The Editor,
Re. "Talking taxes to councils" (Letters, The Tri-City News, Dec. 14).
This is in response to two letters you published about planned property tax increases in Coquitlam and Port Moody.
The two letter writers were complaining about significant tax increases for the coming year. The writers are wasting their sweetness on the desert air writing to councils.
Councils go deaf when there is talk of tax cuts. Spending is in their DNA. With an almost unlimited source of funds from the taxpayer, they're programmed to spend (with the possible exception of Coquitlam Coun. Lou Sekora).
Solution: Tri-City citizens must forcefully reduce councils' spending through amalgamation of Port Moody, Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam. Millions of dollars can be saved annually just by the elimination of administrative duplication, without touching the operating personnel and their infrastructure.
Just think of one mayor and council instead of three; one city hall instead of three; one engineering department instead of three; one human resources department instead of three; and so on - you get the picture.
So my unsolicited advice to the two letter writers is this: Rather than wasting time writing letters to their respective councils, organize the citizens of Port Moody, Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam to bring forward a referendum on amalgamation and thereby force a reduction in council spending.
For readers who don't champion amalgamation because they can't think of an appropriate name for the new city, I'll suggest one: Port Moody - because of its historical significance, because it is a port and because of its ease of spelling.
K. Henderson, Coquitlam
