(The word ‘effective’ has several meanings, as you may know!)
First, you need some basic supplies.
Second, you need to find a worthy target. Highland Country Club, perched on grand property south of Commissioners at Wortley Rd. will do just fine.
With a deal that allows it to pay only 60 per cent of its annual taxes and a Club President that says ‘the tax issue has been put to rest’, I think it’s the perfect place to pound in my huge sign.
One club member says they’re all just a bunch of ordinary folks, true advocates for the city.
Yeh, I’ll believe that when pigs can fly.
***
Raise your hand if you believe Corvettes, Mustangs, $12,000 initiation fee and $5,000 annual dues are an ordinary part of your budget.
Should Highland pay 100 % of their taxes, now that times have changed and they’ve somehow managed to get their feet on the ground?
.
2 comments:
In case it doesn't make it into the London Free Press, here's a Letter to the Editor I sent this morning - In case this doesn't make it into the London Free Press, I'll post my comment on Highland here.
Mr. Grant Doty in his letter to the editor 'STEREOTYPES UNFAIR TO HIGHLAND MEMBERS" dated August 26, 2009, claims he rubs shoulders with 'ordinary' people at the Highland Country Club.
I know of no 'ordinary' family that could find $12,000 to $15,000 to join a club and then manage to scrape together an additional $2760 to $5520 every year for green fees plus anywhere from $700 to $1400 for a minimum house account each year. To use Mr. Doty's words, there are plenty of "respectful, responsible, hard-working ... advocates for our city" for whom all that, totalled up, would gobble up so much of their total annual income that, having paid their dues at Highland, they would need to pitch a tent on the grounds and move in as, after feeding and clothing their families, they would have insufficient income left to pay rent or a mortgage.
Mr. Doty, unless he is the most self-deluded man in town, knows very well that the elite of London who pretend to be part of the 'ordinary' are, in truth, not and illustrates by his remarks most of what is wrong with this city. The truly 'ordinary' families of London have been given, courtesy of Mr. Doty, yet another lesson in how unimportant they are in the life of the city. It is shameful that some Londoners, having been born here and lived all their lives here, working hard and raising their families, can, nevertheless, be treated with such contempt by a man who can afford a club membership forever beyond their grasp, I doubt if Mr. Doty lays out a quarter to a third of his total income to be a member of the Highland Country Club as he is suggesting should be possible for any 'ordinary' family. I wonder - if he considers his family 'ordinary', what label would he choose for all those families in London who can't afford a membership in Highland – common, maybe? humble? peasant?
Whether or not the club avoids paying its fair share of taxes is irrelevant to me as I am not a Londoner born and bred and don't care much whether the city prospers, but elitism at its most arrogant and exclusive, is always revolting to right-minded people everywhere. London will never truly thrive until it rids itself of the notion that some citizens are 'better' and with greater entitlements due them than others We all matter in our individual ways and members of country clubs would be hard pressed to run their businesses without the efforts of those who work for wages but can't afford to be - don't expect to be - and probably, in most cases, wouldn't want to be - members of exclusive clubs, but do expect that those clubs shouldn't take unfair advantage of them and expect them to carry the cost of unpaid taxes as part of their own small property tax bills which is, of course, where the unpaid taxes must end up. Does Mr. Doty imagine the unpaid taxes have simply been just fading away somehow all these years and that the City budget is in no way affected by the non-payment? Who does he imagine picks up the slack in the budget that Highland creates? Precisely – the real 'ordinary' people – the common, humble, peasants - who pay their full share of their property taxes and, by so doing, assume they are, in their own small way, contributing to the prosperity and advancement of their city. Apparently members of Highland Country Club don't view paying property taxes in quite the same way.
Hi Meg,
Thank you for your email and thorough response.
Mr. Doty lives in another world. There may be no cure.
Times have changed and the club is now taking advantage of the city and our personal generosity.
Gord Harrison
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