Editor:
Look out Ladysmith, another of those infamous Chemainus barges has or is sinking.
Ladysmith has one in our harbour already. Is it possible that the Ladysmith taxpayers should worry that we will have a second one towed to our harbour and beached???
As I have witnessed during my eight years as a resident, Ladysmith taxpayers seem to be accustomed to our town suffering from blunders and bad management.
Our town fathers and ladies seem to have great difficulty grasping the fact that they are the board of directors of a large enterprise handling large amounts of capital.
However, this capital is largely the result of Ladysmith taxpayers, as well as the continuous begging for senior government grants.
There does not seem to be any interest in development of town assets which would yield a cash flow for the town treasury.
If our town fathers are not willing to grant a 10-year lease on the old R.V. Park site so a private entrepreneur can develop it as a going concern and pay monthly lease payments, then Ladysmith should take a positive step and call for contractors to bid on developing it for our town. If only they would sit down and crunch the numbers, they would see it is a VERY viable opportunity.
There is enthusiasm on council to engage an economic development expert to advise them regarding possible ways to improve the economic future of our town.
This seem to be a viable endeavour; however, when this adviser puts forth a reasonable suggestion, will it be acted on or will it be dropped into the “UNDER CONSIDERATION” pit like many suggestions put forth by former business people now retired and living in our town. I would imagine that the “UNDER CONSIDERATION” pit is overflowing by now and should be revisited. We might find that among the suggestions, there is a whole bunch of common sense borne out of years of business experience by retired volunteers in Ladysmith.
Don Harrison
Ladysmith