Mixed messages

By Richard Rolke Jul 11 2007 http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/

The City of Vernon has taken a lot of heat lately for allegedly not being open with the public. But that’s going to happen when you avoid the time-honoured tradition of referendum and use a little-understood process to get approval to borrow funds. That aside, though, there was a recent example of the city going above and beyond to hear from the very residents it represents. Anyone visiting Polson Park during Canada Day would have come across a tent where they were asked to fill out a survey on the city’s current official community plan review. But more importantly, there was also a chance to talk one-on-one with Kim Flick, Vernon’s new long-range planner, as well as Councillors Buffy Baumbrough and Juliette Cunningham.As an outsider looking in, I found the entire experience worthwhile.

First off, it tapped into a large crowd that was there because of Canada Day festivities. It’s likely that many of these people would never go to city hall for a meeting, but simply by being in the park, they were able to have their say. Unlike years ago where the onus was on residents to interrupt their day and go to city hall or the Schubert Centre, the current crowd at city hall is thinking outside of the box. Bureaucrats and politicians gave up their day off so they could make direct contact with the public. Beyond that, residents are more likely to provide their views in a relaxed setting, and you can’t get more laid-back than Canada Day or the Sunshine Festival, where an input booth was also set up. The hope is that by soliciting a broad range of the community, the new OCP will reflect the public’s vision and what they want Vernon to look like in the future.

However, these efforts have been undermined by the mixed messages coming from council. Two weeks ago, Flick appeared before council for the first time and, in a daring move, tried to preserve the integrity of the OCP process. She urged the politicians not to endorse OCP amendments while the document is under review. And while that policy was accepted, two major exceptions were immediately made by council. One was proceeding with an application that would see 100 residential units constructed on the old Paraiso Point campground in Okanagan Landing. The other was not extending the new policy to the city-owned Coldstream Hotel site in downtown Vernon. Perhaps a case can be made to continue looking at the Paraiso Point project because the developer has already been in discussions with city staff. And public comments will continue through an input session Thursday. But the decision not to include the Coldstream Hotel property in the new policy is highly questionable. It essentially tells residents that the city doesn’t have to follow its own rules.

One of the arguments coming from city staff is that nothing will happen with the Coldstream Hotel property until he OCP review is done in early 2008. But if that’s the case, what’s wrong with it being part of the planning process? Perhaps what’s most troubling is the councillors who made such a stink over the Paraiso Point project proceeding, refused to apply the rules to the Coldstream Hotel property. Ultimately, the city has taken great strides to open up the OCP review to rank-and-file residents. But unless the politicians remain consistent in their actions, all of that transparency will have been a waste of time.