Council is lost on its cultural quest

Editorial Vernon Courier Nov 2 – Managing editor Scott Neufeld

City councillors should quit while they’re behind. With the art gallery suddenly pulling out of the project, the city’s civic complex will feature less culture and more office space for civic staffers. This has to rank as one of the biggest bungles in recent city history. Last summer council received the final report from the cultural complex committee on the feasibility of housing the library, museum and art gallery under one roof. At the time, councillors balked at the project because of its high price tag. According to the committee the building would have cost $24 million, not including the $14 million paid to acquire and prepare the land. Fast forward to a little more than a year later and council is supporting a $31 million complex that will accommodate neither the art gallery or the museum. Weren’t they supposed to be trying to save money? Why did the city suddenly decide to pay more to get less?

Council appears to be rushing to make a decision because of pressure from the regional library board. The promise of $9 million from the region has council hustling to approve a project that’s bad for the city. While the library does need to expand, it doesn’t need anywhere near 30,000 square feet. The library needs more room for magazines, computers and they could also use a drive-thru drop off, according to library staff. However, once politicians are involved, those needs are magnified into a multi-million dollar glitzy complex. The library board wants a bigger building because Vernon residents are over-taxed in relation to the actual library services they receive. They don’t want a two-storey building so the city is therefore forced to build an entirely new structure, rather than add to the existing one. But taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to pay millions just because the library board doesn’t want to staff multiple floors of a building. Perhaps some of that $9 million should be invested in staffing a second story above the current library.

Vernon is at an important point in its history when it comes to investing in culture. The museum struggles because of a lack of space, the art gallery languishes without a permanent home and the library needs a more elbow room. The steps council takes over the next few months and beyond the January referendum will help determine how people experience culture in this city for decades. The way people use the library is changing. Any library construction needs to be innovative and take recent trends into account. Otherwise the library will become little more than an empty warehouse for dusty old tomes. Instead council has crafted a multi-million dollar boondoggle – a monolithic project that will massage political egos but won’t benefit citizens. With such a deeply flawed process, a lack of vision and so many citizens upset by the plan, the city shouldn’t waste time and money with a referendum. It’s time to go back to square one.

NORD committee is a slap in the face

– Managing editor Scott Neufeld VERNON COURIER

Just when it seemed local politics couldn’t get any nuttier, the North Okanagan Regional District took things to a new low on Wednesday. The regional board selected a three-person committee to analyze the local government structure and didn’t pick a single Vernon resident. This issue could have a significant impact on the future of the Okanagan but the North Okanagan’s largest city won’t be represented by any of its taxpaying residents.

So who made the final three? Electoral Area C director Stan Field will represent the rural communities, Armstrong mayor and regional district chair Jerry Oglow will represent the mid-sized communities and Mayor Wayne Lippert was picked to represent Vernon. Both Field and Oglow are well-versed in the history of local government and should be valuable members of the committee. Lippert has been in office for less than two years and does not have anywhere near the depth of knowledge of the other two committee-members. Not to mention Lippert doesn’t live in the City of Vernon. Lippert resides in Electoral Area C, in fact, Field lives closer to Vernon than Lippert does.

This issue is too important to leave in the hands of someone who doesn’t pay taxes in Vernon. The city needs someone on the committee who will more directly represent the needs of Vernon residents. The city should also be represented by someone with more experience, someone who is intimately familiar with the region’s long history of government struggles. Clearly, long-time councillors, Patrick Nicol and Barry Beardsell, both East Hill residents, are both more suitable candidates. Even council veteran Pat Cochrane, a Coldstream resident but a
downtown Vernon business owner, would be a better fit. What made NORD’s decision to pick Lippert even worse is that Coun. Juliette Cunningham moved to have the decision left to Vernon city council. She said the city should be allowed to decide who will represent them. This suggestion was ignored and should raise alarm bells for Vernon residents.

If NORD ignores Vernon’s suggestions on picking committee members, how many more Vernon suggestions will they ignore during the government review process. According to Oglow, the committee could decide whether to leave things as they are or even recommend the formation of a single Okanagan district. Should a decision of this magnitude be left up to a committee of two Area C residents and an Armstrong resident? By already ignoring Vernon in this process, NORD has turned the government review into a farce.

City council finally takes a stand

– Managing editor Scott Neufeld Vernon Courier

Kudos to Vernon city council for finally getting it right. In a 4-2 vote on Monday (not 3-2 as was reported yesterday) city councillors decided to delay a decision on the Whitepoint resort project until after the Official Community Plan was complete. Local politicians finally stood by their new policy to defer all projects that propose a major departure from the OCP to be put off until after the plan is done. At previous meetings, they had puzzled the developers and the public by seemingly allowing some developments. It’s still puzzling that the vote was as close as it was given that the new policy received the near unanimous endorsment of council. With the looming project delayed, the city can continue with developing a longer term plan to determine exactly what they would like to see happen with that neighbourhood. The city has so far gone to great lengths to solicit public input for the plan. Eastside residents need to fully participate if their vision for the future of the neighbourhood is to be realized.

A resort/residential project may be the best use of the land and may be what area residents want, but the community plan should reflect that vision. Now that the precedent has been set council needs to stick to the policy. Completion of the OCP is still several months away and there will likely be more contentious developments on the way. City councillors should remember why it was they approved the policy in the first place before they vote on future projects.

The Vernon RCMP appear to be entering shaky legal ground with their latest idea to choke out the city’s drug trade. Insp. Steve McVarnock suggested on Monday he would like to see a database of people involved with drug houses made available to property owners. There’s something unjust and possibly unconstitutional about essentially giving landlords access to someone’s criminal record. Having a criminal past should not be a characteristic on which someone can be refused shelter, otherwise no reformed criminals could ever be re-integrated into society. That being said, landlords and property owners should be held more accountable for ensuring drug activity isn’t taking place on their properties. The drug house remediation bylaw seems to be a good first step, however, some buyers are complaining that the houses aren’t being properly rehabilitated. This process needs to be cleaned up so that future homebuyers aren’t stuck with substandard housing. If the bylaw is fully enforced, it should be adequate to keep the rise of drug houses in the city under control.

Council turns up heat on district

Managing editor Scott Neufeld EDITORIAL aug 29 http://www.dailycourier.ca/

Away from the bright lights of the TV cameras at the afternoon meeting,city council was busy opening a can of worms at the morning meeting.Council voted unanimously, with Coun. Patrick Nicol absent, to oppose the pay increase for regional district directors and voted to suggest that municipalities pay their own representatives directly.

News of the decision surprised North Okanagan Regional District chairman Jerry Oglow. He said the district is already reviewing its government structure and the city’s vote appears to open up a much larger issue. If municipalities paid their representatives directly, where would it stop? Would each jurisdiction pay for all services directly, bringing about the end of regional taxation? Under such a scheme municipalities could pick and choose what regional services they want, as if they were picking through a buffet table.Paying directors straight from the municipalities could set up a dangerous precedent and open up the regional system to even more squabbling.

However, Vernon city council appears adamant in its opposition of NORD’s 300 per cent pay increase, which is retroactive to the beginning of 2007.The increase will cost taxpayers more than $250,000 and several city councillors have said it’s too large an increase to swallow all at once. With such strong opposition on Vernon council, there were few options but to continue to make waves on the issue even though it appears to be too late. But as Oglow says, this is about more than just politicians’ remuneration. By continuing to push this issue and the review of services, Vernon seems to be making an attempt to direct the course of its involvement in the regional district. Council is looking to the district to show them costs and benefits of participating at the regional level.

The answers to the city’s questions won’t be coming anytime soon. The consensus at the regional district is that the review may take years, not months. In the meantime Vernon will likely continue to pressure the district. All of this is set to the background of a push from the Central Okanagan to unify the Okanagan regional districts. As this debate grows, it appears Vernon council’s decision is just one more component of the discussion.What is unclear is whether for all of the reviews and debates, taxpayers will be any better off.

Mayor playing it close to the vest

Managing editor Scott Neufeld EDITORIAL Aug 23 http://www.dailycourier.ca/

This week the mayor began waving the white flag of surrender on the issue of the library/civic complex. But is he being sincere? Wayne Lippert has been firm in standing behind the unpopular alternative approval process. Now that the process has defeated the city’s $20 million borrowing plan, Lippert appears to be giving up. Earlier this week he told the Vernon Daily Courier “my thoughts are this is a clear message, we should not bother with the complex and let the library build.” However, the “message” is far from clear and the Lippert’s statements may be part of a deft political strategy. By appearing to give up on the idea Lippert may have done more to galvanize support than the city’s ill-fated advertising campaign did during the alternative approval process.

The plan wasn’t defeated because taxpayers are opposed to a library/civic complex, it was defeated in part because residents wanted a referendum. Others signed the petition because they opposed the size of the loan in a city already burdened with debt. Few voted against it because they opposed the construction of a library, art gallery and extra office space. With Lippert seemingly waving the white flag, library proponents will rally support and try and convince council to put the idea to a referendum. It’s a good move to draw supporters from the sidelines. To this point the naysayers have been able to voice their opinion but proponents have had no opportunity to make their voices heard. A referendum is the only way to make sure everyone can get involved.

Already some councillors appear to be leaning toward a full referendum on the issue. Going to the polls is the best way to resolve the impasse. Vernon could use a new library and when a group offers $9 million to build it, the city cannot turn its back on that kind of money. While many taxpayers are loan-weary, others may be willing to cough up the, on average, $38 per year needed to fund the project. The Vernon and District Taxpayers Association were able to collect an unconfirmed 6,000 signatures for the petition, but there’s no guarantee every one of them would vote against the library. By playing close-to-the-vest, Lippert may be able to get a sense of how much support there is for the library in the community. In the end, however, the best way to gauge that support is through a referendum.

Class is in session for city council

–Managing editor Scott Neufeld EDITORIAL http://www.dailycourier.ca/ 08/16

With the presentation of 6,000 signatures at city hall on Wednesday, it appears the city’s bid to borrow $20 million for the library/civic complex has stalled. Even if half the names on the list are disqualified there would be more than enough signatures to reach the 2,777 needed to defeat the approval process. The whole situation reveals just how badly city council misread public sentiment. In fact it’s alarming how out of touch they seemed to be with the electorate. While many support the library, a vocal group of residents remain uninterested in shelling out millions of dollars for yet another civic project.

It’s not as if there was no warning. The Ministry of Community Services website warns municipalities about the alternative approval process by saying “if an issue is controversial or requires a significant contribution of taxpayers’ dollars, the number of elector response forms submitted to the local government will likely exceed the 10 per cent threshold.” The ministry’s website recommends going directly to a referendum because it would be “timelier.”

Having a referendum would have made far more sense because then voters who approved of the borrowing plan would have had their voice. This paper received letters from people who supported the plan and from those who were against it. It’s unclear which view represented the view of the majority of voters. Council chose to silence their supporters and opened themselves up to defeat by their detractors. It hardly seems democratic giving just one side the opportunity to voice their opinion. Now council is left with a major decision. They cannot proceed with the current borrowing plan without a referendum. The city will now have to significantly reduce the cost of the project or find other ways of coming up with the money. They may even sell off some property.

Whatever they come up with it’s hard to believe that going through the alternative approval process was any faster than a referendum would have been. The explanation given for not having a referendum was to get everything settled in time to receive grant money. But with the project seemingly in limbo, it seems city council has gambled and lost. When council comes forward with their next step they need to make sure that it is a plan that is palatable to taxpayers. Not only that but they need to at least get some public input this time. This entire process seemed rife with arrogance. Council (other than Barry Beardsell who opposed the manoeuvre) chose to press ahead without getting full public approval. Hopefully, they’ve learned a lesson.

Pay raise proposal still unacceptable (Vernon Council got it Right !)

– Managing editor Scott Neufeld http://www.dailycourier.ca/
In February, North Okanagan Regional District politicians proposed to give themselves a 300 per cent pay increase. A month later the proposal was mothballed pending a provincial comparison of pay rates. This week NORD directors will vote on another proposal – one that proposes a 300 per cent increase. Municipal members of the regional board, those representing Armstrong, Coldstream, Enderby, Lumby, Spallumcheen and Vernon, currently rake in a base pay rate of $1,495 per year just for being board members. If approved, the proposal would triple their pay to $6,000.

When the Vernon Daily Courier brought the proposal to light in February, NORD attempted to justify the raise by slashing the payments made to members of the Greater Vernon Services Committee, the body that looks after water, parks and culture in the area. GVS politicians refused to allow their wages to change, as is their right. As a result taxpayers can expect to see a larger share of their tax dollar go directly into the pockets of their elected representatives. In fact, with all of the shuffling and new committees and per meeting pay, taxpayers will pay at least an additional $233,933 over the next year to compensate local politicians, according to financial documents provided by NORD this spring.

Admittedly, the raise will put the directors on an equal footing with their counterparts in neighbouring regional districts. And there’s little doubt the politicians deserve a raise given the increase in responsibility they’re asked to shoulder. However, their decision to vote themselves a raise is unethical. In few jobs are workers allowed to pick their own pay grade without any input from their employer. This should be no different when it comes to politicians. If NORD wants to legitimately usher in a raise, the only ethical way would be to have the increase take effect after the next civic election. By doing this, it would make sure politicians weren’t voting for their own pay hike.

It also makes little sense to raise pay rates so dramatically all at once. NORD postings are voluntary, not elected by the public, and if municipal politicians don’t think they’re fairly compensated, they can turn down the position. Each one knew what they were getting into when they joined the board and for them to turn around and push hard for a raise is inappropriate. NORD should follow the lead of the City of Vernon and put off any talk of a raise until just prior to the next election. The raise would then not take effect until after the election. This is the only way to ensure the best interests of taxpayers are protected.

Loan weary taxpayers may win

– Managing editor Scott Neufeld http://www.dailycourier.ca/

The group dedicated to defeating a plan to borrow $20 million to build the library/civic complex is confident victory is within their reach. Tony Stamboulieh of the Vernon and District Taxpayers Association won’t reveal exactly how many signatures the group has collected, but he’s adamant there are autographs enough to block city council’s loan plan. With the deadline to collect 2,777 signatures still two weeks away, it’s too early to declare the result. But the city may want to stop running promotional ads and start thinking about what to do if their alternate approval gambit fails.

Options include short-term borrowing of small amounts of money and selling off some surplus city land. Another option is to scale back the project, which now totals $29 million. As it stands now, Vernon could change its moniker to the City of Loans. Local taxpayers are already paying off two cultural buildings in the $14 million Multiplex and $9 million Performing Arts Centre, both of which are regional district loans. Add to that is the $7.5 million in loans approved for parkland and the $35 million authorized to fund the Master Water Plan, both of which come through Greater Vernon Services. Add that with up to $29 million in city sewer debt and local government has accrued nearly $100 million in loans. A loan for the new library/civic complex would push borrowing totals into nine figures.

Tax-weary landowners deserve a break from all the loan repayment. Instead the city is proposing to add more dollars to the burden. It’s difficult to dispute the need for a new library and the art gallery could certainly use a home. However, the civic project appears to be as much an expansion of city hall and the RCMP detachment, as it does a cultural centre. City council is hopeful to use the remaining space for the police and city staff. But does Vernon really need more office space? Perhaps, but the add-ons appear to be little more than hastily conceived improvements tacked on to the library with little justification.

City council might have had more success through a referendum process where they were able to take the time to educate residents on the expensive project. Instead council tried to force the issue through an alternate approval process where only a handful of voters will make their
opinion known through a petition. Voters who favour the borrowing scheme will have no say at all. The city’s loan bid may ultimately survive the alternate approval process, but council needs to be prepared if it doesn’t. Should it fail, council will only have themselves to blame.

Housing protest off base

Jul 11 2007 EDITORIAL http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/

One has to wonder why Coun. Pat Cochrane was protesting an affordable housing complex being constructed next to the water reclamation facility. Cochrane is the same individual who led the charge for a new sewer plant and assured residents of South Vernon that the longstanding odour issues would be greatly minimized. And yet he is now saying that having people right next door will become a “standing joke,” and that it will become a “planning folly.” It may not be the best location for a housing complex, but with current real estate prices going through the roof, it makes sense to use city-owned land as a way of dealing with the affordable housing crunch. The former sewer plant site is a large chunk of land just sitting vacant and it’s within close proximity of schools, grocery stores, transit and parks.

With proper planning, including a buffer area, it is possible the new units can co-exist next to the facility without any difficulties. In fact, why should they be any different than the countless other South Vernon residents who have lived in the neighbourhood for years? And that appears to be the bottom line. If people shouldn’t live next to the treatment plant, it should have never been rebuilt there. Vernon can’t keep ignoring the issue of affordable housing as it has a significant impact on families and the economy. That’s why it is imperative that the city tap into its own resources and make surplus land available to non-profit agencies through a long-term lease. And as for Cochrane, he must ensure that his concerns are consistent with his past actions.

Council prepares election-ready budget

– Managing editor Scott Neufeld EDITORIAL Jul10 http://www.dailycourier.ca/

Included in this week’s city council agenda package was a strangely worded memo that gives some insight into how the City of Vernon operates. In the memo, the city’s finance manager Kevin Bertles asks councillors if there any new priorities they would like in the budget for 2008 – given that it’s an election year. Now one would hope that budgets are based on more than just scoring political points in the upcoming election, but in case they’re not, we decided to look at what council promised the last time they ran. This might help remind them which “capital projects that staff should include in their budget preparations” and what “maximum tax increase (council) considers acceptable for this election year.”

On the pamphlets from the 2005 election the buzz phrase seemed to be “controlled growth.” Virtually every member of the current council promised to control growth and keep development from having a negative impact on neighbourhoods. Speaking of neighbourhoods, council promised to spend more on improving infrastructure for existing neighbourhoods, not just on new development. Most of council also promised to bring more affordable housing to Vernon’s downtown and work with the RCMP to reduce crime on city streets.

Mayor Wayne Lippert and Coun. Barry Beardsell promised more open meetings and public debate. Lippert went so far as to promise to move meetings to the evening and minimize in camera sessions. So given these promises, what projects should council undertake before the next election? Council should set up a signature park at Swan Lake as Coun. Patrick Nicol proposed in his platform. There are still several million dollars for new parkland burning a hole in local government wallets. The city needs to do more to find land for light industrial growth as Lippert promised. The most obvious solution would be to carve up the airport and shift the runway north of town.

Coun. Juliette Cunningham made reducing the reliance on cars a priority but the city has made no firm steps in that direction. This despite the money set aside in a transit reserve. Also sitting in a reserve account, a non-interest bearing reserve account, is more than a half million dollars for affordable housing. Council needs to use this money, because the longer they wait, the less value they can purchase with it. Council should also change course and pour more money into improving services in the city’s more established neighbourhoods and not just into sewers and roads linking up to outlying resort developments.

These are just a few of the promises councillors made to get elected. With 16 months to go before the next election, they have a lot of work to do to keep their many pledges.

Tips for next urban campground

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

An emergency homeless shelter seemed to be within reach but a potential lease agreement has crumbled. In the meantime other possible sites have been exhausted and shelter organizers must once again start from scratch. The homeless have moved back to the parking lot of the Upper Room Mission and everything has returned to the way it was a few weeks ago. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until several homeless people set up camp outside the potential location along 32nd Street. The rise in drug dealing on the property and the large number of people sleeping overnight appears to have convinced the owner to back out.

So why did the homeless move to the parking lot outside the Sigalet Centre? Apparently they were told to go there since the lease appeared to be a guarantee anyway. The person in question has denied making the remarks, so The Vernon Daily Courier has decided not to reveal the rumoured name. However, the next time someone decides to tell the homeless where to camp, maybe they should pick a better spot. A place with softer ground would be good, somewhere quieter and a little further from the town centre, perhaps even somewhere with its own bathrooms. The ideal outdoor campsite would be the Vernon Army Camp and DND lands. There’s plenty of space, it has a central location and there are enough unused buildings that people could take shelter inside on rainy and cold days. It even has camp in its name.

Not only that but as was explained relating to the Sigalet Centre, it’s up to the owner to remove people from the property. If people set up their tents on the DND grounds it would be up to the federal government to remove them. Hopefully, it would wake the government to the issue of a shelter shortage in Vernon. More shelters will not solve the homeless problem. However, if you’re female and homeless in Vernon there are no shelters available to you. There’s no choice but to sleep outside. Although the winter months may seem far away, it takes a long time to set up a shelter, even a temporary one. All levels of government and the community need to work together now to find a solution. Perhaps tenting at the army camp will draw some much needed federal attention to the situation.

Stop saving for a rainy day - it's here

http://www.dailycourier.ca/ June 6 EDITORIAL managing editor Scott Neufeld

For the past two days, the Vernon Daily Courier has been trying to contact the mayor to get a comment from him on the “tent city” that has gone up downtown. And for two days we’ve received no reply. We’re starting to get the same feeling as the homeless who have similarly been ignored by the mayor and the city. Homelessness is a complex problem with no quick fixes, but since the Salvation Army shelter closed this year, there’s been a lot of talk from the city and no action. Many councillors have said housing the homeless is a provincial responsibility and the city should not be involved. Others have said the city doesn’t have the money to help.

How can councillors, as Jack Gilroy did on television last night, look people in the eye and say the city doesn’t have the money to spare? The city had a more than $1.5 million surplus this year – extra cash they didn’t expect to have. Setting up a more permanent shelter won’t take a lot of the city’s money and no one’s asking for the city to do it alone. But the lack of any kind of commitment from the city is unacceptable. Through tight-fisted accounting policies, the city is rolling in more cash than they know what to do with. As a result, they funnel the money into reserves where they sit for an undetermined length of time. In recent years, the city has saved $550,000 for affordable housing, $200,000 for transit, etc. All of that money is still sitting there, untouched. Now we’re all for saving for a rainy day, but it’s pouring outside and the city’s homeless are camped out along the main southern approach to the downtown core. Add to that the fact that drug dealers and prostitutes have used the tent city as an opportunity to set up shop out in the open and we have a situation that is escalating into violence.

The city has the money to help the homeless, but many on council have shown a complete disregard and lack of understanding for the issue. Perhaps the city is doing work behind the scenes we’re not aware of or perhaps they’re causing more harm. Publicly however, Mayor Wayne Lippert showed his ignorance of the issue when he challenged the Vernon Daily Courier on what the paper is doing about the homeless. Gilroy showed his lack of understanding when he said the city doesn’t have the financial means. Maybe these two councillors could use a lesson in what it’s like to be homeless. Council is encouraged to go on ride-alongs with the police, ambulance and fire departments, maybe it’s time for them to do a walk-along with the city’s destitute. Then they can look their poorest constituents in the eye and tell them there’s no money to help them.

Arena management in limbo

By RICHARD ROLKEMorning Star Staff Jun 03 2007 http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/

Greater Vernon officials are being secretive when it comes to arena operations in the new year. Recreation Excellence was notified in January that it won’t operate the three ice facilities after Dec. 31, but the Greater Vernon Services Committee is not saying how the Multiplex, Civic and Priest Valley arenas will be managed. “It’s in the works,” said chairman Gary Corner. Among the options are contracting out operations to another firm or GVSC taking over management on its own. Corner admits that a conclusion has been reached by the board but he won’t get into specifics because they are confidential at this time. “I can’t tell you that right now,” he said.

Corner also revealed that GVSC is in contract negotiations right now, but he wouldn’t say if the talks are with a new operator or with Recreation Excellence to temporarily extend its contract. It’s possible that the issue could come up at the next GVSC board meeting June 21. Tom Watson, Recreation Excellence co-owner, believes it would make sense for GVSC to extend the contract until the end of ice season next spring so there is a smooth transition towards what ever model GVSC pursues. “I am supposed to have a meeting with the powers-that-be in the next couple of weeks about what’s going on,” he said. In January, GVSC stated that the contract with Recreation Excellence wasn’t being terminated because of performance but because operational options needed to be considered. Recreation Excellence has operated Greater Vernon’s ice facilities since 2001.

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GVSC twiddles its thumbs June 3 EDITORIAL

With temperatures sizzling already, it’s hard to think about winter. But the reality is that planning for the next season of ice sports isn’t that far off. But instead of knowing who will be operating Greater Vernon’s three arenas, the public has been left completely in the dark.
Recreation Excellence was handed its walking papers in January, and yet all Greater Vernon Services Committee chairman Gary Corner can say about a new management model is, “It’s in the works.” One has to wonder what exactly GVSC staff and directors have been doing for all of these months. Why is it that we are now in June, and the only response we get is, “It’s in the works.”

With the arenas such an integral part of this community — whether it is for sports or special events — the public should have known some time ago what direction operations were headed. In fact, with management of the arenas generating so much public debate since 2001, one would think GVSC would want to create some dialogue with and determine how residents would like the facilities run. Corner has suggested that the issue could be before the GVSC board June 21, and that wouldn't be soon enough. Ultimately, taxpayers rely on elected officials to represent our best interest and do their due diligence. That may take some time as service options and legal matters are considered, but the length of time with this is ridiculous. Greater Vernon residents deserve to know how some of their most vital assets are being operated, and they deserve to be part of the process.

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.

MLA pay committee tarnished

–managing editor Scott Neufeld http://www.dailycourier.ca/ May 15/07

So much for the B.C. Liberals’, bright, shiny citizen committee. Last week, Sandra Robinson, one of the members of the three person committee, spoke to a legislature reporter and revealed that she did not agree with the final report that recommended a pension for MLAs and an increase in their salary. She said further that the report was changed without her knowledge. But committee member Sue Paish, fired back saying that Robinson had zero experience working with pensions. What’s becoming clear from this public flare-up is that this committee of citizens wasn’t quite as pristine as the Liberals claimed. At best, the committee is flawed and the report should be tossed out, at worst the group was influenced into recommending an MLA pay increase. But even as the committee’s report is thrown into doubt, Liberal MLAs continue to promote their potential raise.

The party line has been that without a large pay raise, government won’tbe able to attract “good people” to the job. This argument is nonsense. What are they saying about the current crop of MLAs? Are they saying that there aren’t enough good people in the legislature? Two years ago these MLAs seemed to be satisfied with the pay level when they ran in the election. Now, part-way through their term they suddenly need a 29 per cent pay increase. Maybe it’s naive to believe that our provincial politicians run for reasons other than money. Perhaps politicians no longer do the work because they sincerely want to help people. During the NHL strike in 1994-1995, players made the startling statement, at the time, that hockey is a business first and a game second. Now B.C. MLAs seem to be telling taxpayers that politics is a business first,
public service is second.

Okanagan-Westside MLA Rick Thorpe has even gone so far as to complain that MLAs are paid less than city hall administrators. Thorpe is right, administrators are paid more, but we could also compare MLA pay to a few other positions. MLAs make more than teachers, nurses,
regular firefighters and many other valuable vocations. The difference between these careers and an MLA is that it doesn’t take any special education to be an MLA, you need to be able to express yourself well in public and raise money, that’s about it. Having a high school diploma is not necessary to do the job well. So rather than worrying about attracting “good people” to Victoria, the government should worry about filling vacancies in the job positions that are vital to society. Our province will survive if we can’t find good people to serve as MLAs. But we’re already suffering from a shortage of people working in medicine, education, law enforcement and other areas vital to our society. The government’s focus should be more fully devoted to attracting good people to those areas.

Official move the right one

Apr 08 2007 EDITORIAL http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/

Right from the beginning in December, when he was named interim Inspector of the Vernon/North Okanagan RCMP detachment, Steve McVarnock made it clear he wanted the job permanently. On Wednesday, the RCMP rewarded McVarnock for his four months on the job by removing the interim label and officially making him the head of the detachment. The move should be applauded by the community. In four months, McVarnock has made it his mandate to clean up Vernon’s downtown core to make it safe for everyone, and to get prolific offenders – five per cent of criminals who commit 80 per cent of the crimes in the area – off the street and behind bars.

So far, McVarnock’s mission is showing signs of success. Two undercover stings near Cenotaph Park and the Upper Room Mission resulted in 18 arrests and a myriad of charges against said prolific offenders. A “red zone” was created at Cenotaph Park, meaning anyone previously arrested there that is caught in the zone will be arrested again. McVarnock’s reference to drug trafficking at the mission as an “epidemic,” and comparing the area to Vancouver’s downtown Eastside, resulted in the mission’s board taking immediate action to clean up its operations. Besides prolific offenders and the downtown core, shutting down crack houses and making beaches and lakes safe are high on McVarnock’s priority list for 2007. He’s also going to make a large push to have late auxiliary officer Glen Evely’s name added to the national RCMP memorial. At only 45, McVarnock still has plenty of years left in his career. We hope the majority of those years will be in Vernon.

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.

Funding not what it seems

Managing Editor David Wylie EDITORIAL Sept 7
http://www.dailycourier.ca/
Last week we challenged Okanagan-Vernon Liberal MLA Tom Christensen to deliver at least $40 million in funding for Vernon’s much-needed water infrastructure.Local outrage over the provincial government’s “gift” of $40 million for Penticton’s mammoth events centre – which would house two ice rinks, the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame and an indoor walking track – sparked our call for equity.If the government could pay that sum for an events centre, surely it could ensure our community isn’t saddled with hefty tax increases to make critical upgrades for safe drinking water? Couldn’t it? Since that challenge, more details have been flushed out about the source of Penticton’s funding, and we’ve heard back from Christensen.A clever local blogger (vernonblog.blogspot.com) has done the digging and the math, piecing a picture of funding sources together from news stories, council budget figures and B.C. LottoCorp numbers. According to him, it seems Penticton’s city council agreed to take only 10per cent of its local casino cut – rather than the more than 16 per centthey were netting. That freed up about $1 million a year for 13 years to fund part of the project.The rest of the tab is actually being picked up by Lake City Casino, as it’s giving up for 13 years the estimated $2.4 million set aside from its profits annually to pay for capital improvements. So in actuality, Penticton residents are paying $12 million and Lake City Casino is paying $32 million into the pot. No wonder Christensen argued the money came from a different funding stream. It appears not a penny of it actually came from the provincial government – even though two of its other Okanagan MLAs acted as if it did.When we talked to Christensen this week he reiterated that the cash for Penticton’s project came from a different revenue stream (gaming revenue) than funding for infrastructure. He said the provincial government is in the midst of negotiating with the feds for the next big round of infrastructure dollars. In the meantime, Christensen said every time there’s a boil water advisory in the North Okanagan, he drops the release on his colleagues’ desks in hopes they’ll get the message, and said he’s been arguing the provincial government should reward local governments – such as Vernon – which spend time and money coming up with a solid plan.“I’m not sure what else I can do to help it along other than keep it at the top of their mind,” he said.And Christensen can be sure the community will continue to keep funding for the water plan and Vernon Jubilee Hospital at the top of his mind.–

A Challenge to Tom Christensen

EDITORIAL Managing Editor David Wylie http://www.dailycourier.ca/ Aug 29
What does Vernon have to do to get money from the provincial government for its required $100 million water system? And where is Tom Christensen on this issue? While Okanagan MLAs Bill Barisoff and Rick Thorpe triumphantly trumpeted $40 million in long-term funding for an events centre in Penticton – which already houses a major convention centre – some of us in Vernon were left wondering how the provincial government can justify that commitment when B.C. Liberals have been ignoring Vernon’s pleas for cash to offset the cost of a major water infrastructure upgrade. The funding is an insult to North Okanagan residents, who will likely have to stomach a tax increase to pay for the critical fix that would separate residential and agricultural water, as well as install UV treatment equipment and a membrane to filter out smaller particles just to meet higher standards imposed by the Interior Health Authority – read: the provincial government. It’s time for the Liberals to get their heads out of the sand and their priorities in order. As one city councillor so eloquently stated, it seems that Vernon is like the pauper of the area begging cap in hand for a little change, please, sir. Meanwhile, our local MLA, dubbed as “a rising star” by the Canadian Press, is bogged down in the controversial Ministry of Children and Family Development – a ministry that has spelled political death for MLAs before him.
Christensen is no stranger to the city’s water woes. He met with city council in June to hear their needs. After the meeting, Christensen told The Vernon Daily Courier he applauded the city for “thinking ahead” and not waiting for a major crisis before improving area water quality, and he added he’s confident that technical staff in Victoria “recognize how solid the plan is that Vernon had put forward.” Christensen also said he’d go back to Victoria swinging, advocating for funding for the water plan. “It’s important that there are infrastructure dollars to support that,” he said. “I’m intending to push the need.” So either Christensen has been too bogged down in his cabinet positions to advocate on behalf of his constituents or he’s been ineffective in pushing Vernon’s needs. No matter what the difficulties, we challenge Christensen to be standing in Vernon in the next month trumpeting at least $40 million in funding for our water system. If the province can cough up that kind of cash for a massive convention centre in Penticton, surely it can spend the same amount ensuring citizens in the North Okanagan have safe drinking water.