


well put on the welfare / affordable housing issue though. strong, thought out opinion, worded well enough to get away with. totally agree. why should any of us bother working if most recipients are rewarded for perpetually avoiding working or contributing to society, exponentially breeding legions of future life-long parasites on decent working people? hell, its not even like they have to farm their asses off 14 hours a day. this is canada, even working class life is really really really easy by comparison.


don't waste your time man. he's a politician. appalling, unbeleivable government waste is the biggest hobby in the city. its like an industry here. keeps the economy of the city going. it'll never stop.

Ramses wrote:why should any of us bother working if most recipients are rewarded for perpetually avoiding working or contributing to society, exponentially breeding legions of future life-long parasites on decent working people?

Why should the masses slave away, paying interest in morgages and credit cards, when every last one of those dollars are going to the super rich minority in the form of interest gains?

If 'free money' is being given away, it should at the least be given to the poor, no?

Indref wrote:
If 'free money' is being given away, it should at the least be given to the poor, no?

NO! fuck the poor! they don't deserve any more than anyone else.
and fuck the rich too! fuck everyone! there should be no free money!

"If you don't work, you don't eat" - James Brown

if free money is being given away, it should be given to people who work hard to contribute to the world around them. and real contributing. not forming subcommitees to consider filiing a proposal to commission whale-saving posters or something.

but those bank assholes are the LAST people on the earth who deserve the money, indy. agreed on that one.