I hate it when governments bungle the implementation of something that should be a good thing.

Prince George, following Penticton’s lead, is doing a core services review of all municipal government spending. Great idea.

But the kick-off round of public consultation is being held now—in the dead of summer, when many residents are out of town. Naturally, turnout for the launch meeting was low, reports the PG Citizen:

Giving that feedback is important because when making final decisions, council needs to know that the community had an opportunity to give their input, according to the mayor.

“We’ve extended it to them and the onus is on the citizens to take advantage of that,” said Green. “If they don’t, we need to press on and continue with the work.”

Actually, the onus is on Mayor and Council to consult the public at a time when they are actually around.

The core service process is worth it—Penticton slashed 16 people off its list of workers making more than $75,000 a year following its review. That’s a 21% reduction—the only such drop in that list we’ve found thus far.