Don’t let CVRD take over JUB
JUB was created to operate the sewage treatment operations for the south end of North Cowichan (MNC) and Duncan. CVRD locations were added to JUB at the request of the CVRD. JUB is wholly in the jurisdiction of MNC and Duncan and I believe First Nations. It is very well run and operates with the use of current staffing at the municipalities involved. JUB is very cost and operationally effective to the taxpayers involved.
The CVRD has requested that MNC review its governance model for JUB. Why the CVRD has the authority to ask for this and why Mayor Lefebure invited the Trojan Horse onto MNC’s jurisdictional turf is beyond me. MNC council should be very concerned. Why MNC council went along with this and approved the study is astounding. We should all know where this is headed!
Background
Recently, the CVRD hired a consultant to review the sewer and water systems under its jurisdiction. The report said that the systems in almost every location are poorly run and some near collapse. Rate increases of up to 200 per cent were recommended to fix some systems in the CVRD. The consultants recommended that the CVRD create a new organization in their bureaucratic empire called a “Utility Commission”.
The CVRD’s likely scheme: where this is headed
Seeing how the CVRD had the consultants open the door to creating a new bureaucratic empire for the CVRD utilities, it now opens up an even grander opportunity to take over JUB. You can bet the CVRD recommended to the consultant that they wanted to create this new commission. There is an old saying in consulting: Use your client’s watch to tell the client what time it is.
It is most disappointing that MNC council authorized this review given that JUB directors opposed the review saying that the review was totally unnecessary.
You must stop this review. You are falling into a trap set by the CVRD to expand their bureaucratic empire building. This is nothing more than a bureaucratic want; it is not a need of JUB users. Our systems work just fine. The end result, if you allow this to happen, will be a massive increase in taxes for JUB users to help fix the mess created by the incompetence of the CVRD to run their own utilities.
Don Swiatlowski
North Cowichan