By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star - January 11, 2008
Rural politicians are stepping up pressure against an Okanagan-wide governance review.The North Okanagan Regional District’s five electoral areas have written a letter to the media expressing concerns about the government-initiated process and the negative impact they believe it could have on communities. “We have a responsibility to our residents and to the regional board. We need to advise them of what’s going on,” said Herman Halvorson, rural Enderby director, of the decision to issue a letter to the media and the public.In the letter the five directors claim that a valley-wide change in governance structure could decrease representation for rural areas.
“Specifically, decisions would be made at a centralized level without the appropriate opportunity to fully consider the needs, goals, services and community values of our rural residents, and representatives of urban areas could control the votes,” states the letter. “We have grave concerns that the governance review currently underway does not provide, in our opinion, for complete and comprehensive public consultation and also, that the province has imposed a timeline that does not allow for meaningful public consultation.” The directors are also calling for residents to vote on any potential governance changes.Cliff Kanester, BX-Swan Lake director, believes all residents should take an interest in the current process.
“If we don’t, this thing will be jammed down our throats,” he said. The governance options vary, but include having one single regional district in the Okanagan or rural areas being annexed into municipalities. Not on the table is maintaining three regional districts as occurs now. “The provincial government says status quo is not an option but we believe it is an option,” said Halvorson. NORD’s chairman is disappointed that the electoral directors have issued a letter to the media. “It’s premature,” said Jerry Oglow, who sits on the committee looking at governance. “We are only starting the consultation process with elected officials. They are also losing sight of opportunities to deliver a higher level of service that we’ve yet to discuss.”
Oglow also points out that the electoral directors have suggested their areas should form a single municipality or multiple municipalities.“This (process) could be an opportunity to put this on the table,” he said. While no public input meetings will be held, Oglow insists the review committee wants to hear from residents. “We are receiving letters from interested individuals and we will have a Web site set up,” he said. Politicians from across the Okanagan will meet at the Best Western Vernon Lodge today at 9 a.m. to discuss the governance review.
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This letter is directed to all residents of the electoral areas in the Regional District of North Okanagan. Since November 2007, the three regional districts in the Okanagan and Similkameen have been taking part in a governance review initiated by the provincial government. The rural directors from the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen have indicated their concerns in a letter to the editor on the impact to the rural lifestyles of their residents if the end result is a single regional district serving the entire Okanagan Valley. We agree with their concerns that such a change in governance structure could result in a reduction in the voice and representation for rural residents as their electoral area director is their only directly elected representative. Specifically, decisions would be made at a centralized level without the appropriate opportunity to fully consider the needs, goals, services and community values of our rural residents, and representatives of urban areas could control the votes.This would not reflect the best interests of rural residents.
There will always be a need to review governance and how services are delivered, and we are always open to this type of discussion.We further recognize that the current structure is not perfect and we are not opposed to considering other alternatives, however, all options should remain on the table. We have grave concerns that the governance review currently underway does not provide, in our opinion, for complete and comprehensive public consultation and also, that the province has imposed a timeline that does not allow for meaningful public consultation. Our further concern is that to date, there is no initiative underway to gather and analyze the costs and benefits of possible changes to rural or urban areas. It is our view that, prior to any change, a comprehensive study of all potential options should be undertaken and complete information be provided to the affected residents for their consideration and also, that residents be given the opportunity to vote or voice their opinions in a timely manner.
We will do our utmost to represent you as equal shareholders in this governance review and we will strive to have our voices heard. However, all rural residents are important stakeholders in this process, and we urge you to let your provincial MLAs Tom Christensen (Tom.Christensen.MLA@leg.bc.ca) and MLA George Abbott (George.Abbott.MLA@leg.bc.ca), as well as Community Services Minister Ida Chong (CS.minister@gov.bc.ca ) and Premier Gordon Campbell (premier@gov.bc.ca) know directly how you feel.
Cliff Kanester, Area B,
Stan Field, Area C,
Rick Fairbairn, Area D,
Eugene Foisy, Area E
Herman Halvorson, Area F
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