By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: July 10, 2013 1:00 AM
Greater Vernon politicians are making
major changes to parks and recreation, they say, on behalf of residents.
But where have residents been in the process? An advertisement in Sunday’s Morning Star outlined
36 parks the Regional District of North Okanagan will hand over to the
City of Vernon. Residents are provided with the opportunity to ask
questions if they want, but the ad goes on to say, “the title transfers
are proposed to take effect Jan. 1, 2014.” Not once is the public asked
if they actually support this move. Similarly, the city is not seeking
constituent authorization to turn over ownership of Kal Beach to the
regional district. Now, a parallel process has also been occurring over
Greater Vernon’s recreation facilities, including Kal Tire Place, the
recreation complex, Priest Valley Arena and Civic Arena. That may not seem like a big deal as the city already
has title to all of the structures except for Kal Tire Place. But keep
in mind, that over the decades, Coldstream and electoral area taxpayers
have invested millions of dollars in upgrades to these facilities and
some of the rec complex’s parking lots were actually purchased by RDNO.
Based on that, the case can be made that city ownership of facilities is
tenuous at best. Kal Tire Place’s deed will be handed over to the city,
making it an asset for Vernon, but Coldstream and the electoral areas
will still be responsible for their portion of the 10 years left in debt
borrowed to construct the facility. A similar situation will also occur when Civic Arena is
abandoned and a new ice sheet is constructed. All Greater Vernon
residents would vote in a referendum to borrow funds and carry debt, but
the facility would be owned by the city. The interesting aspect to all of this is that
Coldstream and the electoral areas would simply cut a cheque annually to
ensure their residents have access to the facilities. Those
jurisdictions would not be involved in decision-making and the only
oversight would come from reviewing the city’s financial statements. Some officials argue pressure can be applied on the
city every five years when the contract can be renewed. Obviously, if
the city wants to maintain the agreement, it may be willing to
negotiate. But on the flip side, Coldstream and the electoral areas may
have to accept what Vernon offers because they can’t afford to build
their own arenas and pools. While Coldstream and the electoral area residents will
continue to pay 32 per cent of the overall operating cost of recreation
facilities, will city officials treat their concerns the same as those
coming from Vernon constituents? There is a difference between partners
and customers. Now it should be pointed out that the concept of
streamlining decision-making and operations is valid. The current system
of RDNO being in charge but the city doing the day-to-day work under
contract has been cumbersome. Instead of turning everything over to the city, why not
let the regional district own and manage the facilities? After all, all
of the jurisdictions are part of the regional collective and they would
have a voice at the table. Ultimately, the proposed arrangement may make sense and
the interests of all residents, no matter where they live, could be
served by the city calling the shots. But it should be remembered that these facilities are
public assets and taxpayers have invested millions of dollars in them.
They also rely on these facilities for key services. How do the officials of Vernon, Coldstream and the
electoral areas know that their constituents favour this major shift?
They may have the authority to act alone, but is that right?
Transparency and accountability are fundamental to our democratic system
as is the notion of voter assent. It is time to slow the process down and let the people have their say.
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