Has the decision on the location of the proposed prison already been made? It appears that the majority of our current council is supporting it. If they know something that we, the people, do not then their supporting arguments are pure sophistry.
I am a member of the current Visioning and Strategic Planning Committee. All members of council and the mayor are sitting members. (Coun. Pearce has yet to attend a meeting.) A vision statement is forthcoming in August. At no time during discussions was “let’s attract a prison to Penticton” part of the vision alternatives. Why does it appear that the majority of council is willing to subvert the committee process and pre-empt the forthcoming vision recommendation?
The referendum process is flawed in that voting will take place at a busy City Hall. Is there a system for bringing people who are house-bound or without transportation to the poll? Will the council even take the vote into consideration?
It is well past time that our economic development officer be directed to search out enterprises that enhance our and optimize our city’s attributes to the benefit of all. If our citizens love our city, tourism will surely follow. We must stop grasping at bright shiny objects of questionable opportunity when the results could well be detrimental in the long run.
There are others who have researched the topic and made very cogent arguments that prisons are not effective in reducing crime rates. A prison does not belong in our beautiful small city. We have so much more to offer.
Simply put, a prison in Penticton would be detrimental to our progress and stupid.
Ben Amos
Penticton
