地铁扩建严重超支，还要建“宫殿”，约克区当官的都干什么去了？

 

 

约克区自1970年成立以来，主席一直由其理事会成员选举产生。成员由约克区下属的一小部分市长和区议员组成（目前为20人）。约克区第一任主席由省总督任命。目前已经有5人前后任该区的主席。 现任主席Wayne Emmerson是前镇议员和Whitchurch-Stouffville市长。他于2014年当选。

Since the York Region was created in 1970, the Chair was always elected by the members within its own Council. This is a small group of Mayors and Regional Councillors (currently 20) from municipalities within the York Region. The first Chair was appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor. It has since experienced 5 other Chairs. Wayne Emmerson, a former Town councillor and Mayor of Whitchurch-Stouffville was elected in 2014.

 

2016年11月，省自由党通过立法，在2018年10月22日的市政选举中通过普选选出区主席。现任主席Wayne Emmerson和大多数约克区议员反对这一改革。在2017年9月21日的区议会会议上，Wayne Emmerson表示，他打算提出一项议案，继续允许市长和区议员挑选主席。

In November of 2016, the provincial Liberals introduced legislation which will make the chair directly elected by voters in the next municipal election on Oct. 22, 2018. That is something Emmerson and the majority of York councillors have opposed for many years. At the Sept 21, 2017 regional council meeting, Emmerson said he intends to introduce a motion that would continue to allow mayors and regional councillors to pick the chair.

虽然约克区的居民现在可以竞选该职位，但Wayne Emmerson想将主席头衔落在那些现任的区议员的头上。由于主席将担任两个职位，这将使区议会的议员总数减少到20人。然而，在居民对主席选举的公正性表示担忧后，Wayne Emmerson放弃了这一想法。

While any York Region resident can now run for the position, Emmerson would restrict the choice to those sitting on regional council. This will reduce the total number of Council members to 20 as the Chair will hold two positions. However, this was dropped after residents raised concerns about the chair’s impartiality.

 

那么，其他区政府的主席如何当选呢？凡是通过普选产生的各个区主席，现任者总是连任。许多居民认为他们不了解区主席的工作，因此他们没有足够的信心来决定是否要在投票时把票投给其他主席候选人，他们只好把票投给寻求连任的主席，以求平安。当然，这种情况可能会发生变化，约克区可能是第一个打破此规律的区。

So how are the Chairs in other Regions elected? For those Regions where the Chair position is opened for public voting, the incumbents always won. Many residents feel that they do not have an understanding of the Region Chair's job to give them enough confidence to evaluate the challenging contestants and hence they will vote for the incumbents as a safe bet. Of course, this trending may change and York Region can be the first one to break this spell this time around.

 

在过去的几年里，约克区的居民对区政府的表现并不满意，特别是在如何支配税收方面。 2016年，约克区决定新建一个价值2.12亿元的总部 - 一些居民称此工程耗资“巨大”。这座8层高，422,000平方英尺的建筑将与目前坐落在Newmarket镇的区府大楼连接。

Over the last few years, York region residents have not been happy with the performance of the Regional government, particularly with the handling of the tax dollars. In 2016, York Region moved ahead with plans for a new $212-million headquarters — a price tag some residents are calling “enormous.” The eight-storey, 422,000-square-foot building will connect with the current regional government headquarters in Newmarket.

 

约克区工作人员声称，通过取消目前租赁的办公室，区政府可以在未来30年期间节省2600万至6000万元。有选民表示，目前尚不清楚新办公楼如何能让那些住在约克区南部的人办事方便，他们至少要30分钟的路程才能赶到办公楼去办事。

York Region Staff claimed that by getting out of current leases of buildings where the services are being offered, the region could save between $26 million and $60 million over a 30-year period. Other residents say it’s unclear how the building will serve the needs of the majority of residents who live in the southern part of York Region where it takes 30 minutes or more to get to the annex.

区政府工作人员声称他们不会把其他散落在区内各个角落的办事处全部搬进新楼，新楼是对未来的投资。区政府需要拥有自己的大楼，而不是全部去租借办公室。他们将继续在区内的各个角落租借办公室，以便向居民提供方便服务。所有这一切更让人觉得这个新建筑不是办公楼，而是一座“宫殿”。

Staff conceded that the new building is not a consolidation solution and that it is an investment in the future; something that the Region will own as opposed to something that it will be renting. Leasing of other buildings throughout the region to service delivery needs will continue. All this gives the new building the appearance of another “palace” in the eyes of many residents.

 

让约克区居民不满的另一个问题是Vaughan地铁扩建超预算。 2015年，约克区投入9200万元用于用于已经超预算、不能按时完工的Spadina地铁线。Vaughan的六站地铁扩建在2017年就超过预算“4亿元”，约克区要分担其中的1.6亿。该项目的总成本目前预计为32亿，高于原先预计的26亿美元。

Another irritation for the residents was the handling of the Vaughan subway extension overrun. In 2015, York Region pitched in $92 million for the over-budget and delayed extension of the Spadina subway. The six-stop subway extension to Vaughan is “another $400 million” over budget in 2017 and York’s share of the cost overrun is another $160 million. The total cost of the project is now projected to be $3.2 billion, up from the original forecast of $2.6 billion.

约克区行政主管 Macgregor承认，地铁超预算意味着没有钱来解决其他公交所存在的问题。四分之三的地铁建设费来自房地产开发税，因此约克区的新房主将会为这些开发税买单。地铁建设费的另外四分之一来自附加税和区政府的储备金。因此，约克区涨税不可避免。

York Region CAO, Bruce Macgregor acknowledged spending the extra money on the subway means money not being spent on other transportation or transit priorities. Three quarters of the subway bill was to be paid by development charges so new homeowners in York region will see an increase in development charges to pay for these overruns. The other quarter of the subway bill comes from the tax levy, and reserve accounts. All this will lead to tax increases.

 

许多居民想知道区政府为什么不采取措施来控制超支，为什么没有采取行动来阻止这些项目。他们还抱怨说，这些倒霉的消息来自媒体，而不是来自那些现任的区议员们。

Many residents want to know why measures were not taken to monitor the overruns and actions were not taken to stop the project. They also complained that the bad news came from the newspapers fast ahead of their Regional Councillors who are sitting on the Council.

下一篇我们将继续讨论约克区的其他问题，让读者更好地了解区政府事务是如何打点的。

We will continue to discuss other York Region issues next time to give readers a better understanding of the region's affairs.