By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star - January 13, 2008
Valley-wide politicians converge on Vernon to discuss potential options. There’s still no sense of where a governance review is taking the Okanagan. About 40 politicians from up and down the valley took part in a regional governance workshop at the Best Western Vernon Lodge Friday. There was no final outcome, and some are still suspicious of why the provincial government established the process. “Who the hell knows where things are heading,” said Eugene Foisy, Cherryville director. “What are the government’s concerns (about the current structure)? Nobody is telling us what’s wrong.”
The options being considered by the governance study working committee is merging the Okanagan’s three regional districts into one, districts made up primarily of municipalities, creating regional municipalities or expanding the Okanagan Basin Water Board to take on issues like air and transportation.
But Herman Halvorson, rural Enderby director, believes the current system of three regional districts should not be abandoned. “Status quo is definitely an option for me,” he said. “I encourage all of my residents to respond to (Community Services Minister) Ida Chong, the premier and our MLAs to get their thoughts in. They are happy with the status quo.” However, Kelowna’s mayor disputes that idea and says there is a need to consider some issues on a valley-wide basis such as water, air quality and transportation. “We can do things better than we are doing them today,” said Sharon Shepherd. “Status quo is not an option but at the end of the day, maybe it’s about how we work together.”
As part of the current process, a Web site has been established at www.valleygovern.ca. “All of the work of the group will go on the Web site and the public will have a chance to review it,” said Robert Hobson, Central Okanagan Regional District chairman and chairman of the governance working committee. Hobson was also pleased with the discussions Friday. “We will try and take the ideas and put them into more comprehensive options,” he said. One of the concepts thrown out was to only have two regional districts in the Okanagan, with the boundary being at Peachland. That notion came from Okanagan-Similkameen representatives. “I don’t want Vernon and Kelowna dictating how Penticton goes. We are totally different,” said John Vassilaki, a Penticton councillor. Jake Kimberley, Penticton mayor, is apprehensive about scrapping all three regional districts in the valley and replacing it with a single entity. "The geographic size of the area is huge,” he said.
Wayne Lippert, Vernon mayor, says he isn’t ready to embrace any one governance option yet. “I am trying to stay open-minded on which structure will serve the electorate at large,” he said. “Lots of good information came out of the workshop. We are starting to see commonalities and concerns.” During the day-long session, the working committee presented reports on water, air quality and transportation and how they could be managed in the future. John Slater, Osoyoos mayor, told his regional counterparts that they can’t act in isolation when it comes to water. “What happens in Vernon affects what happens in Osoyoos,” he said. Jerry Oglow, Armstrong mayor and North Okanagan Regional District chairman, made a pitch for harmonized transportation efforts, saying it would create efficiencies. “The nature of the silo mentality, which we have with three regional districts, is a detriment,” he said. What ever option may rise to the top, some officials are insisting that residents of their communities be involved. “Electoral involvement in the decision is important,” said Michele Rule, a Kelowna councillor. The working committee must present a final report to Chong by the end of March.
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