FACE TO FACE: Should the Tri-Cities examine amalgamating into one?
I'm against the amalgamation of the Tri-Cities.
Haven't we beaten this horse to death? Every few years, someone brings up this topic and a flurry of letters to the editor (very well written, I might add) tell us that to not amalgamate is fiscally irresponsible.
Recently, clearly during a slow news cycle, it was Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore's turn to bring it up on CKNW, prompting this latest amalgamation re-hash.
So here goes again.
Discussing amalgamation is not just an arithmetic exercise. It's not as simple as adding up the salaries of three mayors and councils, dividing by three and saying, "Look at all the money we'd save." Changing political and civic infrastructure is a huge, expensive proposition, one worth neither the touted savings nor a potential increase in political clout.
The money argument appeals to those, like my colleague, who always believe government spending is the problem. I not only don't think that government is the problem, I think each of our three local governments offers and serves with an admirably unique appreciation of local issues and aspirations.
Would Port Moody be the City of the Arts were it under the wing of a huge regional bureaucracy such as Surrey? No, like "South Surrey" residents, Port Moody-ites would instead be busy stressing that they lived in the "artistic west end" of our sprawling amalgamation.
And the artistic west end of what? What would we call this amalgamated place?
If Burquitlam was the best we could come up with for the border area of Burnaby and Coquitlam, could we really stand to live in Port Mooquitlam?
And who cares that we might gain some political clout by melding populations? Surely our regional political clout can be arithmetically ascertained without our having to fire mayors and rent out vacant public buildings to private daycares.
I like all three cities. Each is different. Each has its own character and charm. And although I sometimes poke fun at it, I really like Port Moody.
As Mayor Greg Moore says about PoCo, "I like its small-town feel."
So in our serial arithmetic analyses of the benefits of Tri-City amalgamation, I hope we count what really counts.
Face to Face columnist Jim Nelson is a retired Tri-City teacher and principal who lives in Port Moody. He has contributed a number of columns on education-related issues to The Tri-City News.
