The winning bid to operate a halfway house in Vernon won‘t be announced until next week, but Okanagan-Shuswap MLA Colin 
Mayes said residents and city council need to have their input into the proposal. “I think that‘s what they need to do; make sure the mayor and council are confident with the safeguards,” Mayes said. Mayes said he has been keeping up to date on the halfway house proposal but will leave it up to council to deal with directly. If council needs his help, however, he said he would be able to advocate on their behalf. “If there seems to be some sort of stalemate in their discussions, Mayor (Wayne) Lippert knows my phone number,” Mayes said. “I‘d be more than energetic to come to the assistance of council.”
Mayes said residents and city council need to have their input into the proposal. “I think that‘s what they need to do; make sure the mayor and council are confident with the safeguards,” Mayes said. Mayes said he has been keeping up to date on the halfway house proposal but will leave it up to council to deal with directly. If council needs his help, however, he said he would be able to advocate on their behalf. “If there seems to be some sort of stalemate in their discussions, Mayor (Wayne) Lippert knows my phone number,” Mayes said. “I‘d be more than energetic to come to the assistance of council.” Declining comment on whether having a halfway house in Vernon would be beneficial, Mayes said the most important thing is that the community is comfortable with the final decision. “I don‘t think my opinion on that is important,” he said. “I think the most important thing is what the community thinks on that.” However, Mayes said the role that halfway houses fill is a necessary one. “We all have to recognize there . . . is some very positive rehabilitation and reconnection to the community (at halfway houses),” he said. “We need to have that transition, we as a society need to ask why we have these facilities.” Vernon‘s previous halfway house was closed at the request of council after Eric Fish, a halfway house parolee, was accused in the murder of Bill Abramenko during a home invasion in August 2004. Council later asked for a moratorium on any future halfway houses in the city. The moratorium will run out this fall and two organizations, the Salvation Army and Okanagan Halfway House Society have made a bid to build a new one. The winning bid is expected to be announced this coming Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment