By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: January 16, 2009 4:00 PM
Any plans for the North Okanagan’s five rural areas to form their own municipality have been abandoned. Based on strong public opposition to changing the current governance structure, the North Okanagan Regional District is withdrawing a request to the provincial government for a restructure study for the electoral areas. “It’s not going to happen,” said Herman Halvorson, director for rural Enderby. “Residents are happy with the way things are going. The status quo is fine.” NORD recently released the results of a survey mailed out to residents of the five electoral areas. The results show little support for either joining a municipality or incorporating themselves.“The people living in these areas are satisfied with what they have now,” said Mike Gavinchuk, BX-Swan Lake director. Presently, the electoral areas are represented by one elected official each on the regional district board. The five electoral areas – BX-Swan Lake, BX-Silver Star, rural Enderby, rural Lumby and Cherryville – cover a total of 6,966 square kilometres and have a population of 15,020. Gavinchuk believes a fear of the unknown may have led some residents to oppose considering a change in governance. “The big thing is the cost and what they would get for their taxation. Everything is related to cost,” he said. The concept of a restructure study and specifically forming a district municipality first arose in spring 2007. NORD chairman Eric Foster isn’t surprised that it’s been scrapped. “I thought there would have been a few more people interested in a restructure study being done but the majority of those who responded to the survey like things the way they are,” he said.
---------------
Morning Star Editorial: Rural directors get the message January 16, 2009 4:00 PM
The North Okanagan Regional District's five electoral area directors have finally got the message — their constituents are happy with the governance structure they have and no change is necessary. Based on the recent findings of a public survey, it would have been ridiculous to continue pursuing a restructure study and the prospect of forming a district municipality. Whether they live in the BX, Swan Lake, Commonage, Cherryville, Mabel Lake, Whitevale, Mara, Ashton Creek, Grindrod or Kingfisher, the residents there largely want to remain rural in nature and governance to be provided at an inexpensive level. One even has to wonder where the concept of a district municipality even came from. Was it a result of legitimate concerns that the provincial government may force electoral areas into neighbouring municipalities, or did it have more to do with some officials wanting to turn the screws on a longtime nemesis, specifically the City of Vernon?
But what ever the reason, it was clear that it was the electoral area directors that were driving this issue more than it was their constituents. And top-down government is always the wrong way to go about things. It would be naive to suggest that governance of some or all of the electoral areas will never change, particularly as the population grows and development requires urban-like infrastructure. But if it does, let the process happen naturally instead of forcing something to happen. And that means leaving it in the hands of the residents. They will let the politicians know when they are ready to try something new.
No comments:
Post a Comment