Rural politicians say it’s time to control their own destiny, even if that means forming a sprawling municipality. The North Okanagan Regional District’s Electoral Area Services Committee decided Wednesday to examine the feasibility of establishing a district municipality. “The time is right to look at change,” said Stan Field, 
BX-Swan Lake director and architect of the concept. Field says a governance study could look at combining all five electoral areas into a single municipality or only certain portions, such as BX-Silver Star and BX-Swan Lake, going it alone. The five electoral areas —including also rural Enderby, rural Lumby and Cherryville — cover a total of 6,966 square kilometres and have a population of 15,020.“The study could say that B and C (the two BX areas) should be part of the City of Vernon. Maybe the option will be status quo,” said Field. “Maybe Area F (rural Enderby) and the City of Enderby could come together.” But a major thrust of investigating a district municipality is to avoid being swallowed up by existing jurisdictions. “All rural areas are threatened by annexation into municipalities. With a rural municipality, that can’t happen,” said Field. In a letter sent to all municipalities Thursday, the EASC states the current governance system through NORD is not adequate to protect rural lifestyles or to provide services, including policing and roads. “Therefore, the electoral area directors believe it would be appropriate, advisable and expedient at this time to examine a model which would be more responsive to the wishes of their residents and better able to meet the ever changing demands and expectations on local government administration,” writes Greg Betts, EASC general manager.
Field expects the governance process could take about a year. Jerry Oglow, NORD chairman, supports the electoral areas looking at their future. But he admits he is skeptical about a district municipality. “The question I will ask consistently is what’s the benefit to the taxpayer? What would they be getting with this new level of government?” said Oglow. Wayne Lippert, Vernon mayor, believes a new municipality would benefit the region because it would put all jurisdictions on the same playing field. “Municipalities work under the same structures and electoral areas don’t. If it (rural areas) was a municipality, it would help with relationships,” he said.
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May 25 2007 EDITORIAL Study reveals complex issues
The North Okanagan’s five electoral area directors certainly tossed out an interesting concept when they decided to investigate forming a rural municipality. At first blush, the thought of adding to the region’s bureaucracy is suspect. But the reality is that instead of adding another layer of government, a new municipality would simply consolidate services already provided by the North Okanagan Regional District and the provincial government. There is also the option of joining existing municipalities. But in most cases, those municipalities are largely urban and experience with rural matters is minimal. One just has to look at Vernon’s annexation of Okanagan Landing to see where mistakes were made. But no one in the electoral areas should see forming a municipality as a panacea. There would be challenges, primarily financial because of a lack of industry and an over-reliance on residential taxes. Many of the properties also have agricultural status and the taxes they pay are relatively low. It also has to be determined what the boundaries of a proposed municipality would be. With the five electoral areas covering 6,966 square kilometres (from Mara to the Commonage and Swan Lake to Cherryville), such a size may be too impractical to govern. But would carving the electoral areas up into two or three municipalities be financially sustainable? If a governance study actually proceeds, a number of complex issues will have to be considered. And ultimately any final decisions will have to rest with those most impacted — the residents of the five areas.
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