Association claims shot down by city

By Tyler Olsen - Vernon Morning Star - April 20, 2008

Vernon city hall is refuting claims that residents were misled during the civic complex referendum. The Vernon Taxpayers Association has alleged that the city knew that it would not get three major grants for the civic complex but continued to lead residents to believe that alternate funding was being pursued in January. “It’s not true at all. They don’t understand the process,” said Mayor Wayne Lippert. In a release, the association states that the city had applied for $2.8 million in grants and that one Spirit of B.C. grant had been cancelled while two $1 million grants were denied Dec. 18 — weeks before the Jan. 26 referendum on borrowing up to $30 million for the complex. “Were the taxpayers misled? Did the proposal to use millions of dollars of taxpayer funds adhere to the requirement of integrity, prudence and probity in the use of public funds?” states the release. “With this being an election year, these questions must be addressed.”

Tony Stamboulieh, association spokesman, stands behind the group’s concerns about the city. “They knew the grants had been declined. What kind of government is that?” he said. But Lippert says that even if the grants were denied, they were for 2007, and any referendum advertising referring to the search for funds would have been for 2008. “We are always looking for grants. It’s an annual thing,” he said. A majority of voters opposed the borrowing of money during the referendum and the city has made no decisions on the future of civic facilities.

Kevin Bertles, finance manager, says the city only became aware of the applications being denied when staff phoned the government agencies this month. “Most granting organizations have policies not to inform applicants that they aren’t providing grants,” he said, adding that the city still doesn’t have formal confirmation. Lippert isn’t surprised that the two grants, worth $1 million each, were refused.“The grants were turned down because of the successful grant for Duteau Creek (water upgrades). There is only money in grants available and the government looks to see what each area gets,” he said.

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Original Press Release of Vernon Taxpayers association:

April 15, 2008
The Alternate Approval/Referendum costs to the taxpayers are $373,538. Mayor Lippert says it's not money wasted: "It’s the cost of doing business and taking information forward. It didn’t go down the drain. A lot of good information was brought together over the years by this council and other councils".The only information that came out of this futile exercise is that Mayor Lippert and his Council apart from Councillor Beardsell showed themselves to be thoroughly disconnected from the wishes of the majority of taxpayers. Good financial planning in government is founded upon the principles of integrity, prudence and probity.

It has come to the notice of the Vernon and Districts Taxpayers' Association that while Mayor Lippert's administration was advising the taxpayers in January 2008 (in their drive to sell an unwanted civic complex proposal) that the City had applied for $2.8 million worth of grants, they failed to mention that one Spirit of BC grant had been cancelled and two $1,000,000 under MCS/ MRIF grants each for the Library Project were denied on December 18, 2007. So, the questions have to be asked: were the taxpayers misled? did the proposal to use millions of dollars of taxpayer funds adhere to the requirements of integrity, prudence and probity in the use of public funds?

With this being an election year, these questions must be addressed.
Contact: Tony Stamboulieh 260-1082 or 309-7488