Wesbild announcement surprises

By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star - March 14, 2008

Some Greater Vernon politicians are being accused of keeping their colleagues in the dark. Director Pat Cochrane is concerned that the Greater Vernon Services Committee didn’t ratify the naming rights agreement for the former Multiplex and that some board members weren’t part of the press conference Tuesday that unveiled the new name — Wesbild Centre. “No where was there a motion to bring this item out of in-camera and my impression was it would come back for approval,” said Cochrane at Thursday’s GVSC meeting. “So I was surprised that the deal was complete by hearing it on the radio.” Discussions over the naming rights agreement with Wesbild Holdings were held in-camera because they were legal in nature. Cochrane believes the entire situation shows “a lack of courtesy.”The minutes from an in-camera GVSC meeting went before the North Okanagan Regional District board March 5, where the agreement was ratified. It was then decided to embargo the decision until the press conference. Gary Corner, GVSC chairman, apologized to Cochrane. “We were trying to put this (agreement) together quickly and we errored,” he said. Despite the explanation, Cochrane still has concerns. “Technically it has to go to NORD but this committee should have been notified that the agreement had been ratified and there was a media event to announce the name,” he said. Corner, who is Coldstream mayor, notified his council Monday night about the press Conference Tuesday.

But, such a situation did not occur at Vernon city hall. “It was a big secret at our meeting. We were not informed,” said Cochrane, who is a city councillor. Director Wayne Lippert, who is Vernon’s mayor, says details of the press conference were established while city council met Monday afternoon. “I didn’t know the status of it late Monday but it was an error,” he said of not informing council. Cliff Kanester, BX-Swan Lake director, also says he didn’t become aware of the announcement until he heard it on the radio. Attending the press conference Tuesday were Corner, Lippert, BX-Silver Star director Stan Field and Jack Gilroy, a city councillor and NORD director.