Crabby people
One of the reasons why municipal councils and school boards bring the cops in to secure their meetings is to paint opponents in a dark shadow. That may or may not have been the case this week in Peachland, I wasn’t there.
There were also tense moments this month at a Summerland council meeting and, according to several independent observers, Mayor Peter Waterman over-reacted.
Right at the time of the Skaha Park waterslide fiasco in Penticton, council recessed and called Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth to maintain order because the crowd refused to stop singing “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie.
Then, there was the inaugural meeting of West Kelowna council in 2009 when a heckler at the back of the room continually mumbled “Westbank,” similar to the famous courtroom scene in “Animal House.” It seems that everybody is crabby. Relax folks. There’s an election on Oct. 20. The best way to protest is at the ballot box.
But it takes more than just marking an ‘X.’ You need to recruit winnable candidates and then work with them — door knocking, raising funds for advertising, meeting with potential supporters.
I heard a lot of grumbling at the time of the Trout Creek/Westbench proposed school closures. A reminder to parents, you need to find quality candidates if you’re dissatisfied with the status quo. You can’t vote for Bruce Johnson — he’s in Penticton.
In Summerland, I think Dr. Kyle Stevens and Sharon Mansiere would be exceptional school trustees. In Westbench, Riley Gettens would be amazing.
According to Richard McGuire of the Osoyoos Times, Coun. Mike Campol will not seek re-election on Oct. 20.
Mayor Sue McKortoff, Coun. Jim King and Coun. C.J. Rhodes all plan on seeking re-election.
Coun. Carol Youngberg is uncertain.
Why is the City of Penticton hiring a Victoria lawyer to defend itself against bylaw infractions given to a local panhandler? The most they will receive is the value of the fines. I thought they learned their lesson when they lost the lawsuit to the Penticton Hospitality Association.
The article “Online consultation of justice system continues to Jan. 31” by The Canadian Press did not list a link for the survey. I called Ottawa, on behalf of a reader, and was told to send ideas and suggestions to: cjsr_rsjp@justice.gc.ca.
On this date in 1854, a patent was given to the invenor of the acordion, Anthony Faax of Philadelphia. I always thought the acordion was invented by Joe Acordion. Jim Morrison was gone far too soon.
Good news for local municipalities. If you read the Okanagan Weekend cover to cover, you have already seen our list of the 10 best municipal politicians in the Central and South Okanagan.
It was tough to narrow it down to 10. There were several others who deserve consideration.
Please note that Vernon and the North Okanagan were not included in the poll because we don’t staff their meetings on a regular basis. We also didn’t include MLAs or members of Parliament as it was limited to school boards and local councils.
Lias Andersson, captain of the Swedish junior hockey team, is taking criticism for throwing his medal into the crowd following his team’s 3-1 loss to Canada in the final. Note to his critics: he’s a kid. We’ve all done things we regret during our teen years.
The 1972 U.S. men’s basketball team, after being completely jobbed by the refs in the gold-medal game, refused to attend the medal ceremony.
James Miller is valley editor for Okanagan Newspaper Group.