Greater Vernon politicians are making major changes to parks and recreation, they say, on behalf of residents. But where have residents been in the process?
An advertisement in Sunday’s Morning Star outlined 36 parks the Regional District of North Okanagan will hand over to the City of Vernon. Residents are provided with the opportunity to ask questions if they want, but the ad goes on to say, “the title transfers are proposed to take effect Jan. 1, 2014.” Not once is the public asked if they actually support this move. Similarly, the city is not seeking constituent authorization to turn over ownership of Kal Beach to the regional district.
Now, a parallel process has also been occurring over Greater Vernon’s recreation facilities, including Kal Tire Place, the recreation complex, Priest Valley Arena and Civic Arena.
That may not seem like a big deal as the city already has title to all of the structures except for Kal Tire Place. But keep in mind, that over the decades, Coldstream and electoral area taxpayers have invested millions of dollars in upgrades to these facilities and some of the rec complex’s parking lots were actually purchased by RDNO. Based on that, the case can be made that city ownership of facilities is tenuous at best.
Kal Tire Place’s deed will be handed over to the city, making it an asset for Vernon, but Coldstream and the electoral areas will still be responsible for their portion of the 10 years left in debt borrowed to construct the facility.
A similar situation will also occur when Civic Arena is abandoned and a new ice sheet is constructed. All Greater Vernon residents would vote in a referendum to borrow funds and carry debt, but the facility would be owned by the city.
The interesting aspect to all of this is that Coldstream and the electoral areas would simply cut a cheque annually to ensure their residents have access to the facilities. Those jurisdictions would not be involved in decision-making and the only oversight would come from reviewing the city’s financial statements.
Some officials argue pressure can be applied on the city every five years when the contract can be renewed. Obviously, if the city wants to maintain the agreement, it may be willing to negotiate. But on the flip side, Coldstream and the electoral areas may have to accept what Vernon offers because they can’t afford to build their own arenas and pools.
While Coldstream and the electoral area residents will continue to pay 32 per cent of the overall operating cost of recreation facilities, will city officials treat their concerns the same as those coming from Vernon constituents? There is a difference between partners and customers.
Now it should be pointed out that the concept of streamlining decision-making and operations is valid. The current system of RDNO being in charge but the city doing the day-to-day work under contract has been cumbersome.
Instead of turning everything over to the city, why not let the regional district own and manage the facilities? After all, all of the jurisdictions are part of the regional collective and they would have a voice at the table.
Ultimately, the proposed arrangement may make sense and the interests of all residents, no matter where they live, could be served by the city calling the shots.
But it should be remembered that these facilities are public assets and taxpayers have invested millions of dollars in them. They also rely on these facilities for key services.
How do the officials of Vernon, Coldstream and the electoral areas know that their constituents favour this major shift? They may have the authority to act alone, but is that right? Transparency and accountability are fundamental to our democratic system as is the notion of voter assent.
It is time to slow the process down and let the people have their say.
—Richard Rolke is the senior reporter for The Morning Star
