By Tracy Clark - Penticton Western News - December 21, 2007
One Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen director says she will not sit quietly while some regional politicians across the valley try to force through a new form of regional governance without considering rural areas. “If you ram it down people’s throats, I’m sorry but you’re going to have a fight on your hands,” said rural Princeton director Gerri Logan, at Wednesday’s meeting of the regional governance review committee in Penticton. The group made up of politicians from the north, central and south Okanagan regional districts, administrative staff and Ministry of Community Services staff is under a provincial mandate to review the existing regional governance model and consider the amalgamation of the valley’s regional districts. At the meeting, the third since the committee formed, four models of governance were presented by a subcommittee headed by Peachland Mayor Graham Reid, whose council initiated the call for the governance review in a letter to the province earlier this year.
The options include, merging the three regional districts into one under existing provincial legislation; following a model similar to metro Vancouver where memberships are made up mainly of municipalities; expanding the Okanagan Basin Water Board model to include a broader range of regionwide issues; and following a model used in Waterloo, Ont. The Waterloo model and similar District Municipality of Muskoka model — with which Vernon Mayor Wayne Lippert has experience during his time on council there — received the most attention from the board. These “two-tier” models looked at the potential of municipalities absorbing electoral areas to become district municipalities or townships.
As such, the new areas would be divided into wards and a director for each ward would be elected to municipal council. Half of the regional board would be composed of a chair, who is elected at large and the mayor of each district municipality, while the other half is made up of elected representatives from urban centres — in the Okanagan this would be Kelowna, Vernon, Westbank and Penticton. Alan Patton, director for rural Oliver, said these types of systems only “facilitate provincial downloading for no apparent benefit.” Taxes will increase and rural residents will receive no more services. “Why should we become involved in an idea like this? It’s just going to cost more money,” agreed Rick Fairburn, a director for rural Lumby in the North Okanagan, adding however, that he would like to learn more. Rural Princeton’s Logan said she feared that the domination of the discussion on the Waterloo model proved that a change in governance was going ahead no matter what. “I always feel like I am being driven down a chute,” she said. “You shouldn’t give the impression that it’s a done deal.”
After the meeting, Logan said she believes that the review is an attempt by a few to abolish rural areas. “What I see is a few people at this board trying to do is get rid of the electoral areas,” she said, adding that while there are fewer rural areas in the north and central regional districts, there are eight in the South Okanagan and Similkameen. “That means eight voices for all of those constituents would be snuffed out and that just kills me.”
But Vernon’s Lippert said that the Ontario model has done just the opposite. “It kept the rural voice there,” he said, adding that when the model was first introduced in Ontario rural directors had similar misgivings but that the model has “stood the test of time.” He also pointed out that the model allows current service levels to remain, but cross boundary issues are dealt with at a regional level. Reid added that the focus on the Waterloo model was not an attempt to force it through, but was due to a lack of familiarity with it.
RDOS chair Dan Ashton said he would like a fifth model added to the list, whereby the north and central districts amalgamate and the south retains its current structure. Ashton said he feared that too many of the discussions left the Similkameen Valley out, but that the small valley is “joined at the hip with the Okanagan.” “It is imperative the Similkameen is part of this,” he said. Penticton Mayor Jake Kimberley said he would like to see all options given some consideration, but cost should be the biggest factor. Too many municipal residents are paying for rural residents to use their services, he said, pointing to a report which found that 60 per cent of recreational users come from outside city limits. And at the same time, municipalities are contributing the largest share of regional district budgets — Penticton contributes 40 per cent of the RDOS budget — and are dealing with downloading from senior governments and increasing costs.
“Escalating costs to municipalities are huge,” he said. “Everyone should be concerned about the quality of life in our valleys.” The governance committee needs to look at ways to reduce costs of having so many levels of governments, but he admitted finding an option that is endorsed by all areas will be difficult. “It’s going to be damn tough to come to a collective agreement.” The next meeting of the regional governance board on Jan. 11 will include all board members from the three districts and will look at the various governance models. The all-day event in Vernon is open to the public. The final report on a governance model for the valley will be submitted to the province March 31.
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Don Quixote Note:
Provincial Legislation established the District Municipality of Muskoka on January 1, 1971.The district of Muskoka is home to roughly 50,000 full time residents and an additional 100,000 seasonal property owners.
Muskoka's Government
The Muskoka District Municipality is governed by a 23 member council that consists of the mayors of the 6 region municipalities, 16 district councillors, and a district chair elected by the council at large. The district council is responsible for the general of the Muskoka District, with the council establishing policies that are then administered by the district staff.
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