After writing about the run-around consumers get when attempting to formally file a complaint about a negative shopping experience, Fitzhugh reporter Daniel Z. Jacobs lamented, “Why isn’t there just one place you can call?”

What prompted that article was a young man in town who approached us, looking for help after having problems with an expensive television that quit working after only a few months after he purchased it.

Unfortunately, it often seems there’s not much that can be done in such a situation, when complaints are referred forward in what seems like an endless loop.

Living in a place like Jasper makes shopping especially difficult. It’s a trip out of town to get to any sort of department or electronics store, and in most cases it’s probably not worth one or more trips back to try and get a problem fixed.

So what can shoppers do? Purchasing branded-items from reputable business seems like it should be a solution, but even that isn’t fool-proof.

Doing homework about a company through the Better Business Bureau can help, but as Jacobs noted, there are ways for businesses to avoid watchdog organizations.

It’s just another symptom of our world in which everything is disposable. Corporations make it easier for us throw out faulty merchandise than to get a solution.

Budget woes

A proposed operating budget for the Municipality of Jasper was released this week on the town’s website.

Reporters across the country are hungry for news about tax increases and the budgets of cities and towns, as officials decide how they will address the coming year and the effects of the failing economy.

Some places, including Banff, are drafting their budgets to reflect a zero per cent tax increase.

Jasper’s 2009 budget is slated to reflect a six per cent tax hike.

In council this week, Mayor Richard Ireland said council is aiming to maintain the level of public services currently available in the town.

That’s a valiant goal, but is it reasonable?

The current situation calls for prioritizing. Obviously, our elected officials have decided that next year will be business as usual, that it’s better to keep going with what we’ve got than to tighten up our belts.

Council is working on a detailed review of the budget until Dec. 23. In a few weeks, on Jan. 8, a public information session will be held, when people will have the opportunity to comment on the proposed budget.

Here’s your chance to voice your concerns, your opinions, your priorities, in the shadow of what are likely to be difficult times next year, before council votes on the budget at its regular meeting on Jan. 20.