A brief glimpse of hope

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: January 11, 2011 7:00 PM
Politicians are so entrenched in their war of words the magnitude of last Thursday’s Greater Vernon Advisory Committee meeting may be lost on them.  At that session, the Lavington Community Association asked for $15,000 to construct a picnic shelter in Centennial Park.  No sooner was the presentation done and directors were tripping over each other to get in on the act. Some actually questioned the club’s 75-seat proposal and suggested that a larger, more expensive model may be warranted.  Much has been made of Vernon apparently wanting to dominate the parks function, but not once did city politicians express concern about their taxpayers pumping cash into Coldstream.  “It’s a great facility and a great organization,” said Patrick Nicol, a Vernon director, of the Lavington club. Instead of waiting the customary two weeks to discuss presentations, directors immediately opted to consider the request as part of the 2011 budget.  There was also considerable praise for Coldstream director Doug Dirk, who personally took his colleagues on a tour of Centennial Park so they would be familiar with the site and able to make informed decisions.  What occurred last Thursday was a dramatic departure from what’s become the norm — infighting and wild accusations on all sides.

Mike Macnabb, BX-Silver Star director, has essentially declared the death of the current structure. “The function has Band-Aids on Band-Aids and it needs to be taken apart and put together again,” he said. Originally, the concept of restructuring the parks and recreation function centred around keeping key assets like the recreation complex, Wesbild Centre and Kal Beach at the core. Most parks would fall into the hands of individual jurisdictions so there was more local say over maintenance.  However, it has morphed into a nasty little fight over who actually calls the shots.  Coldstream and BX-Silver Star argue Vernon will gain another vote at the table after the next census, and it will be able to get its own way at the expense of the other partners.  That is a valid concern as all taxpayers in Greater Vernon contribute towards the facilities, and the interests of one jurisdiction are no more important than another.  Obviously an extra seat for Vernon could throw a perceived balance of power out of whack, but there’s no guarantee the census will reveal more people in Vernon. Coldstream and Macnabb’s actions also go against the basic democratic principle of representation by population. One has to wonder how Coldstream would react if population growth warranted it having another director but others denied such a move?  It should be pointed out that Vernon presently has three votes, the electoral areas have one each and Coldstream has two — which is an anomaly because it only has one seat at GVAC’s parent body, the North Okanagan Regional District board. Even if Vernon’s three directors vote in lock-step together (and that doesn’t always happen), they can still be shot down. So much for a balance of power.  The reality is any desire to develop a structure that provides services and meets the needs of all Greater Vernon residents has been long abandoned. All that’s left is a pathetic power struggle.  But based on what happened last Thursday, perhaps not all is lost. For a fleeting moment, the politicians — no matter where they come from — showed that GVAC can actually work.