Who's hot, who's not on city council

– Managing editor Scott Neufeld.reporter Jordan Nicurity

EDITORIAL Wed. July 11 http://www.dailycourier.ca/

This week’s hot list is handing out bonus points to all city councillors for making some real progress on the issue of affordable housing. Although locating houses next to a sewer plant may not be ideal, at least it’s a step in the right direction.

Slipping on to the cold list this week is Coun. Barry Beardsell who seems to be getting more disagreeable with each meeting. While Beardsell brings up good points and speaks when others are silent, he needs to do so with a little more tact and decorum.

Coun. Patrick Nicol is on the hot list for his aptitude for respectful criticism. His ability to ask questions without stepping on any toes is an example to the rest of council. A hot rating goes to Coun. Juliette Cunningham, one of several councillors taking a more sophisticated position on halfway houses. While most people agree that halfway houses are necessary there’s no reason to rush one back into Vernon.

A special cold rating goes out to Corrections officials and the RCMP who continue to misinform the public. The argument that Vernon needs a halfway house because of the parolees that are here, is completely invalid. The reason they are already here is because they are not eligible for a halfway house. A new house for parolees would only bring in more parolees who would not otherwise be here. Corrections and the RCMP need to get this point straight or they will never win over the public’s trust.

Cold ratings go to two council spectators: Mayor Wayne Lippert and Coun. Jack Gilroy. The mayor seems to be growing into his role as the master of ceremonies at council meetings but too often does not make his opinions known. He’s hasn’t yet mastered the ability to ask the tough questions.

Coun. Pat Cochrane earns a hot rating this week for tempering the discussion on the new affordable housing project. Cochrane warned that although the project is a good idea, it’s too close to the sewage plant. The city has other lands that would be suitable for low cost housing. The sewer site should only be used if other ones are unsuitable.

Also on the hot list is Coun. Buffy Baumbrough for speaking up for the lake life that may be swept up in the mysis fishery on Okanagan Lake. Council should be cautious in supporting this program. The shrimp problem was created due to bad science. The Ministry of Environment needs to ensure that large-scale harvesting of the shrimp does not cause more harm
to the lake.

Council meeting rises hotter than usual

– Managing editor Scott Neufeld, reporter Jordan Nicurity EDITORIAL Wed. June 27 http://www.dailycourier.ca/

According to many council observers, Monday’s meeting was one of the more raucous in recent years. With some councillors likely still fuming the next day, it’s hard to separate the hot from the cold with so many hot-tempered politicians at the meeting.

At the top of the hot list is Coun. Buffy Baumbrough who was brimming with emotion on Monday. Baumbrough grew angry when several councillors violated a new policy to delay Official Community Plan projects. The councillors changed their minds the first time a project came along that violated the OCP. She rarely speaks at meetings so Baumbrough’s display of passion was impressive.

Sliding on to the cold list this week is Coun. Pat Cochrane who led the charge in approving the project that went against the OCP. Why approve a policy if you’re going to breach it at the first opportunity? Although Cochrane may have been correct that it’s a worthy project, the way the
issue was handled paints council in a negative light.

On the hot list is Coun. Barry Beardsell, partly for his heated outburst at council but also for his opinions on the O’Keefe Ranch grant. The ranch desperately needs provincial help and depending on an RV park for income is beneath a heritage site.

On the cold list is Coun. Jack Gilroy, who was part of the council flip-flop on the OCP. Other than that the former firefighter had little to say.

Landing on the hot list this week is Coun. Juliette Cunningham who voted against the OCP amendment on principle. Cunningham said although she thinks the proposal may be valid she voted against it because it violated the city’s new policy. The councillor also threw her support behind sending a letter of support for local hospital workers threatened by the privatization of Vernon Jubilee.

Coun. Patrick Nicol finds himself on the cold list this week for joining in on the council flip flop. One wonders if the councillors truly understood what they were doing when they voted to approve the project. Despite asking questions of the long-range planner, they went against her
recommendations anyway.

Finally, Mayor Wayne Lippert lands on the cold list for casting the deciding ballot and making the flip-flop official. Although the mayor has switched sides in the past on development issues, this was his most obvious about-face to date. It may be too much to hope but, maybe council
will try and be more consistent in the future.

Who's hot, who's not on Vernon council ! Bulldog UBCM Bound ??

http://www.dailycourier.ca/ – Editorial Wed. June 13

-managing editor Scott Neufeld

After a long stay on the cold list Coun. Buffy Baumbrough finds herself on the hot list for stepping up in Coun. Juliette Cunningham’s absence. Baumbrough was far more talkative Monday than at most meetings, expressing her opinions and generally picking up the slack. We’ll have to wait for the next meeting to see whether this is a trend or merely a blip.

Coun. Jack Gilroy earns another cold rating as he stayed silent throughout the entire council meeting. It’s no easy task to not speak for more than three hours but Gilroy manages to do it on a regular basis. However, Gilroy and Coun. Barry Beardsell earn approval for colour-co-ordinating their blue shirts at the meeting.

Speaking of Beardsell, he’s on the hot list this week for proposing to push the issue of hospital funding to the next Union of B.C. Municipalities meeting. Often a critic of the group, Beardsell appears to have found a good avenue to raise the contentious issue. Beardsell should consider attending the gathering to really drive the issue home.

Also on the hot list this week is Mayor Wayne Lippert who continues to impress with his ability to direct meetings and keep them moving at a steady pace. In particular he cut off two homeless activists who tried to cause another disturbance at council. He stopped them short saying that
there are proper avenues to address council and this isn’t one of them. But if these activists do try other avenues council needs to be more helpful than they have been.

Coun. Pat Cochrane is on the cold list this week for being one of the main proponents of giving the O’Keefe Ranch more money. Although the ranch desperately needs the money for repairs, council was not critical enough of the ranch’s finances. There are too many unanswered questions. Add to that the fact that they are running a deficit this year mainly because they didn’t stick to their budget. Council and Cochrane should have taken that into consideration when handing over the funds.

Landing on the hot list this week is Coun. Patrick Nicol who brought up a hot topic at the meeting. In discussing a development variance request for an Okanagan Lake project, Nicol wondered if every homeowner would be seeking a variance. The city has received a steady volume of requests from owners who want to build closer to the lake than bylaws allow. Too often the city approves these requests. However, what needs to be taken into account is the overall benefit to the community. How does it benefit Vernon as a whole if home after home is
built too close to the lake. Council and city staff need to take a tougher stand to ensure that development regulations are adhered to and not bent or broken.
Click on cartoon to enlarge:

Who's hot who's not on Vernon council

–reporter Jordan Nicurity and managing editor Scott Neufeld Editorial May 16 http://www.dailycourier.ca/

A week after charting on the hot list, Mayor Wayne Lippert slips to the cold list. Lippert was needlessly harsh with Coun. Barry Beardsell over a simple misunderstanding and his comments in a Vernon Daily Courier interview about homelessness were similarly snippy. The mayor questioned what the media are doing to solve the homeless problem. Local media outlets don’t have the funds nor the resources that city hall does to deal with homelessness. Nor do we have the same mandate to care for the poor. Of course the media don’t necessarily publicize every one of their own good deeds.

Coun. Pat Cochrane makes yet another appearance on the hot list this week for speaking up for the city’s pines. Cochrane encouraged his fellow councillors to act quickly to slow the spread of the pine beetle on private property. This is a time sensitive issue and council needs to implement as many worthy programs as possible or give up on prevention.

Continuing his hot streak is Coun. Barry Beardsell who was as active as ever at Monday’s meeting admonishing his fellow councillors for failing to ask questions when they don’t understand something. Beardsell is consistently the most inquisitive councillor and he had a lot of pointed questions about a variance to allow a residential home to be developed in a tourist commercial area. He rightly said that guidelines need to be drafted to deal with future proposals.

Coun. Patrick Nicol ends his brief cold spell with a return to the hot list this week. Nicol was outspoken on the issue of child day cares and the need to speed up the zoning process. Access to day care is a major issue and when groups apply to build one, they need to be moved ahead as soon as possible, as Nicol pointed out. Hopefully, council continues to raise the issue of day care, particularly in their meetings with representatives from the other two levels of government.

Landing on the cold list are council’s two coyest members. Coun. Jack Gilroy and Coun. Buffy Baumbrough rarely speak at council, which is unfortunate. They’ve both proven they do have valuable opinions.

On the hot list this week is Coun. Juliette Cunningham who answered on council’s behalf when they were accused of ignoring the homeless. Cunningham has always made the effort to speak up for the less fortunate in council meetings and has been involved in several extra projects, including the temporary women’s shelter, in her spare time.Council has been working to try and alleviate the homeless and affordable housing issues, but when so many are still on the streets and struggling to find low cost housing – perhaps even more effort is required.

Who's hot, who's not on city council

–managing editor Scott Neufeld Editorial http://www.dailycourier.ca/

At the top of this week’s hot list is mayor Wayne Lippert who took on a more dominant leadership role at the latest council meeting. Council has to sift through many motions and bylaws each meeting and it’s often tough to get a mover and seconder on each item. But like a teacher picking out lazy students, Lippert was calling out councillors left and right to move
motions and keep the meeting rolling at a steady pace. Now if only someone could convince him to raise his hand and vote with the rest of council like he’s supposed to . . .

Landing on the cold list this week is Coun. Jack Gilroy for his opposition to the region’s air quality agenda. With so many communities that are lax on air quality issues in the North Okanagan it’s important for Vernon to take a leadership role. This means tougher standards and measures that may be unpopular among orchardists, but will help everyone breathe easier.

Coun. Pat Cochrane earned extra hot points this week for digging in to the issue of the city’s tax rates. There is probably no more boring and complicated issue than the tax structure, but Cochrane took the time to ask questions and made sure he understood what was at stake. Something many other councillors seem too shy to do while the TV cameras are rolling.

In the same vein, Coun. Juliette Cunningham earns a cold rating for proposing a deferral of a decision on the tax structure. Cunningham cited a flood of new information as the reason for the delay. However, the basic details were already printed in the Vernon Daily Courier last September and followed up in a city hall report a month later. Several councillors, simply didn’t take the time to do their homework on the implications, delaying a decision that would have given local businesses a tax break.

Making a rare appearance on the cold side is Coun. Patrick Nicol for bringing up the issue of giving tax breaks to lakeshore property owners who struggle to pay their property taxes. This issue is often brought up at council and is misunderstood. If a pensioner owns a high-priced piece of land and can’t pay the taxes there are many options allowing them not to pay their taxes until they sell the property. This issue shouldn’t be raised anymore.

Coun. Barry Beardsell flashes cold to hot for being so agreeable at Monday’s meeting. It was the first meeting in recent memory where there wasn’t a single occasion where Beardsell was outvoted by the entire council. Cunningham even went so far as to commend Beardsell for his positivity.

Not much to say about Coun. Buffy Baumbrough who didn’t have much to say at the meeting. She’s cold this week.

Who's hot who's not on council

– reporter Scott Neufeld http://www.dailycourier.ca/

Each councillor receives bonus points on this week’s hot list for scoring perfect attendance for a second straight council meeting. It’s not oftenthat all seven can attend. However, because of their lengthy debate on stairs, we’re taking away those bonus points. Was it really necessary to spend 15 minutes discussing the comparative merits of concrete vs. metal stairs? Do public stairways really need to be “pet-friendly”? Some onlookers worried council was about to start a “pet-friendly stairs sub-committee.” Coun. Barry Beardsell was unusually agreeable at the beginning but soon got his groove back by voting against free parking for the Woman of the Year, giving a thumbs down to a 40-unit apartment building on 30th Avenue and panning a parking meter replacement plan. He’s cold this week. Joining Beardsell on the cold list is Coun. Juliette Cunningham who also joined Beardsell in voicing displeasure with the closure of the government liquor stores and the apparent jump in booze prices. While it would be nice to drink cheaper liquor, maybe it’s time for this duo to be consumed with something other than alcohol. Compare a recent grocery bill and one from six months ago and you’ll notice many commodities that have suddenly spiked in cost. It’s time for Cunningham to speak up for overpriced items people need, not ones they want.

Coun. Pat Cochrane is on the hot list for getting hot under the collar at city staff who leave lights on overnight. First of all, kudos to Cochrane for apparently working long hours and secondly, it’s great he brought up the issue. Staff should be more diligent about flipping the switch. Tax dollars pay for those bulbs and most people have a hard enough time paying their own light bill, let alone paying for ones carelessly left on overnight by a city worker. For walking out of the meeting early, Coun. Patrick Nicol has earned himself a hot rating. Nicol excused himself because of a conflict of interest when a development issue came up that affected a house on his street, even though he wasn’t legally required to leave. Coun. Jack Gilroy earns a hot rating this week for speaking up for the previously mentioned apartment block on 30th Avenue. By building more and more multi-family units maybe prices will become more reasonable.

Going from cold to hot this week is Coun. Buffy Baumbrough who earned her way back on to the hot list by bashing the water turbidity notification system. Constant water quality notices have led most residents to ignore the warnings and Baumbrough is correct in saying the system needs to be revamped. Because we all know what happened to the boy who cried turbidity too many times . . . Mayor Wayne Lippert has earned himself a hopeful hot rating. Lippert picked up his phone and talked to the Vernon Daily Courier earlier this week, something he doesn’t always do. Hopefully, the mayor will continue to be more phone-friendly and not just on a drizzly Easter Monday.

Who's hot or not on Vernon council

Scott Neufeld EDITORIAL http://www.dailycourier.ca/

Coun. Patrick Nicol lands on the hot list again for giving kudos to the Downtown Vernon Association’s security patrol program. Whether or not people agree with the DVA’s approach to the problems plaguing the downtown, this is one of the rare examples of citizens and businesses coming together to launch a significant project. Nicol was right to support it as a “classic citizen-driven initiative.”

After escaping our thermometer last meeting, Coun. Pat Cochrane comes back with a solid lukewarm rating for sitting on the fence over the DVA security issue. As with many other councillors, Cochrane took a wait and see approach to the issue saying that if the bylaw officers can do the job then the Commissionaires are unnecessary, but adding that if the bylaw officers falter the Commissionaires should step in.

Coun. Barry Beardsell jumps from cold to hot this week for yet another spirited criticism of Okanagan-Vernon MLA Tom Christensen. The latest outburst came after Christensen sent a reply to the city’s laundry list of provincial requests. Although the MLA appears to be working hard to find answers, there are so many big local projects being ignored by the province that the city cannot afford to stay silent.

Mayor Wayne Lippert is an all-too-frequent visitor of the coldest regions of this list and he finds himself in icy climes this week. Once again the mayor was too quiet as someone elected to lead this city. This is puzzling given that he tends to be more vocal in expressing his views at meetings of Greater Vernon Services or the regional district. Maybe the TV cameras
have something to do with it.

Speaking of camera shy, Coun. Buffy Baumbrough stayed a little too quiet this week for someone with lofty political aspirations, earning her a cold rating. The newly-minted Liberal representative had little to add to the council meeting other than echoing points made by her colleagues. Odds are she’ll quickly learn to more vocally express her opinions once she’s thrown in the middle of a federal election race.

Coun. Juliette Cunningham finds herself on the hot list this week for suggesting that all of the parties come together before a decision is made about downtown private security. The DVA, police and the city have so far pushed a one-sided approach to the downtown’s drug, poverty and homelessness issues. The city should now encourage a wider variety of downtown groups to co-ordinate a broader approach to these issues.

Lastly, councillor/arena guru Jack Gilroy finds himself on the hot list for raising the issue of lack of ice in the city. In a city with aspirations to being Canada’s Hockeyville, it’s ironic that so many players, particularly adults, find it hard to find ice time here.

Who's Hot and Who's not at City Council

Managing editor David Wylie and reporter Scott Neufeld EDITORIAL http://www.dailycourier.ca/

Coun. Juliette Cunningham is hot after saying what most people have likely been thinking about the Downtown Vernon Association’s continuous comments about the dangers of downtown. Cunningham said the DVA should look into hiring downtown ambassadors to make friends in the area, rather than the safety patrol. “I think what you’ve managed to create is a sense of hysteria,” she told council. We concur. Shouldn’t the DVA be talking about the positive side of our downtown?

Coun. Barry Beardsell is cold for inadvertently suggesting drivers be given a carte blanche to park in handicapped spaces late at night, as if respect for handicapped parking spaces be honoured only from nine to five. Beardsell said bylaw officers should be more lenient in their ticketing at night and used the example of a driver getting slapped with a ticket for parking in a handicapped space.

It’s a mystery whether Mayor Wayne Lippert is hot or cold because we don’t know for certain whether members of the former Vernon Land Corporation were fired, as one member has said, or whether they resigned. We’d like to give the mayor the benefit of the doubt. On a side note, we tried to reach him for two days and he did not return phone calls. We finally caught up
with him at a press conference Tuesday.

The beetles are coming and Coun. Buffy Baumbrough gets the hot seal of approval for encouraging council to give the insects some grief. The councillor/Liberal candidate has been at the forefront of making sure the city puts up some form of resistance in the battle against the pine beetle. If a handful of historic pines are saved, the money spent is worth it.
Coun. Patrick Nichol is hot for showing gratitude to the finance committee, finance staff and a member of the public for their dedication to the budget process. It’s nice to see a local politician giving credit where credit’s earned. More encouragement from council and perhaps a second member of the public will attend all 26 meetings next year.

Comedians often joke that politicians are full of hot air, but Coun. Jack Gilroy lands on the cold list for keeping his lips sealed. Gilroy frequently offers the silent treatment at council but when he does speak he often offers valuable insight. Other times he hits comedy gold. Either way a few more words from Gilroy should send him to warmer climes on the next list.

Coun. Pat Cochrane escapes our thermometer this week because he did not attend council and kept a low profile the past two weeks.

Who's Hot and Who's Not on Council

http://www.dailycourier.ca/ EDITORIAL 02/14 –

Managing editor David Wylie and reporter Scott Neufeld

Since today is Valentine’s Day, we were feeling a lot more lovey-doveythan usual.How could we not call Mayor Wayne Lippert hot after his sizzling cover photo in Monday’s edition of the Vernon Daily Courier. Two thumbs up to our mayor for showing off his “good side” by taking a cold dip in Okanagan Lake during the Winter Carnival’s Polar Bear dip. Coun. Barry Beardsell is also on the hot list for dropping the gloves and squaring off against the British Columbia Lottery Corporation and MLA Tom Christensen in the same week. Beardsell has billed himself as the defender of the public purse, and it’s always refreshing to see the senior citizen politician growling at the powers that be. He may not always be a diplomat, but every council needs a bad cop sometimes.

Two councillors find themselves on the hot list for their comments on the potential closure of West Vernon Elementary. Coun. Buffy Baumbrough gets the nod for taking up the idea that parents are warned well in advance of a school closure. Baumbrough rightly pointed out that schools are a key component of a community and it’s critical to preserve them to maintain the character of a neighbourhood. A level-headed approach to the school closure issue has Coun. Jack Gilroy joining the hot side. Gilroy reminded council that the West Vernon building is becoming old and increasingly unsafe. He simplified the issue into a decision of whether or not to rebuild the school and brought more clarity to the issue.

Coun. Pat Cochrane gets the cold label this week for arguing to give another 10 cents – on top of the 10 cents council just approved – to the Okanagan Symphony. Cochrane’s generosity comes at a time when every city department was forced to chop one per cent off its budget. Sorry symphony, but we just can’t see any way to justify increasing our contribution to classical music when we’re asking public works, police and the fire department to slice and dice.

Coun. Juliette Cunningham earns a mention on the hot list for experiencing the world through someone else’s eyes. Cunningham recently spent some time blindfolded and met with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. She raised concerns including the slippery conditions of sidewalks and streets which can impact the impaired more than most. Hopefully, council will be able to take action to improve conditions for the disabled. Coun. Patrick Nichol escapes our thermometer this week, as he was absent from council.

Who's Hot and Who's Not at Council

http://www.dailycourier.ca/

– Managing Editor David Wylie and reporter Scott Neufeld Editorial Jan 24

Coun. Barry Beardsell moves from cold to hot this week for trying to keep the Vernon Land Committee’s feet to the fire over the $30,000 they budgeted in fees for services. After Jack Borden appeared before council Monday, urging the city to shell out the fees, Beardsell said paying the committee would send the wrong message to other city committees.

Meanwhile, Coun. Patrick Nichol moves from hot to cold for taking the opposite position on the Land Committee’s bid for payment because the committee has operated under similar payment in the past. It amounts to nothing less than discrimination against other hard-working, talented volunteers who are being paid diddly-squat for their time and effort.

Coun. Juliette Cunningham stays hot for being a class act and (as much as we’d like to see a vote ASAP on the Land Committee) delaying the decision until Coun. Pat Cochrane, who was absent Monday, is present at council.

Coun. Jack Gilroy stays heated as he let loose his wit at city council. The councillor known more for his silence than his speeches was furiously backpedaling after saying that ladies don’t attend sanctioned athletic fights. He followed that comment up by saying the women that do attend the fights are a different element, which drew fits of laughter. But he had everyone doubled over when he said, “that’s Jack’s way of saying they’re a little different, but good.”

Lingering on the cold list is Mayor Wayne Lippert for being slow on the draw at voting time. During a vote on funding for the sister cities committee, Lippert paused and pondered for several seconds when he realized that his vote would be the deciding ballot. In council, just like in games of paper, rock, scissors you’re supposed to move your hand at the same time as everyone else.

Coun. Buffy Baumbrough stays hot for braving the treacherous winter wracked Highway 97 on Thursday to attend a forum on agriculture in Kelowna. It’s impressive to see a council so keen on learning more about the environment that she ignored the swirling snow to attend the
information session. Failing to register on the thermometer this week is Coun. Pat Cochrane who was absent from council on Monday.