Paull people`s choice for change

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QUESNEL, BC – WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2011
“The only newspaper in the world that gives a %#@!*! about Ron Paull”
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
1386 Moffat Ave.
Quesnel, BC
250-992-8994
Paull people’s choice for change
CHALLENGES STATUS-QUO
RON PAULL MAKES THIRD RUN FOR MAYOR
Veteran city councillor Ron Taxpayers, which calls for limPaull has decided to give iting property tax increases to
Quesnel voters a “credible the rate of inflation, expanding
middle-of-the-road” choice for direct democracy at city halls,
mayor in the November 19th and supporting transparency
civic elections. “After nine initiatives like publishing
years on council, I have come expenses and submitting to a
to a three-way fork in the Municipal Auditor General. It
trail… either spin my wheels also asks for the introduction
for another three years as of a Taxpayer Protection
councillor, retire all together Bylaw, which would put these
from thirty plus years of local rules into municipal law – and
public service or grab the
dock 15% of the pay of
bull by the horns and
mayors and councilthrow my hat into
lors who raised
Think of
the ring for
taxes
beyond
your ballot as
mayor.” Paull
inflation.
an Oreo Cookie.
said that several
“I have been
recent developin and around
The best part
ments pushed
Quesnel
City
is in the
him to the tipping
Hall for 40 years,
middle!
point. “After invesand I know when
tigating spending overthings are not right.
runs and alleged expense With less than three years in
account
improprieties office, the current mayor is on
unearthed by our Finance her third city manager, and just
Committee chair, watching the recently, the City’s long-time
tax tab climb each year, and deputy corporate administrator
getting “discreet indirect sub- who also carried the title of
tle messages” that staff morale chief election officer for this
was at an all time low, I had very election resigned. “City
too many sleepless nights and I Hall is hurting and we need to
finally realized that for me, it get things back on track.” Paull
had to be Paull or nothing!”
says he has felt frustrated and
Ron Paull is the only stifled as a backbencher at the
Quesnel candidate to join 86 council table, and found himother BC mayoral and city self questioning and opposing
councillor candidates to sign much of the current direction.
the Canadian Taxpayers’ “I finally figured that the only
Federation’s Contract With way I could change direction
was to lead rather
than follow.”
Paull says that
his more than three
decades of combined staff and
council experience
has provided him
with
extensive
knowledge of the
issues and how
things work and
should work at City
Hall. His vast experience and familiarity with local government will help
him introduce and
Ron and Pat are both actively
involved in serving the community.
lead at least three
new members to
“Thanks, but no thanks” ...
the council team. Paull said he
Ron does not accept monetary
is impressed with the quality
campaign contributions.
of new candidates seeking a people’s politician than a
seat on council and he wel- politician’s politician.”
comes the opportunity of
“I’m between my two conworking with any of them.
tenders… one being pro-busi“My leadership style would ness and the other being probe much more inclusive and union,” Paull said. “In local
transparent, from the bottom- government, there should be
up, rather than from the top- no right and left… only right
down. I would delegate more and wrong. We see too much
trust and responsibility to the divisive partisanship at senior
rest of council.
government
I would do
levels and in
away with the A frontage tax for larger
cities,
divisive cliqueand
we
should
West Quesnel?
like executive
e n e rg e t i c a l l y
(see page 4)
committee, and
resist partisanall of council
ship at the local
would participate in decision level as long as we can. I am
making. As mayor, I would like an OREO cookie… the
stay out of staff’s way by best part is in the middle!”
spending less time in City Hall
“Yes”, Paull concludes, “I
and more time out on the admit I had difficulty stepping
“My only promises are to put people before politics, encourage
street, in the neighbourhoods out of my comfort zone and
and businesses, interacting taking a risk, but as Wayne
open and honest government, to treat all fairly and equally, to
directly with the people that I Gretzky said… ‘You’ll always
respect different philosophies and views, and to have the courage
have been elected to serve, on miss 100% of the shots you
to openly admit mistakes and to give straight answers.”
their turf rather than mine. The don’t take.’ ”
inner sanctum mayor’s office,
protected by locked doors and
video surveillance is okay for
some, but too intimidating for
others. I want to meet folks on
a more informal basis. I want
Ron Paull is running on two records.
high on his agenda. “We can always do more
to be able to personally Firstly, he stands on his combined 33 years of
to improve and promote tourism and commurespond to a complaint, to senior management and council experience at
nity development", he said. Now into his sixcome out and see firsthand Quesnel city hall, having worked with and for
teenth year as publisher of his award winning
what the problems are. We all seven of Quesnel's mayors and dozens of
Quesnel Visitors' and Community Guides,
need to track complaints and aldermen and councillors. Secondly, he is runPaull continues to promote Quesnel and area.
concerns so they don’t get ning on a record of four decades of continuous
"It seems that the only time big city reporters
pushed aside. I know what the service to the community. As many non-profit
come to town is when the news is bad. We can
staff’s jobs are and I would let groups know, if you need something done, ask
change that by selling the positives, starting
them go about their work with- Ron. He recalls that after his tour of duty in the
with our volunteers.” He believes Quesnel's
out interference. I would not Royal Canadian Air Force, he came to Quesnel
organizations are the driving force behind for
micromanage. I would also let in 1970 to sell ads for the Cariboo Observer,
our strong community spirit and we should
the media do their work with- and immediately joined the Quesnel Jay Cees
give them all the help, encouragement and
out interference. Pretty well all to help organize the Quesnel Winter Frolics
recognition we can. “We must do more to supof the media stuff that comes Festival. He went on to become a founding
port our community events. When elected as
out of council meetings and member and ten year president of Billy Barker
mayor, I will appoint a councillor to the portthe mayor’s office, including Days, and then director of the City's 1982,
folio of community events and volunteerism.
the weekly mayor’s message, 1993 and 2000 BC Winter Games. Ron was
We need to make sure events such as SkyFest
under the mayor’s direction, is very active in fund raising for construction of
and the Fall Fair get back on the Gold Pan City
spun and sanitized by staff, the Quesnel and District Seniors’ Centre. His
Calendar. Volunteers are the very glue that
which is counterproductive to greatest pride was in co-chairing the Palliative
binds our community together.” Paull notes
good old fashioned unhindered Care Association’s Hospice Advisory
that he would advocate for including learning
and non biased reporting.”
Committee.
"I've always been passionate
about volunteer service in our school curricu“I have no interest in seats at about my helping my community be the best it
lum, and that we must interest more young
big city boardroom tables that can be.” Ron’s wife Pat Morton is much the
people to want to step up the plate as volunhave no real beneficial connec- same, with her thirty five year history in helpteers to relieve our many aging volunteers who
tion to Quesnel. I see myself as ing people with their tax problems as well as
seem to be carrying too much of the load. An
more of a grassroots, back to her passion for helping folks hack though govadded bonus is that youth volunteer service
basics, keep it simple type of ernmental red tape.
will go a long way to preparing them for the
mayor. I see myself more as a
Paull has always placed Quesnel’s image
job market.
Paull’s record is proven
DON’T FORGET TO VOTE NOV. 19 – FOR A RIDE, CALL 250-992-8994
POLLS OPEN 8:00 A.M. TO 8:00 P.M. SATURDAY, NOV. 19
(1) DOWNTOWN – CITY HALL
(2) WEST QUESNEL – CORRLIEU SCHOOL (3) SOUTH QUESNEL – DRAGON LAKE SCHOOL
ronpaull.ca
250-992-8994
PAGE 2 • THE PAULLITICIAN, NOVEMBER 2011
Who is
Ron Paull?
Age? 61
Resident how long? Of
Quesnel area: 41 years, of
Johnston Neighbourhood:
24 years.
Occupation: Publisher of
Quesnel Visitors’ and
Community Guides since
1996.
Education
and training:
Public schooling – Fort St.
John,
Royal
Canadian Air Force School
of
Administration
&
Logistics, various City of
Quesnel sponsored training
courses in municipal administration, bylaw enforcement, tourism and economic development.
Family: Ron’s Mum and
Dad live next door. Ron is
the eldest of four children,
married Pat Morton (the tax
lady) in Shiraoi, Japan, 3
grown children – Kevin,
Darci and Glenn, grandkids
Kyle, Alexi, Jenna, Jaxsen
and Kaysen, two little white
dogs, Sassy and Moxie,
“Kitty” the cat.
Affiliations and Appointments:
(chronological)
Quesnel Jay Cees, Quesnel
Winter Frolics, Northern
BC Winter Games – 1982 &
1993, Cariboo Tourism
Assoc. (1991 Caribooster of
the Year), member Royal
Canadian Legion Br. 94,
Billy Barker Days Society
(founding member, 10 year
president), BC Festivals
Assoc. (past president),
Municipal Officers’ Assoc.
of BC, Appointed by
Minister of Tourism to Expo
86 Advisory Board, 1996
Citizen of the Year “Judges’
Award”, 24 year member
and past president of
Quesnel Rotary Club, 15
year committee member of
Ducks Unlimited, Quesnel
& District Seniors’ Centre
volunteer, Vice President
and Director of ProtocolQuesnel 2000 BC Winter
Games, past board memberEconomic Development
Assoc. of BC, Cariboo
Economic Action Forum,
present board member Quesnel
and
District
Palliative Care Assoc., Cochair Hospice Advisory
Committee, board member
New Pathways to Gold
Society…. and some probably some others he may
have missed.
Hobbies and interests:
Ron and his wife Pat are
daily care givers for Ron’s
elderly parents. Ron is an
avid outdoorsman who
enjoys snowmobiling, fourwheeling, hunting, hiking,
fishing,
festivals
and
rodeos.
Above all, Ron and his
wife Pat enjoy community
service.
Mayor Snubs Forestry Workers
Ron Paull was surprised when he
saw that the City of Quesnel was
apparently left out of a recent news
story listing all the interior forest
industry communities that attended a
dinner hosted in Vancouver by the
Central Interior Logging Association
in conjunction to the Union of BC
Municipalities Convention. The event
provided opportunity for forest industry communities to meet and network
with CILA and learn about the association’s activities and the challenges
that the industry is facing in wake of
the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic,
declining markets, climate change,
and new government regulations
affecting CILA members. “I was sure
the mayor would have been there, so I
emailed the executive director of the
CILA, to point out the error, only to
find that the mayor had in fact
declined the invite. I was informed
that the invite was open to any member of Council; however, it was up to
the mayor to pass the invite along.” At
the next Council meeting, Paull questioned why the mayor declined the
invite and why the City was not represented. The mayor responded by saying she could not attend because she
was networking with her council colleagues that evening. Paull reminded
the mayor she knew he was available
to sit in for her that evening because
he did not book a seat at any of the
evening dinners that carried a price
tag of up to $100 per plate. “I am not
part of the mayor’s inner circle, and I
think that is why I was not asked to sit
in for her. The dinner was attended by
mayors and council representatives
from Williams Lake, 100 Mile House,
Vanderhoof, MacKenzie, Prince
George, Taylor, Smithers, Burns Lake
and Fort St. James. A dozen coastal
mayors attended as well. “We pride
ourselves in being a “Wood Smart”
community, the first “Wood First”
town, and this year our region was
named “Forest Capital of Canada” and
our mayor chooses instead to socialize
with her council colleagues. We were
conspicuous by our absence and I feel
bad for our forestry industry and its
workers. That would never happen
under my watch” Paull concluded.
Ronʼs favourite cartoon.
TOUGH QUESTIONS ... SO FAR, NO ANSWERS
“It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.”
For those that do not read the
Observer….
As I go door-to-door, I am surprised
how many people are asking me
why all the fuss over expense
claims. For those that do not read
the Observer, here is a reprint of my
letter to the editor. As a postscript, I
challenge the mayor to answer the
REAL question… it was never a
question if she was under or over
budget on her expenses… it was a
question of whether or not those
expense claims were proper and eligible in the first place. Her $200
windshield claim is the most glaring
example. Council’s travel expense
policy is very clear… fifty cents per
kilometer “includes all risk associated with property damage.” It has
been argued that $200 is no big deal.
Maybe not for some, but it begs the
ultimate question…Is it right? Or is
it wrong?
Madam Editor,
Until now, I have resisted growing
public pressure to weigh in on the
thorny issue of the mayor’s expenses, but the city auditor’s* letter was
the proverbial straw that has raised
more questions than answers. For
example, was the auditor instructed
to adjudicate only the paper trail and
not the eligibility and propriety of
some of the mayor’s expenses? Why
didn’t his opinion go beyond simply
saying that all the paperwork is in
order? Why, in spite of saying in his
letter that he conducted a “review of
the overall purpose of the supporting documentation” did he not say
(or at least politely hint) that some
of those expenses were clearly not
eligible to have been claimed? Is he
not aware that certain of those
expenses are illegitimate because
under the Canada Income Tax Act,
all local government elected officials receive a large portion (in our
case it is one third) of their pay as an
expense allowance? The City’s
Council Indemnity Bylaw No. 1385
of 1997 says, in part “….provide for
the payment of an annual indemnity
to the Mayor and councillors of the
City …., a part of which may be an
allowance for expenses incidental to
their duties”. In the body of the
bylaw, Section 3 states “One-third
of such annual indemnity amounts
paid to each member of Council
shall be paid as an allowance for
expenses incidental to the discharge
of his or her office.” That language
is repeated in the Council Policy for
Council Remuneration.
Our expense allowance is not to be
considered part of our pay, and is
not taxable, which adds even more
(4) Why does it seem possible to
end value to the one third expense
bypass and be paid more than the set
allowance. Are we not well enough
allowance for a local restaurant
compensated for our out-of-pocket
expenses? I think so. Wouldn’t a
lunch by simply submitting a receipt
for that lunch instead of claiming
salesman or any other business perthe lower set allowance on the propson just love to be granted the
er expense claim form? More
equivalent of one third of his or her
importantly, why wasn’t that lunch,
earnings as a tax-free expense
allowance?
and many other lunches for that
matter, properly paid for from the
Last week, I booked a one hour
one third tax free expense
appointment with staff to view the
allowance, for which it is intended?
files that accompany forty some odd
(5) Why was a Blackberry cover
expense cheques issued to the
mayor. I was surprised at the mounapproved as a claimable expense?
Each of us, including the mayor,
tain of paperwork that confronted
receive a generous fifty dollar
me. In fact, after spending an hourmonthly technology allowance to
and-a-half, I managed to get through
cover costs for our personal cell
about only a third of it. I believe my
phone, home fax machine, home
opinions of the findings are based
computer, laptop, home office supon a solid foundation of knowledge
gained from over twenty four years
plies and home internet service (we
as a senior staff member at Quesnel
must have internet to access our
electronic agendas).
City Hall, followed by nine years as
(6) Does the shopping done by the
a Quesnel City councillor. I have
mayor contravene the City’s puralso had the benefit of some pretty
chasing policy in that the need for
knowledgeable and experienced tax
purchase orders is apparently
advisors. My brief and incomplete
bypassed?
inspection of the files provoked sev(7) Why are gifts of chocolates,
eral more questions that need to be
pedicures and other treats for staff
asked…
(1) Like why were some questionand others from an elected official
able forms of receipts accepted by
not paid from that elected official’s
staff? Why do some receipts consist
one third tax-free expense
allowance, rather than being
of only an Interact receipt, which
should not be eligible to take the
charged to the taxpayer twice?
Further, are some employees more
place of a proper receipt? Why was
equal or more deserving of gifts and
another “receipt” approved which
treats than others?
was hand written on what appeared
to be part of a napkin?
(8) Why does the mayor apparently
prefer to travel by private taxi or
(2) Why was a claim that apparently
limousine as
included
a
opposed to
meal for the
the
much
m a y o r ’s
ALL CANDIDATES
more ecos p o u s e
PUBLIC FORUM
nomical,
approved
(albeit humwhen policy
ble) hotel
clearly states
shuttle or
that spousal
expenses are
transit,
not eligible for
Airporter or
reimburseC a n a d a
ment?
Line? Is this
contrary to
(3) Why was a
our travel
piddly little
policy that
claim
for
requests that
$8.46 for a
we use the
Diet Coke, a
most ecobag
of
“You expect me to tell the
nomical
Hickory Sticks
truth, the whole truth, and
means
of
snack
food
nothing but the truth,
commercial
and
what
transportaappears to be a
and then you ask me
tion possimagazine
a question like that!?”
ble? In fact,
approved, as
if we choose
opposed
to
to take our personal vehicle on an
being covered under the daily $25
approved trip, we are paid the fifty
“incidental expense” allowance as
cents per kilometre or the airfare
provided by the City? Also, how
equivalent, whichever is the lesser.
much did it cost taxpayers to have
(9) Why does the mayor betray our
staff process and pay such a frivoown “shop local” campaign by
lous claim?
shopping for the City stuff (as evidenced by receipts) at Costco,
London Drugs, Home Depot and
other out-of-town stores?
At the risk of being labelled picky,
petty and heaven forbid political,
my brief and incomplete review of
the files raises further bothersome
questions that need to be asked…
(1) Like why does it appear that
some elected and appointed officials, and perhaps even our paid
professional auditors, are ignorant
of, seem not understand, or perhaps
choose to ignore the purpose of the
one-third tax fee expense allowance
enabled by Canada Revenue
Agency (the Federal Government)?
In Quesnel’s case this one third tax
free expense allowance is upwards
of about $15000.00 annually or
$1250.00 a month for the mayor and
about $3960 annually for us councillors. Let’s not forget that the
mayor is also paid by the Cariboo
Regional District, so I believe that
one third of her CRD stipend provides her with yet another tax free
expense allowance. There are also
expense allowances for other boards
and committees that she sits on,
such as UBCM and BC Transit,
however those expenses are virtually impossible to access. I have
reviewed Interpretation Bulletins
and SubSection 81(3) from the federal Income Tax Act that explains
that this one third tax free expense
allowance is an allowance for
expenses and not compensation for
our service to the taxpayers. It is
very clear… two thirds of our
stipend is pay, and one third is to
cover expenses incurred in carrying
out our duties in the community.
(2) Why does the mayor not see, or
perhaps choose not to see the line
that separates duties and responsibilities of elected officials from paid
staff? Ergo… why doesn’t staff do
the shopping?
(3) Is the mayor too overbearing and
does she intimidate staff by pushing
the limits on allowable expenses,
such as, for example, her $200
windshield claim, which is not provided for under our vehicle expense
policy? The fifty cents per kilometre
is intended to cover ALL incidental
expenses for the vehicle. In fact, our
corporate travel policy clearly states
“The rate per kilometre includes all
risk associated with property damage and loss of safe driving discount.” Did staff approve the windshield claim free of any coercion or
political interference?
(4) Was the City’s release of information sought by Councillor
Thapar, Finance Committee Chair,
resisted and delayed as long as possible because of its potentially
revealing content?
(5) Would an independent auditor,
who was not paid by the City, have
arrived at the same conclusions by
digging deeper?
(6) Does all this uncertainty and
ignorance
around
expense
allowances point to the need for
education for elected and appointed
local government officials and auditors? Does it point to the need for a
Municipal Auditor General as proposed by Premier Christy Clark?
What is the real reason why the
mayor seems to oppose the idea of a
Municipal Auditor General?
(7) Who directed the City manager
to submit the auditor’s letter to the
editor? Isn’t that letter the property
of the City, not to be arbitrarily sent
off as a letter to the editor?
(8) Just what does the mayor think
her approximately $15,000 tax free
expense allowance is for? As an
upcoming president of the UBCM
(Union of BC Municipalities),
wouldn’t it be a good idea for her to
introduce a convention course or
workshop
titled
“Expense
Allowances 101” to correct what
appears to be a broad ignorance of
the rules among politicians, bureaucrats and paid auditors.
And finally… in spite of Finance
Committee chair Thapar being a little hard to understand, often annoyingly repetitive and a bit like a bull
in a china shop when it comes to tact
and diplomacy, was he right? Under
all his warts and foibles, I think so.
I am reluctant to send this letter to
you, Madam Editor, especially at
election time, but it seems that letters to the editor is the new communications strategy around City Hall,
as is evidenced by the latest missive
launched by the City Manager. My
apologies to our staff spin doctor,
Matt!
Let’s all learn and respect the rules
and get on with the people’s business, as we were elected to do!
–Ron Paull
* (It has since been reported that the
auditor contributed to the mayor’s
2008 campaign.)
“Only those who dare to fail
greatly can ever achieve
greatly.”
–Robert F. Kennedy
“A nation of sheep will beget
a government of wolves.”
–Edward R. Murrow
Mind the mines!
PAULL’S
PUCK LUCK
It’s costing Ron Paull dearly to put his money where
his mount is! “We were at a
recent
Joint
Planning
Committee meeting and in a
moment of frustration over
a proposal to hire yet another consultant, this time to do
fund raising for the Multi
Centre, I had one of my
“instant brain waves”, Paull
said. He was questioning
why a consultant was needed to get a fund raising
drive together, when on the
spot, he suggested the fund
raising committee could
gather pledges for every
goal the Quesnel Kangaroos
scored on home ice in the
regular season. “I said I
would pledge $20 to the
Multi Centre fund for each
goal. I wasn’t expecting the
cough up $420 for the twenty one goals the ‘Roos netted in their next two
games… and there are still
another half dozen games to
go!” On the bright side,
Paull is issuing a challenge
to his mayoral candidate
opponents to meet or beat
his pledge. “Let’s have a little fun for a good cause!”
Paull laughed.
Let’s ENFORCE
our bylaws!!
Ron Paull is getting an earful
about bylaw enforcement. Or
lack of it. He responds by saying “Under the present mayor,
we seem to be dancing around
bylaw enforcement. Unsightly
premises, crack shacks, noise,
street racing, derelict cars,
unsafe abandoned houses…
the list goes on and on. Under
my leadership, we will see
more enforcement, and not just
on a complaint-driven basis.
Why do we have bylaws if
we’re afraid to enforce them?”
With a large part of his
family relying on employment at Gibraltar Mines for
their livelihood, Ron Paull is
all too aware of the importance of supporting the local
and regional mining and mineral exploration industry.
“I think I’m the only candidate in this election that has
made the effort to personally
tour the sites of Gibraltar
Mines, the Prosperity Mines
property at Fish Lake near
Taseko Lake, the Davidson
Mountain Mine at Tsacha
Lake and the Spanish
Mountain property at Likely.”
Paull says as mayor, he would
encourage the City’s economic development corporation to
focus more on the mining
industry. “In all my years on
Council, I cannot remember
an actual working session
with our economic development board. As mayor, I
would insist that we meet at
least once a year to ensure we
are on the same page and
share a common vision and
strategy for economic development. We’re paying a
whole lot of attention to birch
syrup, but we must do more
on the primary industrial and
high paying jobs front.” Paull
said.
Quesnel mayoral candidate
Ron Paull, in his commitment
to comment on issues in the
November 19 civic elections,
has released his position statement on the proposed Multi
Centre. Paull said that in the
last two elections, this was a
major plank in his platform, as
it is today. He noted he and
wife Pat Morton held season
tickets
for
Quesnel
Millionaires hockey and now
for the Kangaroos. They are
also season ticket holders at
Theatre Northwest in Prince
George, but would prefer to
stay home for their live theatre
fixes. Paull was also a founding member of the Quesnel
Theatre Action Group.
“Under my leadership, the
Multi Centre will be higher
priority than before. We have
just two years left in our fiveyear window from the ‘08 referendum. It wasn’t long ago
when MP Dick Harris openly
admitted in the press that he
didn’t realize our multi centre
was such a high priority. Mr.
Harris needs to know big time
that it is our region’s… in fact
the entire Cariboo Regional
Districts’ number one priority.
If the current mayor can’t
communicate with senior government politicians, I sure
can… let’s get moving!”
Paull informed the October
27th all candidates’ forum that
following approval of the
2008 Multi Centre referendum, he attempted to continue
momentum generated by the
referendum to raise seed
money to lever major funds
from senior governments and
others. “I was politely reminded by the mayor to stay out of
it… that was her job, not
mine,” Paull said. “Now three
years later, the Multi Centre
fund raising committee was
hastily thrown together just
weeks ago... to hire a fund
raising consultant with a
budget of over $100,000…
just in time for the election. At
the last Joint Planning
Committee meeting, I moved
to delay that decision until the
new Council was sworn in, but
was defeated. In my frustration over the thought of yet
another consultant, I came up
with an idea that the fund raising committee could gather
pledges for every goal the
‘Roos scored on home ice in
the regular season.” Paull also
informed fund raising committee chair Eric Wickham of
his idea. “I said I would throw
in $20 for each goal, not
expecting the Roos to score a
total of 21 goals on home ice
over the past weekend alone!
In hindsight, maybe I should
have put a cap on it… but I’ll
THE PAULLITICIAN, NOVEMBER 2011 • PAGE 3
Ron Paull has personally toured the sites of
Gibraltar Mines, the Prosperity Mines property at Fish Lake near Taseko Lake, the
Davidson Mountain Mine area at Tsacha Lake
and the Spanish Mountain property at Likely.
Paull Sparks Multi Centre “Plan B” Debate
Ron & Patʼs grandkids
(l-r) Jenna, Alexi, Jaxen, and Kyle
keep them forever young.
(Missing: grandson Kaysen)
suck it up and donate my $420
when they get their fund raising plan organized. The ‘Roos
think this is a great idea and
are doing their job by racking
up the goals; we just need to
capitalize on it.” Paull speculated that a reasonable goal for
accumulated pledges could be
$1000 or more per goal, which
would have generated $21,000
for the multi centre last weekend alone. He said it’s not just
about the money. “This would
generate needed awareness
and support for the project.
We’ve been too quiet. We
don’t even have a sign or banner in our old arena or anywhere else to promote the
Multi Centre.” He said he
would like to see fund raising
ideas for the theatre as well.
“We need to show potential
large funders we are serious
and the more seed money we
have the more credibility and
leverage we’ll have.”
Paull raised the question of
contingency planning for the
multi centre at the October
27th all candidates’ forum in
response to enquiries he was
getting from voters as he went
from door to door. “What if
we don’t get all our funding, if
the price goes up or, heaven
forbid, if we lose another
mill... then what?” Paull
asked. “The current mayor
doesn’t want to talk contingency, but the people sure
want to hear what we have for
a backup plan.” Upon being
questioned about his ideas at
the forum, he replied that he
has done his research, but
would like to discuss it with
his colleagues, once elected.
“I’m a consensus builder, and
although I have several outside-of-the-box ideas to throw
on the table for the new Joint
Planning Committee to mull
over, I want to hear their opinions, not wanting to push my
ideas ahead of the discussion.
I was the first to stick my neck
out by saying we need to talk
about contingency, and it wasn’t long before other candidates, except the mayor, were
following suit.” Paull said.
“Someone even suggested
what I would call a plan “P”
for “phasing” of the project,
but I am not going there
because it would be outside
the mandate provided by the
referendum. It’s unfortunate
that nothing much has really
happened with the multi centre in the last three years… but
after I’m elected mayor, I
would work with our partners
at the CRD to quickly put the
multi centre into high gear. We
only have two years left to
make it happen.”
Ron Paull is big on transparency. He is quick to take
credit for two recent accomplishments at the Council table
that have brought to light the
mayor’s spending practices. “I
was successful in my motion
to have the expense claim
forms for the mayor, council
and senior staff posted on the
City’s web site, as part of our
regular bi-weekly agendas.”
Paull’s second victory came
about a bit by accident. “I had
a call from a lady who wanted
some budget information and I
referred her to the City’s web
site. Well, after much searching around, we found it wasn’t
there. Upon asking staff why
the budget wasn’t there, a
report came back to Council,
saying it would take up too
much space to post all 28
pages of the line-by-line budget on the City’s web site. I was
quick to remind everyone that
we have no trouble posting a
300-400 page agenda on the
City’s web site every week.
Long story short… the City’s
budget is now posted on the
City’s website for all to see!
There would be no more
secret camera meetings to
rehearse for open meeting
assembled.
In camera meetings are
strictly for land, labour and
legal matters. Period. “We
need fresh, experienced leadership that would encourage
meaningful,
all-inclusive
interaction, from the grass
roots up, rather than from the
mayor's office down.
If elected, mayoral candidate Ron
Paull would appoint a councillor
to head up a new Seniors
Advisory Committee as well as a
new committee that would
address youth issues. “I am not
sure our existing youth programs
and the youth centre are effectively serving the entire youth community, so I would convene a
Youth Forum that would rely
heavily on social media to find out
just what we need to do to
improve services and opportunity
for youth in our community. I am
hearing that our Youth Centre
should be on the West Side. In my
door-knocking campaign I have
gone out of my way to talk to
youth and seniors, and I can see
wonderful opportunities to
improve services for citizens at
both ends of the age scale.”
Freedom of Information should be ... just that!
Both ends of the age scale
Ron continues to be actively
involved in BBDays, since
starting it 39 years ago.
ALTERNATE TRUCK ROUTE?
BYPASS? …OR WHAT?
PAGE 4 • THE PAULLITICIAN, NOVEMBER 2011
Like the Multi Centre and the
West Quesnel Land Stability
projects, the Alternate Truck
Route, North/South Connector
or Bypass has not advanced
appreciably during the last
three-year Council term. “No
wonder the current mayor’s
campaign logo is a stop sign…
a sign of the speed with which
things have been moving…
um… stalled at City Hall of
late,” chuckled mayoral candidate Ron Paull. “We absolutely must get this project on the
government’s radar, particularly since we have a provincial
election coming up in less than
The Poet’s Corner
Roses are red, violets are blue
Ron’s for mayor?
We have two!
A vote for Paull as many
well know…
Can bring change.
Our chance to grow!
A vote for the other?
Likely status quo!
Anon.
“You put the
Paullitician
in here...
18 months. Paull noted that he
is not happy with the route
proposal adopted by the former
Joint
Planning
Committee. “It does absolutely
nothing to get loaded and
empty logging trucks off of
Front Street. We should give
this thing another look to see if
we can’t route loaded logging
trucks straight off the Moffat
Bridge to connect with the
truck route on either side of the
Quesnel River highway bridge
at the bottom of the Dragon
Lake Hill. In the meantime, I
think we should take a look at
the possibility of making Front
Street southbound traffic only
one lane, and allow traffic to
move more smoothly by incorporating a centre lane permitting left-turns in both directions or a “scramble lane”
only.” Paull says when elected
mayor, like the multi centre
project, he would accelerate
the alternate truck route file.
“The highway bottleneck or
chokepoint at Quesnel is not so
much a Quesnel issue as it is a
northern BC issue. We need to
get our provincial government
to move the Quesnel bottleneck up on their “Cariboo
Connector” calendar.
Ron has 48 signs – each one different.
Can you find them all around town, and report your findings on Facebook?
A frontage tax for West Quesnel? I don’t think so!!
At the mayoral candidates’ forum hosted by the South Quesnel Neighbourhood
Association, we were asked if we would favour a parcel tax in West Quesnel for the land
stability project, similar to the parcel tax for the South Hills water project. The incumbent
mayor said a small parcel tax may be worth looking at. My response is that the people of
South Hills are paying their parcel tax as a result asking for their water through a referendum.
The people of West Quesnel did not ask for a land stability problem. Further, we did not
impose a parcel tax on businesses benefiting directly from the million dollar St. Laurent
Avenue beautification project and sidewalks on Newman Road (that should have been
installed by the developer who was a friend of a previous mayor!)
I will not agree with a parcel tax in West Quesnel.
Paull leads with resolutions at UBCM
You know he prefers
the Observer.”
Interesting Links...
quesnelcariboosentinel.com
ronpaull.ca
quesnelobserver.com
Mayoral candidate Ron Paull
says you don’t have to be VP
of the Union of BC
Municipalities to make a difference. He has authored the
highest number of resolutions
from Quesnel for debate at the
annual UBCM conventions.
He (not staff) must first draft
the resolution, get it adopted
and referred by Council to the
annual conference of the
North
Central
Local
Government Association (all
municipalities and regional
districts north of 100 Mile
House), where it is again
adopted and referred to the
Union of BC Municipalities
convention, where up to 1,500
voting delegates will hopefully adopt the resolution so it
can be passed on to either the
federal or provincial government for implementation.
Paull’s resolutions can be
found at www.ronpaull.ca and
(briefly described) include the
following:
(1) Tax exemption for service
club dues paid by community
volunteers.
(2) Single transferable license
plate to allow single insurance
for two-vehicle owners.
(3) Eliminating carbon tax in
northern,
cold
climate,
resource-based communities.
(4) Postponing incandescent
light bulb ban until LED is
proven better than CFL bulbs.
(5) Property assessment
appeals heard in towns in
which they are launched.
(6) Federal government to
continue providing aeronautical services to small airports.
WHAT IS RON
READING NOW?
Not that he has a whole
bunch of time for reading at
the moment, he says that for
inspiration and motivation
during the election campaign,
he is really enjoying Jack
Layton’s
Speaking
Out
Louder. Another book on
Ron’s table at the moment is
Dan Ariely’s The upside of
irrationality… the unexpected
benefits of defying logic.
Ron’s happy when he’s headin’ sleddin’
ng
e!
S
ILE
M
for a c h a
Want more info?
Contact Ron.
Ron Paull is excited about
all the new communications
tools he is learning about and
putting into practice in this
election.
“This is my sixth election,
but this one is hugely different
because of social media. I am
learning so much… and having a ton of fun doing it!”
Paull exclaimed. He noted that
besides being on the web (
www.ronpaull.ca ) and email (
ron@ronpaull.ca ), his campaign is on Face Book, Twitter
and YouTube. “When we
found out that the Chamber of
Commerce wasn’t having the
October 27th All Candidates’
Forum televised (let alone
advertised) our campaign team
quickly responded by arranging the hiring, at our own
expense, a crew to live stream
the over the internet. I have
been trying for years to get
Council
meetings
live
streamed but have met with
resistance from the mayor and
staff. Now that I know how
easy and inexpensive it is, I
will make those changes. Not
everyone has Shaw Cable ten,
which is never broadcast live
anyway. At the forums, we
also came prepared to video
tape the forum, and arranged
with Shaw Cable
Ten to use our
recorded footage. I
think I am the only
candidate to use a QR code, as
shown here… to allow people
to scan the code with their
mobile devices to connect
them and allow them to interact instantly with me through
my website, email, Face Book,
etc. “I am so impressed with
the company ( www.socialmediadivas.ca ) that we hired to
do our social media stuff for
my campaign. They will be
looking after all the social
media work for my business
Ron Paull Communications
and Quesnel Visitors’ and
Community
Guides. As
Quesnel’s next mayor, I will
work to bring our City up to
speed in electronic communications.
If a grandpa like me can do
it on a shoestring budget, it
should be no problem for the
City to do it too!”
HST
Smart
Meters
He’s well connected.
Phone 250-992-8994
Ron Paull canvassed door-to-door with the petition
to extinguish the HST. And on the matter of Smart
Meters, he tried unsuccessfully to get City Council
to put forth a resolution to the UBCM opposing
BC Hydro’s Smart Meter project.
Cell 250-991-9009 • Fax 250-992-5333
Email: ron@ronpaull.ca
Web: ronpaull.ca
Snail Mail: 1386 Moffat Ave, Quesnel, BC V2J 3A7
FACEBOOK
Paull leads in technology and “live
streaming” all candidates forums
TWITTER
PAULL Ron X
for
MAYOR