It’s hard to believe almost seven months has passed since I declared Penticton would enter the Smart Cities Challenge and almost a month since our entry was submitted.
In a few short weeks we will know if we are finalist in the competition and receive a $250,000 grant to work on our projects. It’s also been that long since I’ve written a tech column. The Smart Cities Challenge was an all-encompassing volunteer effort that has changed the future of Penticton for the better.
In the meantime, I think it’s time I let you all in on my hidden agenda. No, it wasn’t to promote my company, win municipal contracts, or work with cool tech. My company is growing quickly and doing just fine without Smart Cities work. No, it wasn’t to launch myself into municipal politics. There are people better suited than me for that. With the excitement around the Challenge Statement, outcomes and projects we’ve proposed, the readiness of our city staff has not been talked about enough. Take a look at Question 8 in our proposal (https://www.smartcitiespenticton.com/application-submission/) that talks about the improvements that have been made at city hall recently and the incredibly talented people that we have been lucky enough to hire to move Penticton forward. This would not have happened without the leadership of the current city council and mayor.
Here it is: ‘My Hidden Agenda’. Simply, I saw this as an opportunity to change the conversation in Penticton from a complaint driven, venomous letter to the editor writing, online mudslinging city to thinking about the future and taking a positive, solution-based approach to our challenges. It wasn’t until I ran in the last municipal election for school trustee and spent many hours with candidates that I really began to notice the paradox that is communication in Penticton. I know that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of positive people that are tirelessly working to make Penticton the best it can be, but for some reason what comes across on social media, letters to the editor, and much of the media is complaints and negativity. I’ve had conversations with some of the most vocal people in Penticton and in person they are entirely different people, and I point out that their intelligent and well thought out ideas get lost in the noise of complaints. I’ve been told numerous times that the first step is getting a new Mayor and Council. My question to them is: “How will that help?” I think we put too much onus on our government taking care of us. It is essentially a part-time job and I know that everyone on Council today is there because they love this city. Did they make some mistakes? Sure, but many of them were early on when there was no CAO and a mostly rookie Council. Have they learned and grown? Absolutely. Are we in danger of losing many of them for no other reason than the next people might be better? I think the biggest danger is having a complete turnover with single issue candidates who don’t have a full understanding of the responsibility of being a city councillor. If you are considering running, I encourage you to check out the Pre-election Candidate information night on Thursday May 24.
Related: Interested in running in the next municipal election?
The Smart Cities team had a booth at the Healthy Living Fair. While most of the conversation was positive, I got a taste of what it must be like to be JoAnne Kleb, the city community engagement manager.
I was asked angrily by one person, “are you with the city?” When I politely replied “no,” she then stated that they must listen to you and went into a tirade about how there was no parking and the city should be accommodating the ‘right’ to free parking within a few feet of where she wanted to be. The subject of parking and how this isn’t the problem many think it is, is a subject for another day (hint, the solution is less parking and charging for it to encourage alternatives). I allowed her to be angry, and then asked if she would like to hear what the Smart Cities Challenge was about, and after a very engaging five-minute conversation we learned a lot about each other. At the end she learned about a B.C. service, EQ Virtual, where her husband could have an online doctor’s appointment to get his prescriptions refilled (https://eqvirtual.com/british-columbia/en/) instead of going to the walk-in clinic.
It’s amazing what can be learned by having a constructive solution-based conversation. Another woman yelled at me for longer than was appropriate about how because I’ve only been here for eight years I’m not really from Penticton and don’t understand. Eventually we had a conversation and agreed that we do both love Penticton, and a I learned a lot about what it is like to be a senior with low-income in Penticton (something we hope to help with our Smart Cities projects).
I’m not trying to diminish the fact the we have challenges and mistakes have been made. I understand that there is anger in our community on a variety of issues. What I hope the Smart Cities process has shown the community is that there is another way to communicate. Solutions are possible, the more we collaborate and understand each other, break the cycle of negativity and stop blaming ‘the city’ for all of our problems, the better chance that better decisions get made. In our final survey we saw almost 200 incredibly positive responses that I found inspiring. What have you done lately to help your community be a better place? Have you tried communicating with the city using the Shape Your City site (https://www.shapeyourcitypenticton.ca/)?
Join me at TechBrew on Friday, May 24 at Kettle Valley Station pub from 6 to 9 p.m. (https://www.meetup.com/South-Okanagan-Technology-Professionals/events/250912787/) and lets talk about solutions.
In my next column I will write about the 2018 #BCTechSummit, it’s incredible what is happening in B.C. Tech!
Keith MacIntyre writes a tech column exclusively for the Penticton Western News and is the owner of Big Bear Software Inc.