Oshawa Politician Revved Up Over Mayor’s Camaro

[lets_go_bills]

He bought an awesome car. She's using it as political hay.

Mind you, when you're the mayor of a city, you probablu shouldn't use the tax payers money to buy a car like that. Pisses some people off. But it is a local product.

There's pros and cons to it but at the end of the day, he shouldn't of bought it with the taxpayer's money. He should've bought it with his money.

[SQUALO]

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS ARE MY OPINION AND DO NOT REFLECT ANYONE AFILIATED WITH THIS FORUM!

He's supporting his local economy, and she's a hipocrit, by saying she's waiting for her new Buick, but will take the city's vehicle allowance to help support the expense.

The only reason she's buying a Buick is because it's being made in Oshawa, and it will look good on her since she's running for the mayor's job.

I've always said it, and will continue to say it, without embarrassement, MOST politicians are idiots, and will say and/or do anything to get your vote, then they dissappear for 5 yrs.

Why doesn't she go buy an import, or even better a smart car (stupid car in my opinion), Oshawa doesn't need people like her.

[My 5th]

Notice they had no current comment from the Mayor. his side is not presented at all. Other than the "It's a fabulous vehicle..." quote, which was made when the city purchased the car, they don't have any response from him. The Canadian press is as fair and balanced as ours in the U.S. What's the Canuck equivalent of democrat, labor/Socialist?

[3CamarosOnHand]

Originally Posted by Milk 1027

She supports local workers too.
I think it's a good idea to have it auctioned off. It looks pretty awesome.

Here is the Mayors Car my wife took as we shook hands in front of the auto museum while we were in oshawa. the Mayor is a very nice gentleman who took time from his busy day to welcome us to the museum. then he was off to present trophies at the soapbox derby that day.
Ill Start the bid at 30,000

[SQUALO]

$30.00 CDN do I hear $35.00

[speedster]

Good for him. Support your local business who supports you. If she is concerned over the $6K difference in cost, let the guy pick that up, then she can't bitch. I am sure the volume sales of the Camaro have done nothing but help the local economy...

[efpardo]

Originally Posted by SQUALO

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS ARE MY OPINION AND DO NOT REFLECT ANYONE AFILIATED WITH THIS FORUM!

He's supporting his local economy, and she's a hipocrit, by saying she's waiting for her new Buick, but will take the city's vehicle allowance to help support the expense.

The only reason she's buying a Buick is because it's being made in Oshawa, and it will look good on her since she's running for the mayor's job.

I've always said it, and will continue to say it, without embarrassement, ALL politicians are idiots, and will say and/or do anything to get your vote, then they dissappear for 5 yrs.

Why doesn't she go buy an import, or even better a smart car (stupid car in my opinion), Oshawa doesn't need people like her.

Politics & Politicians - Oh wait--I said that already

[stratman2SSRS]

She needs to take a chill pill!!!
That's awesome that Oshawa (not just the mayor) is supporting GM.
He couldn't have chosen a nicer car to drive.

[GaryJr]

Whats with the Dodge stripes on the side???

[Ravirn]

He supported the local economy and went with a $38,000 vehicle.
She wants to support the local economy and go with a $32,000 vehicle.

Seriously. She's making an issue of this??? For six grand in a city budget???

[esperman]

"The mayor is the only Oshawa politician to have a vehicle provided by the city. Councillors receive about an allowance of about $5,400 per year for car-related expenses."

Well, if she gets elected for Mayor, then she can have her Buick. Until then , she should shut her pie hole. The City would have spent 30K on any new car. City's buy lots of fleet cars. Who cares he chose the Camaro? It's a product of the local economy....jeesh.....

[CanadianCamaro]

I don't really want to become involved in this discussion. However in order to make the discussion fair, I feel obligated to share a few facts concerning this which I am aware of. Yes, these are facts, not opinion. I do have my own opinion concerning the matter but I choose not to voice that here (b/c many others will do that well). And yes, I am aware that facts can be presented in a manner to support just about any opinion. So, take these facts for what they are:

- This vehicle was purchased by the city for with the intention to support the single largest employer in the city/region. Some will say the life-blood of the area. I'm sorry - but the reality is that even once fully on-line, many "regular" people will not realize the Regal is built in Oshawa. "Most" people do know the Camaro is built in Oshawa.

- Had it not been a Camaro purchased, another vehicle would have been purchased (yes, "purchased"). Read carefully - the Mayor is provided a vehicle - period. This isn't a new rule that was created to purchase this exact car. If Ms. Parkes wishes to include in her electoral platform the position that the position of Mayor should only receive an allowance rather than a "company" vehicle, then fine. However she has chosen to also use the type of car to generate negative for the Mayor. This matter (the Mayor driving a "muscle car") has been bantered in the press previously.

- A similar article (I understand) was printed in the Toronto SUN this week. One of the differences between the 2 articles, is the SUN had the decency to contact the Mayor and ask if he would like to provide comment on the matter - The Star simply published the story without contacting the Mayor's office. Some might say that presents an unfair, lop-sided story

- You can be guaranteed that the Regal that Ms. Parkes drives is not a "base model" at $32K. Furthermore the Camaro is in fact a very affordable car (yes, even at Canadian pricing). I have not checked the pricing of the Regal to compare, but I suspect that the top-of-the-line Regal prices out much higher than a 2SS/RS (I could be wrong - can't be bothered to check) (are Oshawa built Regals even available yet anyway?). So I don't believe the point of inappropriate use of tax payers money holds water.

- I would also like to point out something that isn't mentioned in the article. That is the tax treatment of the 2 positions presented (city purchased car vs. car allowance). I won't get into details because they are complex and I don't know all the facts. However, depending on those facts, it is VERY likely that the Mayor will be paying much more personal tax for this benefit received compared to an individual receiving a car allowance who "may" not be paying any tax on that benefit. Now who's paying back into the pool of tax money?

[Stett]

Kudos to Oshawa for supporting GM and purchasing the Camaro. With that being said, if it was purchased with taxpayer money, it should not be considered the mayor's (read Mr. John Gray) car, but the Office of the Mayor's car. If he is not reelected, he should not have the car anymore unless he purchases it from the city.

If she gets elected and decided she wants to auction off the Camaro for more money to the city... more power to her, it's city propery paid for on city books, and she's the Mayor... As long as council agrees then it goes.


As for the Regal, same thing should apply to her. If the city purchases the Regal with city funding, then it stays with the city when she's voted out of office for badmouthing the Camaro in it's home town.

[CanadianCamaro]

Originally Posted by GaryJr

Whats with the Dodge stripes on the side???

Oh I I should mention as a couple people asked about the stripes. Mayor John's car has been striped at his own cost with replicata Yenko Stinger stripes as John is a Yenko fan and actually owns a Yenko Covair. This includes the hash marks on the front fenders which, btw, were not started by Dodge originally. Some research on the stripe pattern is an educational and entertaining experience which I encourage others to check out