Cullen Claims Victory on New Tax Hike

In the press release below Alex Cullen decides it would be a good idea to claim victory over a 3.8% tax hike for the people of Ottawa. These tax increases will surely place a higher burden on the people of Ottawa during an already difficult economic climate. This is no time for tax increases, in fact, there should be either a tax freeze or tax reduction to promote economic activity in the city.

Bus service is already terrible and I don't see how the city could reduce service without just resorting to having main routes only. I mean there currently exist some brain-dead routes. For example, check out route 159. This route was designed so that people don't bitch that service between Carlingwood and Westboro was eliminated when the 18 was cancelled. This route comes once every never and only between 9:30 and 2:30 which is asinine.

The U-pass idea, which has been around for along time, is one of the stupidest ideas I've ever seen. The idea, generally, is that schools levy money from students to pay for bus passes they may or may not use. This penalizes every student that lives on campus or doesn't take the bus and INCREASES COSTS FOR STUDENTS. Cullen is blatantly LYING when he claims this will bring 50 000 students into the public transit system because many of those 50 000 students don't use transit or use it infrequently enough that the 125$ / semester levy isn't justified for their needs. Universities are full of this 'everyone pays for services only a few use' model but this U-pass idea goes too far. It essentially doubles the current student union fees.


A press release from Thursday:

From: Cullen, Alex
To: Media Only
Cc: info@wwwebworks.ca
Sent: Thu Jan 28 16:22:16 2010
Subject: Transit Committee Chair Cullen claims victory as Transit budget approved with no service cuts and a new U-Pass program

Media Release:
Transit Committee Chair Cullen claims victory as Transit budget approved with no service cuts and a new U-Pass program
Councillor Alex Cullen, Chair of the City's Transit Committee, claimed victory as a result of City Council's budget decisions today (January 28, 2010) as City Council restored cuts to 53 bus routes and approved a pilot U-Pass program for university students at Carleton and Ottawa Universities. Said Councillor Cullen: "This is a victory for transit today - the public spoke loud and clear that they didn't want to see their bus service cut to achieve a tax increase target and City Council listened." On the U-Pass, which City Council adopted on a 22-2 vote after three previous tries, Councillor Cullen said: "The U-Pass will bring some 50,000 students onto our public transit system at a rate they can afford - congratulations to the student federations of both universities for their work in campaigning for this initiative."
Last November during the development of the draft 2010 budget the City's Transit Committee recommended a $364 million budget for public transit, but the Audit, Budget & Finance Committee (chaired by Mayor O'Brien) proposed to cut $3 million in cuts to public transit, affecting 53 bus routes and 597,000 passenger rides. Public reaction to these proposed cuts was strong and negative, both at individual ward meetings and at the City Council public hearings. As a result, during the budget debate an omnibus motion was moved that adopted a number of measures that kept the tax increase near its 3.9% target while re-instating the ABF Committee's proposed transit cuts.
The U-Pass success came about after 2 previous tries at City Council where Transit Committee had endorsed this proposal but had been rejected by City Council over funding concerns. U-Pass programs are currently found in 18 cities across Canada.


Alex Cullen
Councillor, Bay Ward
City of Ottawa
110 Laurier Ave. W.
Ottawa K1P 1J1
(613) 580-2477 fax: (613) 580-2517
e-mail: alex.cullen@ottawa.ca
www.alexcullen.ca
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BREAKING: Jim Watson Enters the race for mayor

From over at the CBC

A source close to the Liberal MPP for Ottawa West-Nepean confirmed that Watson will announce his candidacy Tuesday morning.

This will surely liven things up. Watson is an experienced politician and should provide some entertainment for us.

"He is going to have a major impact on this race due to his personality," [Alex] Cullen said, when asked about the possibility of Watson's candidacy, before adding: "Style is nice, but it's substance that counts."

Stay Classy.

Cullen Clueless on Transit

From the Citizen

"It was an embarrassing day for Councillor Alex Cullen, who pronounced Lansdowne Live to be defective the day the plan came out"

Cullen's main argument against the proposed Landsdowne Live! plan was that it would not provide sufficient public transit access. I can't understand why this would be the case. Firstly, there are two major bus routes (the 1 and the 7) which travel along Bank Street. Secondly, I can think of a few developments not situated on major transit routes that were, in fact, approved by city council. The most notable example I can think of being the new shopping mall that is about to be put on the former Laurentian High School site only served by the local 156 route and the 118.

One of my main oppositions to Alex Cullen for Mayor is that in his role as Chair of the Transit Committee, he has, in my opinion, not demonstrated the foresight and knowledgeability I'd expect from a Mayoral Candidate.

OC Transpo Cancels 149 Runs in Two Days

The title (borrowed from CFRA.com) says it all. Alex Cullen, Chair of the Transit Committee, was "surprised" by the lack of maintained busses in Ottawa over the last few days.

Shouldn't Cullen, as the Chair of the Transit Committee, be congnisant of developments with regards to the transit which he is overseeing? Probably too busy installing Hand Sanitizers on OCTranspo busses.

Do we really want someone who would stick the elderly and the poor out in the cold to maintain a good relationship with an Out-of-control union as Mayor of our city?

Read the full article

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