A simple question. Why does the city of Penticton have an engagement program when city council takes on a new costly initiative with no prior consultation or engagement with the residents?
I am referring to the city taking over the cost of programs that had been put on by the DPA to promote the downtown business enterprises. The DPA basically dumped them on the city with no notice, and the city jumped in with tax dollars that were not budgeted to hold them this year. If the DPA did not hold them as scheduled this year, they should have been discontinued until such time that the feelings of the residents could have been surveyed. This was well expressed in the editorials in both local newspapers (March 15, 2019).
These are the types of actions that bring into question the commitment of the mayor and council to their campaign promises of transparency, accountability, and due consideration of the residents’ input. These are the very attributes that were sadly missing over the past four years resulting in a vast waste of tax dollars. This is the reason why the engagement program was implemented, and it should form the focal point with respect to priority setting and decision making. Or, is it just a costly public relations exercise? As so aptly put by Yogi Berra is this simply “deja vu all over again.”
Claude Bergman
Penticton
