Councillor Jordan Bateman's Political Spins & Attacks Targeting Mayor Refuted By Mayor Rick Green

Mayor Rick Green sets the record straight in the below recent public letter to the Local Press. He specifically refutes Councillor Bateman's political attacks targeting him:

• About Bateman's statement that Green doesn't understand the process, Green says; " I have spent many more years than his age being very involved in successfully managing and owning business of significant size.".
• About Bateman's statement that Green should not have publicly revealed the lack of an actual P3 (Private Public Partnership) agreement, Green says; "Coun. Bateman has said he can't understand why I made this issue public. I ran on transparency, and am committed to it. All taxpayers should be concerned about a belief in secrecy.".
• About Bateman's statement that the Township was simply waiting for the $5 million federal grant before concluding a P3 agreement, Green says; "The $5 million was to be used for capital, not operational funding, so they should have insisted on a P3 being in place from the start, so the private partner would now be sharing the funding shortfall. Obviously, his statement is incorrect.".
• Mayor Rick Green closes his letter saying; "Anyone trying to minimize the short to long-term impact of this event is clearly showing a lack of knowledge, understanding, experience, and responsibility of leadership.".

Mayor Rick Green in his first public address previously dismissed the blatant lies that were being broadcast emailed to many taxpayers and groups about Mayor Green's so-called alledged actions towards fully implementing full time fire halls and the Events Centre. Both blatant lies were never officially tracked back to its source and they tried to essentially alarm taxpayers untruthfully about the Mayor canceling both. In his speech Mayor Green said that these were purely attempts to re-fight the last election, where Mayor Alberts was defeated, or perhaps to start the next election campaign. It is no secret that Councillor Jordan Bateman is widely rumoured as planning to run for Mayor 3 years from now!

Mayor Green has only been in office for less than 2 months of his 3 year term! He also then said that it would take him no more than a few minutes to determine where these purely politically motivated lies originated from but that he did not want to do so as it was a waste of time. You can watch Mayor Green's approx 6:23 minute video previous statement here as paraphrased about this. It is recommended viewing as it is very very revealing! Watch the reactions!

Mayor Rick Green's Public Letter To The Editors

Dear Editor,

A clarification of the issues surrounding the Langley Events Centre is needed.

I am concerned about comments surrounding key issues pertaining to the Langley Events Centre. I feel compelled to correct the facts of concern to the Township, to at least re-focus our attention on the facts:

- The previous municipal government moved ahead on a very significant and ambitious community project without all capital funding in place, where the ultimate result would be imposing the risk of a lack of funding onto Township taxpayers.

- Without a project (capital) P3 agreement in place, the Township would be responsible for any shortfall of funding.

- While Township reserves are always available to bail out the Township from its mistakes, they should not be used for that purpose. With only about $5 million in reserves after bailing out the Events Centre (low for a municipality our size), we are left vulnerable.

- Councillor Jordan Bateman has said that I just don't understand the process. For the record, I have spent many more years than his age being very involved in successfully managing and owning business of significant size.

- Coun. Bateman has said he can't understand why I made this issue public. I ran on transparency, and am committed to it. All taxpayers should be concerned about a belief in secrecy.

- Coun. Bateman has said that they were waiting for the $5 million federal grant before concluding a P3 agreement. The $5 million was to be used for capital, not operational funding, so they should have insisted on a P3 being in place from the start, so the private partner would now be sharing the funding shortfall. Obviously, his statement was incorrect.

- The failure of federal funding to materialize is significant to the Township taxpayer. While there is a significant record of communication between the Township and the federal government, I cannot find an official application for funding. One would have to agree, it would take more than a few letters to MPs and cabinet ministers to support an application for $5 million, even from the federal government.

- Given the facts (no capital P3 agreement), it was obviously intended to have an operational P3 agreement in place, which should have happened prior to construction, so both parties clearly understood their individual and collective responsibilities after the project was finished. To attempt to conclude a satisfactory operational P3 agreement and its complex issues after the project is æ completed will be very difficult.

- The $5 million shortfall in federal funding equates to an eight per cent tax increase, if it was to be paid for through property tax rolls. That won't be the case, but it shows the impact of this type of decision.

- The Township's share of the ongoing operational cost of this facility is yet to be determined, and will have to be identified before concluding the 2009 budget going forward.

While I was prepared for some surprises coming into office, nobody could have assumed something of this magnitude - being told for more than two years that there was a P3 agreement, which we now find doesn't exist.

Anyone trying to minimize the short to long-term impact of this event is clearly showing a lack of knowledge, understanding, experience, and responsibility of leadership.

Rick Green, Mayor, Township of Langley...