On Nov. 15, we will be making some decisions that we will have to live with for the next four years. The most important will be who we elect as mayor of Vernon.
I don’t believe we need expensive pie-in-the-sky projects, but there are many issues that need addressing.
Engineers have declared the old Civic Arena to be structurally sound for many more decades. Take out some seats, put in an NHL-size rink, replace the ice plant and save $10 million.
Settle the litigation wit the horse racing society over Kin Race Track by giving them land at O’Keefe Ranch that was proposed for an RV park (the ALC turned it down). I’ll bet the ALC would support a horse race track.
We don’t need to pay bylaw officers $50,000 a year, plus benefits, to issue parking tickets but we do need them to enforce our bylaws. They could take the place of $100,000 a year RCMP members enforcing speed limits, texting while driving infractions and so on, leaving the RCMP to deal with actual criminals.
Bring back photo radar under the bylaw operation. It’s cheap and it works. Noisy vehicles and noisy house parties could all be handled by bylaw officers.
We don’t need to borrow $70 million to upgrade our water system. We spent $30 million on Duteau Creek and it was money well spent. The Interior Health Authority is so paranoid, it closed down the drinking fountains in Kal Park. Our water is safe. We have a Chevrolet system, we don’t need a Cadillac.
Keep our city clean, free of junky yards and derelict vehicles. Paint our street lines with expensive reflective paint so our seniors can navigate at night.
So you may ask who’s going to lead the way on all of these issues? I’m backing Klaus Tribes and I hope you will too.
Will Rogers
Vernon
