Who's hot, who's not on city council

–managing editor Scott Neufeld Editorial http://www.dailycourier.ca/

At the top of this week’s hot list is mayor Wayne Lippert who took on a more dominant leadership role at the latest council meeting. Council has to sift through many motions and bylaws each meeting and it’s often tough to get a mover and seconder on each item. But like a teacher picking out lazy students, Lippert was calling out councillors left and right to move
motions and keep the meeting rolling at a steady pace. Now if only someone could convince him to raise his hand and vote with the rest of council like he’s supposed to . . .

Landing on the cold list this week is Coun. Jack Gilroy for his opposition to the region’s air quality agenda. With so many communities that are lax on air quality issues in the North Okanagan it’s important for Vernon to take a leadership role. This means tougher standards and measures that may be unpopular among orchardists, but will help everyone breathe easier.

Coun. Pat Cochrane earned extra hot points this week for digging in to the issue of the city’s tax rates. There is probably no more boring and complicated issue than the tax structure, but Cochrane took the time to ask questions and made sure he understood what was at stake. Something many other councillors seem too shy to do while the TV cameras are rolling.

In the same vein, Coun. Juliette Cunningham earns a cold rating for proposing a deferral of a decision on the tax structure. Cunningham cited a flood of new information as the reason for the delay. However, the basic details were already printed in the Vernon Daily Courier last September and followed up in a city hall report a month later. Several councillors, simply didn’t take the time to do their homework on the implications, delaying a decision that would have given local businesses a tax break.

Making a rare appearance on the cold side is Coun. Patrick Nicol for bringing up the issue of giving tax breaks to lakeshore property owners who struggle to pay their property taxes. This issue is often brought up at council and is misunderstood. If a pensioner owns a high-priced piece of land and can’t pay the taxes there are many options allowing them not to pay their taxes until they sell the property. This issue shouldn’t be raised anymore.

Coun. Barry Beardsell flashes cold to hot for being so agreeable at Monday’s meeting. It was the first meeting in recent memory where there wasn’t a single occasion where Beardsell was outvoted by the entire council. Cunningham even went so far as to commend Beardsell for his positivity.

Not much to say about Coun. Buffy Baumbrough who didn’t have much to say at the meeting. She’s cold this week.