Hey, big spender

Christesen racks up $10,826 in expenses

The Regional District of OkanaganSimilkameen really needs to call out Elef Christesen on his outrageous expense accounts. The Area G director claimed $10,826 in expenses in 2016, according to the statement of financial information report released last Thursday by the RDOS.

Elef’s expenses worked out to cost each person in his constituency area of rural Keremeos, Olalla and Hedley $4.84.

In 2016, Elef travelled to two conventions in Vancouver, one in Kelowna and another in Winnipeg. In an interview with The Herald, he said the purpose travelling was to secure grant money for Area G, although he didn’t state whether he was successful and to what amount.

Much of his expense claim was for milage to and from meetings (understood) but the two directors with longer drives to Penticton — Frank Armitage and Bob Coyne, both from Princeton — claimed only $2,974 and $4,612 respectively.

Had they ever thought of something outrageous like a car pool? Frank or Bob could pick Elef up along the way. One of the reasons Rob Ford was elected mayor of Toronto was because, as a city councillor, his annual expense accounts were often zero, or close to zero. The public appreciates this.

Why should this be a concern to Penticton residents?

Penticton residents just received their tax bills and more than 40 per cent of the RDOS is funded by Penticton taxpayers.

Back to Elef. He votes down anything that costs money, such as weekend library service for Keremeos, and is a champion for saving money... except when it applies to himself.

For the record, Elef hasn’t broken any rules. All of his expenses must have been approved by someone.

But enough is enough. New rules, standards and guidelines need to be put in place immediately.