Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: April 17, 2010 12:00 PM
A gathering of the region’s top civic leaders may ultimately impact public services. Herman Halvorson, North Okanagan Regional District chairman, held a meeting with all six mayors and the electoral area committee chairman Wednesday. “We want to know what they want for services and how they can be delivered,” said Halvorson. One of the thrusts behind the meeting was the fact that some NORD staff will be retiring while others have pursued other career opportunities. “Is there a better way of doing things,” said Halvorson. “Vernon has also been calling the mayors together and we (NORD) are part of some of the services. There was some disconnect.”
Wayne Lippert, Vernon mayor, believes Wednesday’s meeting was constructive. “We want to make sure we’re getting good services and they’re efficient,” he said. “The regional district needs to change because all jurisdictions have changed since it was formed.” Lippert says it may be more cost-effective for the city to take over some services and provide them to the other communities through a contract. The next step is for the mayors to go back to their respective councils and discuss services. “We put out quite a chunk of dough to the regional district,” said Will Hansma, Spallumcheen mayor. “There needs to be some good open discussion.” Rick Fairbairn, electoral area committee chairman, says Wednesday’s meeting was an opportunity to bring the mayors together because not all of them sit at the NORD board table. “There are 75 functions within the regional district and to get information on them is very difficult unless you have meetings,” he said.“A lot of the mayors are not up to date on how many functions they’re involved in.”
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