Counting clicks not enough
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Updated: August 12, 2009 12:29 PM
Editor:
Surrey councillors get mileage deal, Aug. 7.
The new mileage deal adopted by Surrey city councillors is based on a flawed policy recommendation from an internal corporate report.
Nowhere in that report does it define what constitutes travel on “city-related business.”
The new policy is, in effect, a blank cheque. It allows councillors to claim kilometres for travelling wherever and whenever they wish, and leaves the interpretation of city-related business completely in the hands of the claimant.
Normally, public institutions or corporations restrict the reimbursement of expenses to clearly defined guidelines previously established by the corporate body.
The existing policy, as written, is unfair to councillors, and is a reckless way of handling the public purse. Surrey council is strongly encouraged to revisit this incomplete mileage deal.
Alvin Myhre, Surrey
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