Since the city has been recently turned down for grant money to carry on with their downtown revitalization project, I have been pondering over the possible reason(s) and it begs the question as to why we were turned down?
I’m sure the governing body in charge of grant funding took one look at our plan, saw all the frivolous things we wanted to do, and based their decision to withhold government grants because of poor decision making by the powers that be at city hall (surprise, surprise).
I am sure they would have been much more receptive to giving us some money if it had all been for infrastructure repair and replacement. Now the taxpayers must foot the bill themselves. Maybe we should have hired expert negotiator Dan Ashton to see if he could have gotten some scratch to fill our almost empty coffers.
Another thing that confuses me is when mayor and council are spewing off at the mouth about how we need to find employment for our young people. Then what do they do? Fifteen vendor tents that were beachside last year will not be there this year. This means 15 young people will not have a summer job this year, or at least will have to look elsewhere. Way to tackle the unemployment problem.
When I go somewhere I want to be entertained. I would have buskers at every street corner downtown and along the beach about every 100 metres. More vendors on the beaches, not less.
Then there is the issue of dirt and gravel all over the streets. Our one sweeper will never be able to keep up. Get another sweeper, or do what they do in some towns (the firefighters will hate me for this). The fire department takes one water pumper truck out and power washes down the streets during the evenings in the springtime. I am not sure how feasible this would be here in Penticton, but it is a good suggestion.
Start using your brains, mayor and council. You were born with one for a reason. You may think it’s rocket science, but it’s not.
Mark Billesberger
Penticton