Residents of the North Okanagan's rural areas have sent a clear message about their governance. In a NORD survey done this fall, 80 percent of the electoral area residents who responded said they didn't want to change the way their area was governed, either by joining an existing municipality or becoming a separate one. 20 percent says they did want a change. A total of 5,709 questionnaires were delivered to homes in the electoral areas. 1,103 responses were received for a response rate of 19 %. New Area C director Mike MacNabb feels the result shows most residents don't want to join the city of Vernon. "I'm willing to work cooperatively with the city on a lot of issues, but if we're being forced into situations where we have to spend time defending or putting forward other proposals, then I think it really takes away from the good governance that we have now." Vernon mayor Wayne Lippert says the survey did show that 20 percent of the people want to change their governance, but he adds the city never planned to force the amalgamation issue. "If an individual want to apply for annexation into the city, and their property falls within the correct criteria for those annexations, then the city will continue to accept them."
A second question asked residents: If (governance) change happens, which option would you prefer?51 percent said create a new municipality, while 49 percent said join an existing municipality.
