City didn’t need to spend $500

Dear Editor: Circulating rumours claim the mayor of Penticton doesn’t listen to his council but we should remember that the mayor has only one vote. There are seven members on council. They can outvote him at any time.

Decision Day is Dec. 1. We can expect to hear that council is going back to the negotiating table with Trio or alternatively throwing Trio out of the park.

Despite remarks by council that only 700 people attending the Trio/Skaha Park meeting at the convention centre was just a small sampling of the citizens living in Penticton I remain hopeful that they will use their common sense and toss the Trio deal in the dung heap where it belongs.

With $175-million in infrastructure costs facing us we need to consider many options like cutting back staff to Core Service Review levels. There has been too much empire building at City Hall with big increases in staff levels like economic development and communications departments. Despite hiring an engagement officer council still considered it necessary to spend $500 on a moderator for the meeting at the convention centre. Not their money I guess. Many taxpayers in Penticton would think themselves fortunate to have $500 left over at the end of the month after paying for their necessaries.

Economic development needs a thorough examination. Before this became part of the civil service it was on a contract basis and it showed results or someone else was awarded the contract. It seems now we just throw more staff and money at it.

What concrete results has economic development made to offset the millions of dollars lost in taxes due to the forgiveness of taxes to new development?

A good case in point is the building of rental suites in this area. One company is building in Penticton and has applied to build a development also in Summerland. I bet Summerland won’t forgive their taxes.

The newly-formed Memorial Arena committee will make a decision on whether to raze or repair this historic facility.

If the Memorial is razed the mayor and council have mentioned building another NHL sized ice rink behind the SOEC in its place. This is very shortsighted. Any new rinks should be built to European standards. Many hockey players that don’t make the NHL end up playing in Europe and this could be a draw with our own excellent hockey school in town. Elvena Slump

Penticton