Dear editor:

I was surprised to read that the town of NOTL might need 16 new staffers this year, (“Town proposing to hire 16 new staffers for 2023,” The Lake Report, March 23).

This is well above 10 per cent in one year. When I listened to the speeches of mayoral and councillor candidates during the last election, I do not remember any of them campaigning on adding 16 staff members at a cost of $900,000 to be absorbed by the taxpayers.

I was a little surprised to see in the article that we cannot start committee meetings in person again until we hire a legislative committee co-ordinator. And what exactly does a climate change co-ordinator co-ordinate?

I had a recent discussion with a couple of local business owners about this. We all agreed when you are talking about your own money, you find efficiencies and you agree some things are nice to have (a climate change co-ordinator?) but not a necessity.

When someone else pays (like taxpayers) it is much easier to justify additional expenses.

Mike Urquhart
St. Davids