Coldstream and Vernon politicians met behind closed doors Monday, but some details are coming out. Vernon council first met in-camera at city hall at 6:30 p.m. and then travelled to Coldstream’s municipal office for a meeting at about 7 p.m. Most politicians contacted refused to divulge details because of in-camera legislation, but some were willing to comment. “It was about governance in general but basically water,” said Glen Taylor, Coldstream councillor. The city has notified the provincial government that it wants to withdraw from the Greater Vernon Services Committee’s water utility, and specifically water distribution. “We had a discussion about water and the reasons we want to withdraw,” said Wayne Lippert, Vernon mayor, of the session with Coldstream council. “We wanted to reassure them that we want to work with Coldstream and Areas B and C on water supply issues. We want them to come back to the table and sort this out.” When contacted, Coldstream Mayor Gary Corner was unwilling to get into the specifics of the meeting between the two councils. Taylor is questioning why Monday’s meeting wasn’t public, especially when the city issued a press release last week on its reasons for withdrawing from the water utility. “If they’ve put that information out already, what we discussed shouldn’t have been in-camera,” he said. Lippert also admits that going in-camera was debatable. “We probably didn’t need to be, but we weren’t necessarily sure where discussions would go,” he said. Corner defended the confidential nature of the meeting, stating that labour and legal matters are required to be in-camera under provincial legislation.“This could very well affect people’s jobs,” he said of the city’s actions.
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Editorial March 5 Morning Star No reason for secret meeting
If one were to go back to the last municipal elections in 2005, it’s likely promises were made of more open, transparent government. But that promise was cast aside Monday as members of Vernon and Coldstream councils met behind closed doors. And such action is highly questionable when you consider that the topic was the city’s decision to withdraw from the Greater Vernon water utility. That decision and all of the reasoning had already been the focus of a press release late last week. Also consider that a number of politicians were willing to discuss the issue in length Tuesday. If they legitimately felt that the meeting should be in-camera under provincial legislation, they wouldn’t take the chance and provide details later. It’s been suggested by some politicians that the meeting needed to private because of the possible legal and labour implications of the city leaving the utility. And there may be some merit to that argument, but only those aspects should have been held in-camera then, and not the entire session. The public has a right to know what is going on with the water utility, especially when millions of dollars have been invested not only in infrastructure but in establishing a single water utility for all of Greater Vernon. When the Greater Vernon Services Committee was formed in 2001, the politicians of the day assured residents that it would be a more effective form of governance and providing service. Now that it’s going sideways, those same taxpayers need to know what went wrong. Coldstream and Vernon councils dropped the ball Monday, and reinforced the common perception that the public isn’t supposed to be seen or heard.
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