Overseas Trip Not A Waste

by Wayne Moore - Story: 26231Jan. 30, 2007 / 5:00 pm Castanet

Your tax dollars won't be blowing in the wind. That's the view of Kelowna City Councilor, Michele Rule, who will join Mayor Sharon Shepherd on a 10 day junket to Veendam, Holland in May. The trip, which will involve investigating alternative power as well as urban interface solutions, will cost taxpayers nearly $6,000. Rule says the money comes from a councilors travel fund and does not take away from any other budgeted items. She says any trip such as this is about balance and getting value for taxpayers money. "The mayor and I talked about this along with representatives from Veendam to ensure we are getting value for the taxpayers dollar," says Rule. She says she is really excited by what they can learn from the trip. "The value will be worth far more than the $6,000 we are spending."

During the trip, Rule, Shepherd and the rest of the Kelowna delegation will visit a dike, a wind turbine farm and talk with water management and solar power experts. They are also scheduled to visit drug and alcohol rehab facilities in Amsterdam and tour housing projects in The Hague. Rule says the purpose of the trip is to learn how they utilize alternative energy in Veendam. "Europe has a reputation for being further ahead of us in terms of alternative energy." Veendam has a Sister City relationship with Kelowna and Rule says this portion of that relationship has not yet been explored. The trip also coincides with Veendam Liberation Day on May 5. Each year, two veterans from Kelowna travel to Veendam to take part in those ceremonies. The Kelowna delegation will also include representatives from the Economic Development Commission and the Chamber of Commerce. Rule was quick to point out the City is only picking up the tab for her and the mayor.