Mayor Pond was quoted as saying…pertaining to Prince Rupert property tax payers:
“It’s like being part of a herd, as long as you are part of the herd you are fine but if you get away from the herd, you are a little more exposed,” he said. (The Daily News)
Nice choice of analogy…wouldn’t you say.
Comments please!!!
Hello ThePodunkian’s sockpuppet. 
JK JK JK
Anyway, I think Herbie is one shoddy herder in town. He let some of his sheeps die or escape his taxes of tyranny. I, the Dear Leader, can be a better herder than the fake Hollywood actor.
Mooooo…
It reminds me of when he called us all ‘patient little pigs’ - in his message at the beginning of the year of the pig…
or when he said that Mr Briglio has ‘fought many battles for us, in many arenas’…
Maybe he didn’t get the instruction manual…
Well to be completely fair there are many fat pigs and cows in prince rupert. One needs only visit one of the many drinking establishments.
For the LOVE of God…you are not very generous with the horizontally challenged …“Jesus”
Not to get off the topic, but I was one of those who sat in the audience nearly three years ago now when he debated Gloria Rendall for the Mayors Chair, and said by the end of his 3 year term, he would ensure that taxes would decrease by at least 3%. Now it is time for us all to hold him to his word…
Perhaps we can ask Mr. Pond that same question in November when he is up for re-election. 
Asking Mayor Pond in November will be a bit too late. Taxes are due on July 2, 2008. We need to hold him to his word now… I am going to contact the local newspaper this week to check back in the Archives to see if they recorded any of Herb’s platform speeches.
I think Pond is the worse mayor that Prince Rupert has experienced in modern time,he has been an absent mayor for three quarters of it spending our tax money on bullshit trips, he will wave a flag in November that he got us the port, in reality a port was coming our way anyway. A port with false promises where most of the people get one day of work a week and may not have enough for UIC. We have a mayor who refuses to look into his own backyard at the poverty, heavy drugs and the local businesses. He is going to keep tripping with our taxes and playing the Hollywood kind of guy. He is painting a picture in his flat head that Rupert is a squeakie clean place, he has sold everyone out . I say he is the worst mayor of our modern time in Rupert.
Although I agree that Pond isn’t actually what this community expects as a Mayor, come election time, people will probably vote him back in because he knows how to sing the right song. I can only hope that we can encourage the right person to step up to the plate and run against Pond come the fall of 2008. Furthermore, yes Pond did say that taxes would decrease by at least 3%. I just confirmed it with the few people that attended the PAC forum with me.
Agreed. He is a shrewd politician who thinks well on his feet; he will be difficult to beat.
I have to admit he sings like a Cannery when he stands in front of the people but he speaks with a forked tongue. I am sure there are or is someone out there who if they have the right stuff and call him as they have seen him they will take him down. Even if the story is true that he is trying to head to Victoria, not that they do not have enough fools or idiots there already, he must be taken down and out. The thought of another three years of him coming to Rupert for a visit is enough to start working on November now. Has anyone really seen the Pond "Boom " yet?
I think we are stuck with high taxes for a couple of reasons:
The city has spent TOO MUCH on tourism crap that doesn’t bring as much to the city as it should. I mean we aren’t going to be a destination vacation spot for tourists, we are only the “Stop off” spot because they are off somewhere else.
Long story short, we have to pay off for all the stuff they bought making the town look pretty and artsy.
Pond and the rest of the council should have been shopping around 1 year or more ago for possible business to come to Rupert because of the port, Come up with land they can use and incentives, Bring some real business into town, create some real jobs, whore us out to big business and bring some decent jobs to town. Watson Island you say?
Sell it outright to a company, I’m sure it would be a great area for a shipping receiving those containers.
Should be able to get a great price too, or just lease it. Doesn’t look like a pulp mill will ever be there again.
Anywho let the flaming begin.
I was at the forum as well and although I don’t recall with any certainty that he did say that taxes would be reduced 3% in 3 years I don’t doubt that what you are saying is correct.
I agree with you to a certain extent. The city spent too much on tourism related things than they could afford at the time while increasing fees, ignoring infrastructure problems and slashing services. Now that it is in place though I feel that the city does have some potential to capitalize on tourism growth. I read somewhere recently that a cruise ship company has placed a representative here on a long term basis to look at the potential to have Alaskan cruises start in Pr Rupert and head north. That could have a tremendously positive effect on our local economy if you have travellers flying in here for the night before leaving on a cruise. The new gaming center, like it or not, is a drawing card that we have to promote more localized tourism and also provides something intersting that BC and Alaska ferry passengers may want to partake in before their long journeys resume.
I agree that we are for the most part a stop off spot as you put it but with that comes some opportunity.
I heard it too.
Pond also promised Big Boxes at the Hydrolands, I am really happy that hasn’t materialized.
There isn’t enough business for the big boxes in Terrace.
Why would a chain locate in P.R?
A previous poster said Pond would try to take credit for the Container Port, of course he will, he’s shameless, if he thought he could get away taking credit for a sunny day he would.
If the population put as much thought into how they vote as they do when making a major purchase, most current politicians would be driving taxis and/or flipping burgers.
Anyway until that day,a good line of bs and good hair will go a long way.
I’ve checked the old Podunkian archives and could not find a promise of reducing taxes in any of the material of the day.
That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen of course, just that it didn’t stand out at the time for me.
Though you have to wonder about the wisdom of predicting a drop in taxes three years away considering the fact that he knew the state of the city’s finances then and they certainly didn’t get any better in the following three years now have they?
He did promise to bring back former residents to a rejuvenated community, so I guess if he can find a couple of folks that moved back when the port opened then it’s mission accomplished there.
He stood firmly in favour of the big box shopping village on the highway, so he has about nine more months for them to break ground and allow him to shovel out the ceremonial dirt for that one to come to some sense of progress…
And as mentioned earlier in this thread he stood in favour of citytel (now city west) becoming an economic engine with its new partner the cable company (of course dividends have been a wee problem since) and there was the controversial discussions on the need for auxiliary fire fighers to compliment our paid force.
He mentioned collecting new taxes from development at the Atlin Terminal parking lot site,
he also suggested we were just around the corner from turning things around, a recurring theme in the last couple of years, fish farms and the airport and its ferry were themes as well.
The airport re-appeared as a theme in his recent thoughts on 2008 in both the Daily news and the Northern view.
Anyways as they say everything old is new again, so for those that wish here’s some links to a few of items for blog I did back in 2005 after the leaders debate between Ms. Rendell and Mr. Pond. One about the councillors debate at the time and One that recaps the election.
atowncalledpodunk.blogspot.com/2 … 2524343962
atowncalledpodunk.blogspot.com/2 … 9544745402
atowncalledpodunk.blogspot.com/2 … 3706944153
For those really dedicated to looking in the past, just click on the November 2005 link on the blog archives on the right hand side, there’s a number of items about municipal politics of the day to look over.
Me, I think I’ll go to the library and check their archives for newspaper stories of the November 2005 election time, be interesting to see if there’s any real record of the Mayor Promising lower taxes, somehow I don’t think think at this time that’s something we’re going to see, maybe slightly lower than they are today, just in time for an election, but lower than 2005? Uh uh, can’t see it coming our way.
Those fora were broadcast on the air, were they not? What is the process for getting copies of archived news reels?
I sat through the whole debate and his comment on reducing residential taxes within three years was the main message that I took away. I remember because I scoffed out loud before I could stop myself - thus drawing attention to myself from the folks in seats around me. I remember looking around and wondering if I was the only one who heard it.
I recall a bumper sticker “If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention”