I have been living in Victoria for close to 30 years and have seen progression at many levels of our city, but have also seen that we are moving backwards in many ways.

How can you get blood from a stone? Twenty-five years ago my property taxes were $1,000; now they are $4,000 annually for a city that has a population of less than 100,000 inhabitants.

I constantly hear and read about the bickering over the most trivial things — for example, the railing on the breakwater. Do we really need to spend the money on that, considering there has not been a rail and should not be? Unfortunately, not everyone can experience all aspects of life, such as walking on a unprotected breakwater.

Yes, we are the City of Gardens, but did we really have to spend all that money on flowering our boulevards and redoing sidewalks in a way to reduce an already difficult parking situation in certain parts of the city? What about the Blue Bridge that I as a resident might use a maximum of five times a year?

As a small city, we are being bombarded and we will fall if something does not change drastically. Every municipality in the region has their egotistic attitudes. It is time now or soon to amalgamate.

Too much government and bureaucracy for such a small population.=

Robert Grdic

Victoria

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