To say I’m disappointed in the vote to build another user group facility would be an understatement.
When we have so many already under-used facilities and then add more to my taxes to build another one, really bothers me.
Take a look and see how often these facilities are regularly used: Marshall Field, MacDonald Park, all of the school fields, Kin Race Track, the army camp fields and Polson Park.
Can anyone honestly tell me none of these facilities can be upgraded to suit the few that will use our new $7.5 million field?
How many of you out there can remember what it feels like to play ball on the army camp fields when the wind blows and it’s raining? Why build a running track in the same location?
The outcome of the sales pitch about building a facility to draw tourist dollars will be interesting to say the least. Vernon lost its bid to be a tourist town when we started selling off all of the lakefront property.
Where is the closest camping facility to Vernon?
What do we have to cause tourists to want to stay and visit Vernon?
The exodus of trailers leaving Vernon every weekend during the summer must tell us something is wrong here. Oh yes, we do have Funtastic for one weekend a year, and a few others, but what do we have in Vernon that is income-generating on an ongoing basis to feed our community?
Maybe we should think about spending $7.5 million to create some industry to employ our residents so they don’t all have to move to Alberta.
It might also be interesting to find out how many yes voters make in excess of $60,000 a year in an area where the average income is less than $40,000.
Remember, we all have an opinion. This is mine.
Paul Elmont
Vernon
