Heather King: What was the total bill for the Mayors trip to Ottawa?: Day 100

What was the total bill for their trip to Ottawa?

Now that the Mayor's Office has confirmed that The Mayor was in Ottawa for four nights, I can do a bit of  napkin-scratching calculations.

***Disclaimer: I am not phoning the Mayor's Office to find out the exact calculations -- AFTER YESTERDAY'S EPISODE, DO YOU THINK I AM NUTS? (rhetorical, I don't need an answer to this, thanks just the same.) I do not have any receipts, I am only doing rough calculations to see how much of our tax dollars "could" have been spent on these Ottawa Delegation. The full report will be given in at the Delta Council meeting on October 17th.:

Expenses for three people to go to Ottawa:

(Mayor Lois Jackson, Councillor Ian Paton, and CAO George Harvey);

Five days,

Four sleeps;

Corporation of Delta's Per Diem allowance for  food = $75;

Air fare approximately $800;

Hotel Room near Parliament Hill approximately $200 per night.

Air: 3 people X $880 per ticket =  $ 2,400

Food: 3 people X 5 days at $75 each = $1,125

Hotel: 3 rooms X 4 sleeps X $200 per room = $2,400

Taxi: 3 taxis Delta to YVR, 1 taxi from YOW to Parliament Hill, 1 taxi to 10 meetings (shared), 1 taxi to YOW, 3 taxis from YVR to Delta  = $500

Barb_2U's estimated travel costs =        $6,425

+ cost of meeting facilitator maximum $30,000

Total est. of Mayor's Ottawa excursion  $36,425

Putting $36,425 of our tax dollars into perspective:

Remember, our friends, the North Delta Sunfish? Their little piggies are bleeding and all they are asking for is $250,000. The Mayor's excursion amounts to almost 15% of the cost to rebuild and resurface the North Delta Outdoor pool! At $125 per little bleedy piggy, that is 291 toes that they could have saved if the delegation stayed home.

Dredging the slough is important, but last time "we" sent Lois and a delegation to Ottawa, it wasn't successful. Why would anyone think this time she would be more successful?

					Albert Einstein:Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results!

Speaking of delegations: "we" are still waiting for the economic fruits from her delegation to India last October to cha-king to Delta!

  Civic officials headed to India Mayor Lois Jackson leads municipal delegation to Mangalore, Delta's sister city, in bid to forge economic ties.

The Mayor's trip to India was budgeted at $64,475 at $125 a piggy, that is almost an  additional 516 bloody piggies that could have been saved! (Heck of a lot of money to spend for 3 days in our Sister City!)

Unsuccessful? Well according to the Corporation of Delta's website: Delta is expected to host a return delegation from India in the spring of 2011. Sad, but the delegation from India missed Spring time 2011 in Delta!They never came, so I think that the India trip was unsuccessful.

(Side tangent - disclaimer: 
**I don't know what it actually cost
**granted, pun intended, Delta received a $50,000 grant from the province for the trip. Our tax $$ paid for both trips, regardless of which pot she dipped her hand into.
(I want to be funny and say her Henna-dipped hand, but I wouldn't want to risk offending anyone with my blog comments. Also, I am wanting a hand-henna to celebrate Diwali and I wouldn't want to risk being a hypocrite. NOPE, not me!)

Guaranteed results: more bang for our $100,900 tax bucks! Invest in our kids!

Hey just for fun, let's total the costs of the Mayor's last two delegations:

($36,425 + $64,475) = $100,900 or 807 toes; 81 feet (3 toes were amputated); 40.5 Sunfish kids or 40.36% of the required budget of $250,000 to resurface and rebuild the North Delta Outdoor Pool!

 

Summary:
The total bill for the delegation to go to Ottawa was $36,425 (291 bloody piggies).

The  India delegation's budget was $64,475 (516 bloody piggies).

The total of both delegations was $100,900 (807 bloody piggies or 40.36% of the cost to rebuild and resurface the North Delta Outdoor Pool.

Before pouring more tax dollars into another travel delegations, past delegations should be evaluated.  

Without a doubt, $100,900 could have been put to good use right here in Delta!

**if you want to vent, send me an email (I guarantee confidentiality):
Barb_2U@eastlink.ca

If you have a concern, contact Heather King.  Her information is at the top of the page. She WANTS to talk to you.

                                                                                                                

Tell the KING!