Municipal politicians not paying attention
In a small municipality like Penticton it is truly amazing that the city has not become the best-governed city in North America with the strongest regional economy and highest quality of life.
Penticton has everything (clean water, safe food, natural resources, festivals, a great environment, etc.) so what is going wrong?
It doesn’t take long watching the local politics to see the people that are supposed to be served by the municipality and those that serve them differ on how the vision for the community is to be achieved.
John Vassilaki’s decision to stay home highlights the ill-conceived decision of the remainder of council to send themselves and Annette Antoniak to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities conference.
Lobbying for expansion of Penticton’s hospital is very important but that effort does not need the CAO, in particular, or all of city council at the UBCM conference.
Instead of working on shaping Penticton’s future through interactions with Penticton’s citizens, consumers, workers, and investors, the civic government has again abandoned its governing role by choosing a course of action that is inconsistent with the views of its citizens.
Penticton’s future should not be primarily shaped by the whims of politicians and the dictates of senior staff.
Cities should develop based on exchanges of dialogue between government and residents to determine what residents want rather than something that a few self-appointed experts plan.
After attending the UBCM convention, those attendees that chose to unnecessarily spend our money no doubt feel fully invigorated with all the ideas they got that will have little to do with the issues Penticton faces and the priorities of its citizens.
Rather than simply doing what they want to do, Penticton’s council and the CAO should work on closing the gap between what the residents of the city want and what is currently in place and put measures in place to hold themselves accountable. It’s pretty simple to do and amazing that it’s not happening.
Wayne Llewellyn
Penticton
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Penticton should be year- round destination
I read an article and heard the radio reports Tuesday, Sept. 24 with regards to a new resort on the B.C. Place lands in Vancouver.
The $535 million development proposal will add hundreds if not thousands of jobs for the coast.
When is Penticton ever going to get its head out of the Okanagan Lake sand and become a real year- round resort city?
Sadly, the sands blow with the constant wind of this town and the attitude we want to just be a retirement community.
Give your head a shake, we easily could handle 20,000 new people in our community as we have a four-year supply of housing already available.
Stop holding back progress and get on with it.
Gerry Sagert
Penticton
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Hope Air says thanks
Thank you for supporting the Hope Air raffle!
The lucky winner of the Hope Air / Downtown Penticton Association raffle for a pair of WestJet tickets is Dawn Maeser from Penticton.
Congratulations Dawn.
On behalf of Hope Air and our clients I want to thank everyone who bought a raffle ticket for helping us raise funds for more flights for Penticton residents who need to access medical care far from home. If you haven’t had a chance to participate in the raffle but would like to support Hope Air and our mission of Getting Canadians to Getting Better, you can make a donation online at: www.hopeair.ca.
Thank you again from all of us at Hope Air.
Anna du Bois
Hope Air Donor Relations Officer
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Riders grateful for generosity
The Okanagan Motorcycle Riders Association (OMRA), along with the Lions Club of Penticton and the Society of St. Vincent De Paul, would like to thank the generous sponsors who helped make the 2013 26th Annual South Okanagan Toy Run such a success.
Further donations are always welcome at the Society of St. Vincent De Paul located at St. Ann’s Hall, 1296 Main St., Penticton.
Our sponsors are too many to list but we appreciate your generosity in helping the children of the South Okanagan who otherwise may not have a gift at Christmas.
A special thanks to all the participants who showed and rode.
You helped to make this event the success it was.
Roy Colmer
OMRA, Toy Run Director
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Enough with the insults
Is it just me, or is there an unusually high occurrence of personal insults appearing in The Herald recently?
I am reminded of the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”
While those holding, or running for, public office should expect their ideas to be questioned either individually or collectively, I think it inappropriate to slander or libel private citizens because of their opinions.
While it is OK to disagree, there is no privileged platform in libel.
While I don’t necessarily agree with everyone’s opinions and openly express opinions of my own, I respect everyone’s right to have an opinion, while maintaining my right to disagree without getting personal.
I expect the same courtesy.
I think it is time for the staff to edit derogatory statements about individuals because of a difference of opinion.
These petty arguments detract from an otherwise credible publication and are strictly personal in nature.
They should be allowed under comments to letters, or opinions, but should not be published if there purpose is solely to attack an individual.
Patrick MacDonald
Langley
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Bikers need rules
Bikers think they own the roads, but they don’t.
As a traffic participant and being confronted daily with bikers behaviour on the road I would suggest that:
1) Bikers need to have insurance, otherwise who is paying for accidents they might cause?
2) They need to take a traffic examination just like car drivers.
3) The bikes should have a license plate number for being recognized
4) They should pay an annual fee for all the road preparations which were made for them.
5) The police should watch the bikers as closely as they watch drivers.
Finally, a little more co-operation than showing the middle finger or being rude when approached would be appreciated.
Alice Wolf
Penticton