I would like to see a way for other organizations that receive large tax exemptions from the City of Penticton to come under the same kind of scrutiny that the Penticton Legion has recently come under.
The Penticton Marina, for example, is run by a committee of the Penticton Yacht and Tennis Club known as the marina management committee (MMC). The committee was initially appointed, but the PYTC constitution requires the committee members to subsequently be elected for two-year terms. These elections have never taken place. The MMC have declared themselves to be non-elected positions. Also, all eight members of the MMC vote at PYTC board of director meetings. Thus the MMC runs the PYTC, not vice versa. The democratic process in this organization has been corrupted.
The checks and balances that would have been in place if the MMC were elected as required by the PYTC constitution, are not. For example, my request for the minutes of MMC meetings was not allowed despite being a member of the PYTC for four years. Even if a member of the MMC were found to be a convicted criminal, there wouldn’t be any way for the PYTC to remove them from the committee. Does that seem right to you? The MMC like to point to the fact that the PYTC has an elected commodore. Who cares, the PYTC is just a committee of the MMC. The MMC is also supposed to be elected. But it’s hard to put yourself out of (a million dollar) business.
I don’t think the city should provide large tax exemptions to groups running city resources that do not follow basic democratic principles.
Schuyler Lighthall
Penticton
