RATE
INCREASE AT HOWARD ARMSTRONG RECREATION CENTRE
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OUTRAGEOUS! I can’t think
of anything else to say in response to the suggestion that
members of the Howard Armstrong Recreation Centre should have
their membership fees increased by up to 33% in order to bring
them in line with the rates being paid by other fitness centres
that do not have comparable facilities. City staff wants to
raise an additional $53,000 in total revenue during the next
year with increases that will force Valley East and Capreol
residents to pay more for the services they have been enjoying
for 30 years.
Council has already
approved the rate increases which will force families with young
children as well as seniors and people with low incomes to
shoulder the entire burden. Some families will be facing
increased costs of over $1000 a year to provide their children
with the same programs and access to swimming as they did last
year. Seniors and youth will be forced to accept exorbitant fee
increases in order to access the centre’s facilities and
programs. This is completely unacceptable in an age when we are
trying to encourage families, youth and seniors to become
physically active and adopt a healthier style of living. It is
also unacceptable to rob parents and individuals with low
incomes of the opportunity to take part in wholesome
recreational programs and public swimming.
The Howard Armstrong
Recreation Centre was built in 1983 amid much debate and
discussion among residents at the time about the merits of
investing so much money in a state-of-the-art recreation
facility. The main argument was that despite the cost, the HARC
would provide affordable fitness options for generations to come
and would become the focal point for the Town of Valley East. It
would be located in the heart of the community with the library,
a new Town Hall, and a huge soccer complex where our community
could gather and come together for all purposes and reasons. It
was going to be the Town Centre and we were assured that the
membership rates would always remain family friendly and would
encourage people from Valley East to take part in the use of the
facilities in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. It was not
just being built for the children of the residents living in
Valley East at the time. It was being built for the
grandchildren of those residents and would be used to attract
people to live in Valley East because of the recreation
facilities available.
Valley East became the 6th
largest city in Northern Ontario only to be amalgamated into the
City of Greater Sudbury a year after we became a city. Ever
since amalgamation, our services have been reduced, our taxes
have been increased, development charges are high, we pay more
for our fire protection, we have fewer police on patrol, our
transit services are well below the standard of the city proper,
and yet we have been told time and time again over the past
thirteen years that all of this has been in our best interests.
But if you ask anyone who was living in Valley East prior to
amalgamation, they will tell you that we were generally much
better off when we were on our own - financially and
politically.
What the City Council
proposes to do with the membership fees for the Howard Armstrong
Recreation Centre is the last straw for many residents of Valley
East and falls in the realm of, “What were they thinking? Are
they trying to start up the whole de-amalgamation movement
again?”
Access to adequate and
affordable recreation facilities is a “right”, not a “privilege”
for residents of a community. The taxpayers of Valley East paid
for the Howard Armstrong Recreation Centre and were guaranteed
affordable rates. If other fitness centres are charging rates
that are so high their membership is lower than it should be,
then the solution is to lower the membership rates to a level
that will encourage more members to join. You don’t raise the
rates in Valley East, which has the highest membership totals in
the City in order to overcome the shortfall. That is going to
drive families and seniors away from the recreation centre and
will actually result in less revenue being earned and more of a
deficit.
This has been a very quiet
election campaign period up until now. This attempt by the City
staff and Councillors to impose a direct tax on the people who
can least afford it – individuals on low and fixed incomes,
families, youth and seniors – is going to be a wakeup call, not
only for residents of the outlying areas but also for people
living in the rest of the City who will soon find that services
which they require in order to maintain an affordable quality of
life are going to cost them more than they can afford. I for
one, intend to defend the rights of families, youth and seniors
living in Valley East and the rest of Ward 5. I hope other
candidates will join me.
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