citiZEN | If you oppose Vancouver budget cuts...

This comes from one of my favourite local political watchdogs/advocates, ThinkCity. (My other favourite is City Caucus.) I'm supposed to send this to my "email contacts" (hence the supposedly personal perspective) but already know anybody who's anybody reads it here first. But I did send an email to the Mayor, and I do think it is an important issue... so if you have two minutes available, please pitch in, fellow citiZENs!

Subject: Send Mayor Robertson a message opposing deep cuts to city services before Dec 18!

I need your help right now. I am very worried about proposed plans to make deep cuts to the 2010 Vancouver budget.

The final decision will be made at city hall on Friday, Dec. 18, but it is not too late to show your opposition to the cuts.

I sent an email action message to city council here http://thinkcity.ca/budgetactionemail and am urging you to do the same.

Here's what's going on.

On Dec. 1, city council conditionally approved $20.3 million in cuts to community centres, fire and rescue, libraries, parks, youth programs and other frontline services. The three NPA and COPE councillors voted against the budget, while the mayor and his seven Vision councillors supported the deep cuts.

Coming at the height of the recession, these are some of the harshest cuts our city has faced for quite some time. Plus, this goes against everything the public is telling the mayor and councillors at packed budget hearings, in letters to the editor and at weekly rallies in front of city hall. Even the city’s own scientific polling and online survey show a majority of businesses and citizens were "reluctant to support reduction in specific services.”

Please go here http://thinkcity.ca/budgetactionemail to send council an action email right away -- it will only take a minute.

Nearly 900 messages have been sent to council since last Thursday, so we need to keep the public pressure on the politicians to do the right thing!