Councillor tees off
Posted Nov 18, 2010 04:14:07 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A budget shortfall at Kitchener’s city-owned golf courses has one councillor suggesting the city consider getting out of the golf business.
John Gazzola told 570’s Gary Doyle Show that generally, governments don’t do a very good job at running business operations.
He suggests council consider following Waterloo’s lead, getting someone else to run Doon Valley and Rockway for the city.
The City of Waterloo turned the management of Grey Silo over to a privately-owned organization, but still receives a dividend for it.
Gazzola says times have changed.
There was a time when there were very few golf courses in the area and Kitchener city council needed to create the service, but that may not be the case now.
The city is facing increased competition from privately-owned courses and is dealing with an accumulated deficit of more than one million dollars.
General Manager of Community Services, Pauline Houston, says they are now trying to find savings by lowering membership rates and reducing staffing.
Even though their golf courses are struggling, she believes there is a place for the city in the golf business.
Houston says the city will spend the next little while monitoring the effectiveness of its cost-cutting measures.
