Listeners react negatively to Pattison overseeing congestion tax revenue
Posted March 6, 2015 7:35 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – If trust is an issue for you when it comes to TransLink and money, then appointing billionaire businessman Jim Pattison to oversee funds from the planned Congestion Improvement Tax doesn’t seem to be the answer.
News1130 has been receiving a lot of comments about the transit authority’s new Public Accountability Committee, the Mayors’ Council proposed $7.5 billion transportation plan and the 0.5 per cent regional sales tax that would fund it.
Pattison’s position would not be a paid one and the committee would look at things like spending and projects, maintaining oversight of the money generated by the tax.
The ‘yes’ side says there is credibility behind Pattison’s name, but many News1130 listeners are not buying into it.
“I don’t think so. That’s like having the fox guard the chicken coop,” one woman exclaimed on the News1130 Listener Line.
“As much as I respect Jimmy Pattison, I think it’s pretty pathetic that the government has to hire someone outside of their system to ensure that money is not being wasted,” adds another caller.
Among the pages of comments at News1130, Roland writes, “Jim has been known to be ruthless … I wouldn’t trust him even if there were a room full of auditors auditing him auditing the tax grab.”
Anders writes, “He’ll [find] some way to pull profit out of it. Expo 86 destroyed this city for the average citizen but good ole’ fun luvin’ Jimmy’s bank account indirectly made out OK. Break out the trumpet.”
FriscoGuz says, “I wonder when is the last time he’s been on a bus?? He probably has a purple Cadilac (sic) with zebra seat cover and horns on the hood.”
The first ballots in the plebiscite on how to fund transportation improvements will be sent out in a little over a week. The vote runs between March 16th and May 29th.
You can weigh in on the mail-in vote by joining our exclusive News1130/PlaceSpeak conversation.
