Luebke apologizes for comments critical of council budget choices
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/02/2024 (590 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A Brandon city councillor has apologized to his colleagues for comments he made toward the end of 2024 budget deliberations on Saturday.
As council wrapped up nearly nine hours of deliberations that day, Coun. Bruce Luebke (Ward 6) expressed displeasure with the 9.4 per cent tax increase the approved budget includes, saying he thought he and his colleagues could have done more.
“We had opportunities to reduce this budget further with a couple of easy motions that probably would have reduced this down to closer to eight per cent,” Luebke said at the meeting.
“I think we have too many of us sitting around this table that are running the ice cream truck. You want to make everybody happy, so we’re going to make sure we put everything in. We don’t want to make hard decisions.”
On Sunday, Luebke sent a note to his colleagues — copied to the Sun — saying that he believed he owed them an apology after reflection.
“While the 2024 fiscal plan included many items I feel do not fit the mantra of a needs-based budget, I let my frustrations get the best of me,” Luebke wrote.
“As most of you know, I spend significant time preparing budget deliberations annually. If I felt others did not take it as seriously as I did and made decisions I disagreed with, that is something that I could have expressed privately rather than publicly.
“My frustrations go back many months for many reasons, most of which many of you are unaware of. A more extensive discussion should be had amongst the Mayor/Council on some of these things so that we can clear the slate and better understand how we can work collectively for the betterment of our city and our residents.”
» The Brandon Sun