Perhaps changes in Greater Vernon governance are already proving to be positive. In an extremely rare move, both the
Greater Vernon Services Committee and North Okanagan Regional District boards held back-to-back-meetings Thursday to keep a major water utility improvement on track. While the process will result in $115,000 being saved on an equipment tender, the biggest news coming out of the meetings was the fact that they even happened. For more than a year now, both GVSC and NORD have been squabbling back and forth. It reached a fevered pitch two weeks ago when NORD directors voted to remove any authority GVSC had and relegate it to a recommendation-based committee. But while some fine details still need to be worked out between the players, Thursday’s meeting is an indication that the 
governance woes are nearing an end. Because of a tight timeline to approve the equipment contract, GVSC directors sat down and did their thing, and waiting in the wings were NORD directors, who then gave the nod to the committee’s recommendation. It was a scene of co-operation that had been missing for some time, and it was a welcome departure from the rhetoric and backroom wrangling. All politicians, whether with GVSC or NORD, need to remember that they were elected to office by local residents and it is the public’s best interests that they are supposed to take care of. If the trend established at Thursday’s meetings continue, it looks like our civic leaders are back to business. Don Quixotes Note: Cost of Special Meetings: ($2,323)
Price of 7 GVSC COMMITTEE MEMBERS @ $96 /meeting = $672.
Price of 13 NORD DIRECTORS @ $127/ meeting = $1,651
PRICE OF COOPERATION: PRICELESS.
(Do Directors of NORD who also sit on GVSC get to double dip at a $223 rate at this special meeting ?)
No comments:
Post a Comment