RDCO still strong: Hobson

by Wayne Moore Castanet:
Four senior staff members have been handed pink slips as the Regional District of Central Okanagan continues to downsize in the wake of the transfer of services to the new District of Westside. Regional District staff has dwindled from 200 to about 105, with most of those lost going to the new Westside municipality. RDCO Chair, Robert Hobson, says the restructuring has come after several months of internal reviews. "It was a tough decision for the members of the board, but we are all confident the Regional District of Central Okanagan will move forward and build for the future," says Hobson. "Working with our member municipalities and Electoral Areas, we'll immediately begin a strategic planning process to provide effective and cost-efficient region-wide services." As for the future of the RDCO, Hobson says it is a viable government organization. He says despite losing the Westside to incorporation, the RDCO still as an important role to play in local governance.

"We are the regional hospital district, we borrow money for capital projects for the regional hospital district, we have a significant regional parks program, we are increasingly involved in health services, we're heavily involved in crime prevention in a variety of ways. We are involved in emergency services which is going to become an increasing issue with climate change. We are going to have more issues around emergencies fire and flood, so we have a regional emergency program." He says Regional Waste Management must be done by regional districts as mandated by the province. Borrowing authority for long term borrowing through the Municipal Finance Authority must also be done as a region. Hobson points to the Greater Vancouver Regional District(GVRD) as an example of how the RDCO may evolve. "It is a very large, active organization but it has virtually no unincorporated areas in it. They are all municipalities. It's heavily involved in transit, provides sewer and water, has a huge regional parks program, is involved in housing, sustainability and air quality." He adds there are also economies of scale to doing things regionally, pointing to the recent purchase of garbage containers for the new automated collection service which each Central Okanagan municipality will be taking part in.

Hobson says the internal downsizing could also put more money in RDCO coffers as the district looks at renting out space within its KLO Road offices. "We own our own building and we will have excess space for sure. There are many people who want to rent that space from us. I would like to see use the rent from that space, which belongs to all the taxpayers of the region, as a way of reducing the cost of other regional services, which I think we need to do to a significant degree." He says the City of Kelowna, RCMP, Health Region and Okanagan Basin Water Board are all looking for additional space. Meantime, Hobson believes people currently living within RDCO Electoral Areas shouldn't fear an alarming rise in taxes due to the dwindling tax base. He says the RDCO will look at alternative ways of delivering many of its services. "The on the ground services like building inspection and so forth, we may want to contract those services to local governments. Parks maintenance, the Westside has suggested they might be willing to contract to maintain regional parks on the Westside. I think we should look at those opportunities. " Hobson believes working closely with local governments and utilizing their services may be the best way to go. "I'm all for whatever is the most cost effective and efficient way of providing public services."