Friday, October 22, 2010

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas

Sources watching the Walia trial closely say a decision is not expected before Christmas.

Three days in October were set aside to conclude the trial, with two of those days taken up by expert testimony on the nature and value of liquor licenses.

The third day was taken up by closing arguments.

In our last report we promised our readers updates as information became available.

We will continue to watch this story closely because of the serious financial implications it has for New Westminster taxpayers.

9 comments:

Hyonese said...

It is amazing how city officials couldn't distance themselves fast enough from the issue.
The Mayor blamed staff. Staff took it on the chin but some tried to deflect.
The planner came across as angry and arrogant. The whole thing looked like the keystone cops.
The former planner came across as a conniving dolt.
Not a great day for New West.

Anonymous said...

Provincial liquor licenses are coveted pieces of paper, akin to being licenses to print money.

When a liquor license is at stake, it is reckless to deviate from standard legal and business protocols to gamble on personal and political relationships.

Worse, for the City to have 'fudged' legal and ethical due-process to conduct city business on the basis political promises is more than an abuse of public trust, it is a serious breach of elected office.

Unfortunately, it seems clear that there are no 'clean hands' involved in this matter.

That being the case, if justice prevails, courtesy of Mayor and Council, it is predictable that the pending court decision will indeed be costly to the City of New Westminster.

Merry Christmas.

Anonymous said...

It will be good news at Christmas for Mr. Walia bad news for the New Westminster tax payers. What was Wayne and the planning department thinking.

Rudolph Raingear said...

We all know about the whopping Christmas bills that come due in January, but this one could end up being the mother of all January Christmas bills.

More of the same said...

Nothing has changed down at the city planning department , it is business as usual. Recently the planner received some kind of downtown paid for award for all the increased traffic and densification for our community. Has anyone ever heard of a city planner being appointed to a hospital foundation board, going to be lots of conflicts on that one - nothing new for the planning department though .

To Hyonese said...

If the planner that took the stand came across as arrogant and angry, that is because he is. The city planning department has ongoing public relation issues, with a do as I say not as I do attitude.

It's long past time for a big change at City Hall said...

In addition to the blame-game, as I understand it, there was no shortage of memory-lapse on the part of the politicos being questioned.
Their failed-recall on some fairly key issues is cause for grave concern.
Conclusion: either our politicos were being deliberately evasive or are seriously incompetent.
Either way, this is bad news for New Westminster.

RESTORE INTEGRITY TO CITY HALL said...

Amen to the fact that the public courts cannot be controlled or quieted by New Westminster City Hall.

The Walia affair doesn't exactly meet traditional "silver lining on a black cloud" criteria, but the fact that this action proceeded to the courts has provided a definitive and irrefutable snapshot of the shoddy way our locally elected New Westminster government operates.

When was the last time City Hall was taken to court for a breach of this nature? Has it ever happened before? To the people of New Westminster, make no mistake, this is significant and the important thing for citizens to understand is that in all likelihood, this is not a "one-off" occurrence.

What this demonstrates is how this administration ignores their mandate and oath of office. They put the public's interests second to that of their own.

When process and protocol are made second to personal political affiliations and special interest agendas, it is past time for "change"; more than that, it is time to RESTORE INTEGRITY TO CITY HALL.

John Ashdown said...

When is Judgement Day ? I thought December and here it is March.