Private events offer no value

Dear Editor: When examined from the perspective of benefit to Penticton citizens and/or taxpayers, the exploitation of public infrastructure and services consumed by a privatized event like Challenge Penticton (or the Granfondo or ITU) provides no evident public value.

There is no financial or monetary benefit to the city purse, to taxpayers, and no social benefit to most city dwellers; the brute reality is the costs far outweigh benefits to the public.

These choking private events happen to be a massive transfer of public value, resources and public dollars to private interests, who in this case (again, as in past private events) pay the public not a dime – zero – for the privilege of exploiting taxpayers property (roads), coopting services taxpayers maintain and own (policing, traffic control, city maintenance, clean up, and more) and, to add insult to injury, conning our seemingly mindless council and administration into forking over several hundred thousand dollars in outright donations. Astounding!

Only this council and senior managers at city hall, along with their private benefactors, can distort this into being something of general public value.

Why not a $20 per head “maintenance” fee paid to the city – and another $20 to RDOS to cover costs and reimburse taxpayers.

Taxpayers spend almost $100 million a year attempting to keep this place in reasonable physical running order. They have built our superstructure over decades with city council and city managers sticking residential taxpayers with an unfair and nasty tax overburden.

This city’s managers, and their henchmen in council, do not own Penticton; we do. They behave as though our tax dollars are “free” money, handing it out to their pet projects and the lobbyists and hustlers that prey on our broken down civil governance system.

I would be proud if taxpayers raised their fists in defiance of this kind of graft – and there a handful that do — but it seems the constant bleeding of their dollars, the growing theft of their rights as citizens and their eviscerated authority as owners of public property, has not yet hurt a functional majority enough to prompt or force them to ask whose hand is constantly in their wallet.

It is precisely this numbness and lethargy that allows promoters of private events, like bike racing, to keep siphoning special treatment and money out of the public system.

Maybe we can convince the new government in Victoria to help us do something about this. Dr. Brian L. Horejsi

Penticton

They are spreading misinformation and using fear tactics, and I cannot sit idly by and say nothing. Some of our businesses have even been told they will be boycotted if they are in favour of this project. Is this how we treat our merchants that are here to help our town grow?

Two young women were canvassing our neighbourhood answering questions and offering discussion on the iCasa project, and they shared with me that they’ve often been met with bad tempers, anger and even threats.

Is this how we treat visitors? Is this how we treat differing opinions?

The iCasa project will provide a facility for our seniors to enjoy the remainder of their lives. They will be surrounded by inhouse healthcare and recreation amenities without having to go through the trauma of moving as they grow older.

I am one of the silent majority no more. I trust the experts to know what they have been trained to do.

I trust Lark Group to invest their money in a successful project which will reap social and financial benefits for our community.

I trust our mayor and councilors to welcome investment and growth into Summerland, and perform due diligence before moving forward with a project.

I do not trust a group of people who continue to stifle any form of progress or growth for Summerland, and threaten those with opposing views.

How is the district going to improve or upgrade the pool, the ice rink, the roads, the utilities without increased population and businesses?

Instead of “Say No Summerland” let’s try “Welcome to Summerland.” Linda Curle Summerland