Vernon calls for abolishment of advisory committee

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: October 27, 2009 7:00 PM

Vernon wants the plug pulled on the committee that oversees water and parks and recreation.Council will notify the North Okanagan Regional District that the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee should be disbanded, and all sub-regional matters should be dealt with at the NORD board. “They have no power. They go back to the board any way,” said Coun. Jack Gilroy. “It’s just streamlining the process.” As an advisory committee, GVAC has no ability to make decisions. It can only make recommendations to NORD for consideration.

Coun. Mary-Jo O’Keefe attempted to have GVAC scrapped in August after the NORD board overturned a committee decision on a sedimentation pond at BX Ranch Park. “That’s not an indication of good governance,” she said.If the committee remains, O’Keefe is convinced bureaucratic hurdles will continue.“It will just mean that we, as a region, will spend an inordinate amount of money on poor government,” she said.

Herman Halvorson, NORD chairman, is willing to consider the city’s request and discuss it with the other partners — Coldstream and Areas B and C.“We’d have the same people at the table for discussions, so it could make things a lot simpler,” he said.Doug Dirk, Coldstream director, is also open to the concept of scrapping GVAC, but says there could be challenges if the regional board deals with all matters. “Both of those functions (water and parks and recreation) are bigger than NORD itself,” he said. “The workload to deal with everything at board meetings would be pretty cumbersome.” It’s also not known how shifting the entire process to the NORD board would impact representation from outside interests that sit at the GVAC table.“How do you deal with the school district representative and the agricultural representative?” said Halvorson.

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: October 27, 2009 7:00 PM Shooting blanks

Once again demands have surfaced for the scrapping of the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee. And there’s nothing wrong with the City of Vernon throwing the notion before the North Okanagan Regional District. Perhaps there are other options for administering water and parks and recreation.However, some of the city’s reasons appear to be based on an unfamiliarity with process.

As an example, Coun. Jack Gilroy says GVAC “has no power.”And that is absolutely true. As an advisory committee, GVAC is only there to investigate issues pertaining to its mandate and to provide some direction. But, at the end of the day, the authority to proceed is in the hands of the regional district board. Now you would think Gilroy would know this as he is a longtime NORD director and was part of the process that neutered GVAC of any ability to make stand-alone decisions.Gilroy’s views are particularly surprising when you consider that committees within the city operate the same way. They do all the leg work and then make a recommendation to council for consideration. City committees do not act unilaterally.

Coun. Mary-Jo O’Keefe has been fuming ever since the NORD board over-ruled a GVAC recommendation on a sedimentation pond in BX Ranch Park in April. “That’s not a good indication of good governance,” she said Monday, adding that GVAC had investigated the proposed pond thoroughly and the regional board simply bowed to pressure from a handful of residents.But, once again, GVAC was only responsible for compiling the necessary information and suggesting a course of action to NORD. Board members should never get into the habit of simply rubber-stamping things just because a committee wants it. After all, it is the board that is ultimately responsible — politically, financially and legally — for actions taken under its auspices. And in this case, the board received other information specifically from the taxpaying public who should be considered just as relevant as GVAC.It should also be pointed out that O’Keefe has done exactly the same thing she is slamming NORD directors for.In July, she vocally opposed a recommendation from the city’s environmental advisory committee over heritage trees, while she was part of the battle against a staff recommendation to put paid firefighters in the Okanagan Landing fire hall. How do those cases fit into her vision of good governance?

As mentioned before, there is nothing wrong with investigating other decision-making models for parks and water, but city officials have either forgotten how the legislative system works or they believe they don’t have to follow the same rules expected of NORD.And finally, when will the city realize that NORD is not some foreign entity? Vernon is the district’s largest member when population and tax base are considered, and it has three members each at GVAC and the regional board, including Mayor Wayne Lippert who is Greater Vernon chairman. How can it be a them and us struggle, when you’re imbedded deep within the ranks?