Enderby politicians have proven me wrong.
When the Regional District of North Okanagan approached member jurisdictions to fund a grant for the Upper Room Mission, I anticipated the dear John letters would flow. After all, the group is in Vernon and the common theory is the Vernon community should look after its own and not go cap-in-hand to others for help.
But those sitting around Enderby council chambers decided to dispel with such parochialism.
“We recognize the excellent work the Upper Room Mission does and council felt we should be a partner in helping with the situation,” said Mayor Howie Cyr.
URM wants a $9,200 fee from the regional district waived for a water main upgrade to its facility. If it has to pay the fee, that means fewer dollars exist for meals and programs to residents in need
RDNO doesn’t have a functioning grants program so its next step was to ask the six member municipalities and five electoral areas if they would put some money on the table.
If all jurisdictions participate, Enderby’s share will be $221.
“It’s a small monetary amount,” said Coun. Tundra Baird.
“They do a lot of good work. For what they do, it’s worth it.”
That aside, some Enderby taxpayers may still be left wondering why they are contributing dollars to a program in Vernon. But Cyr isn’t concerned about a backlash.
“We may have people in Enderby who have been helped by the mission,” he said.
Baird points out that Enderby and other small communities struggle to assist residents in certain circumstances.
“We don’t have the core social services Vernon has,” she said.
While Enderby council was willing to back Upper Room Mission, it didn’t jump through hoops to bring Ironman to Vernon.
Council agreed to morally support Vernon’s bid but it wouldn’t consider a financial commitment until it was determined if cycling routes would go to Enderby.
“We just didn’t have the appetite to just say, ‘well, we’ll support it and we’ll pay for some of the stuff’ when we don’t know what the heck it is,’” said Cyr.
And in this case, that was the correct approach as closing roads and looking after athletes’ needs would have impacted the budget. Of course it’s all a moot point because Vernon’s pursuit of Ironman was unsuccessful.
But in terms of the Upper Room Mission, Enderby council has highlighted what’s good about our region. When people are in need, boundaries on a map don’t matter. We are all part of the broader community.
Enderby may only be giving $221, but the dollar value is irrelevant. It’s the thought that counts.
It will be interesting to see how Armstrong, Spallumcheen, Lumby and the electoral areas, as well as Vernon and Coldstream, handle the URM request.
Hopefully they will follow Enderby’s leadership and not stick to their little fiefdoms.
