EDITORIAL: Request must be taken seriously
Coldstream wants an expanded role in regional affairs and let’s hope other jurisdictions remain open minded about it. The Regional District of North Okanagan will ask
member communities to consider providing Coldstream with a second
representative at the board table. On the surface, the concept makes sense. Specifically, Coldstream has a population of
10,314 and yet it only has one director. That is no different than
Spallumcheen — which is less than half the size at 5,055 — and even
smaller Armstrong, Enderby and Lumby. The five rural electoral areas —
Cherryville has 939 people — also have one director each. This isn’t about taking anything away from the
other jurisdictions because the social, historical and geographical
interests of a community often trumps purely demographic factors. But Coldstream has experienced significant growth
in recent years and its financial contributions to RDNO services are
significant. There is no question that based on the current formula for
determining votes, Coldstream is woefully underrepresented. The only stumbling block to Coldstream’s plan
could be Vernon, which is shifting from three to four directors under
current policies and census figures. It may see another seat for
Coldstream — or any other jurisdiction for that matter — as a threat to
its role at RDNO. However, another seat could just strengthen the voice of Greater Vernon as a whole. But that aside, the bottom line is that
governance hasn’t caught up with the realities of population and such an
inequity should be a concern for any jurisdiction that hopes to grow in
future years. It is time for the Regional District of North Okanagan to make some room at the table.
------
- Don Quixote NOTE: The table below indicates the Current Status of Directors at Table (13) the change that probably will go through in December of 2012 due to census (14 Directors) and the proposal to change the voting strength units from 2500 pop. to 2000 pop. (15 Directors) .
- The Voting Strength which is used on all weighted votes would increase from the present 36 to 39 in Dec. 2012 to 47 under the '2000 pop.' proposal.
- It is interesting to note the %age of actual voting strength changes. (from Dec. 2012 legislated change to the 2000 pop. proposal )
- Aprox. Cost of a new director for Remuneration is roughly $8000-10,000.
No comments:
Post a Comment