Meeting about West Kelowna held in Rutland

These are your tax dollars in action. I attended Wednesday’s Central Okanagan school board meeting where four Kelowna trustees (and one from West Kelowna) voted to sell out young children from the Westside.

(For background on this issue, visit: kelownadailycourier.ca.) I participated in Question Period. There’s a reason it’s never called Answer Period.

What follows is a complete, unabridged transcript of my three-minute question-and-answer with Central Okanagan School District chairwoman Moyra Baxter.

MILLER: Hi. My name is James Miller. Obviously, you moved into a larger room because of this one specific issue. My question is, if this issue deals directly with the people from West Kelowna, why are you not having the meeting on the Westside but rather here in Rutland?

BAXTER: First of all, I’m going to say, this is a public hearing of the board of education. The board meetings are usually held at the board office, as you know. The board room is not big enough to have a large group, so we moved over to this venue. There may well be other items on the agenda tonight that will be connected with Kelowna and this is our headquarters.

MILLER: But, is it fair to say Chairman Baxter that the vast majority of people are here tonight with a Westside issue? If I was to take a show of hands ....

BAXTER: (Interjects) No, no, you’re not going to take a show of hands Mr. Miller because you are here addressing the board ....

MILLER: And I asked you a question and you haven’t answered it. Why did you specifically, Madame, choose to have the meeting here?

BAXTER: Because this is a regularscheduled board meeting and we did have a committee meeting on the Westside and the board decided that this meeting should be held at the board office which we actually did move here because it’s the closest place to take all of the equipment and video and everything that we have to move over here from the board office.

MILLER: But yes, if you put it in a mini-van, you’re really adding an extra 15 minutes of driving time on?

BAXTER: Mr. Miller, you’ve made your point. You’re not happy.

MILLER: I’m not making a point, madame, I’m asking a question. The second part of my question is directly for the superintendent. Yes or no, is this a deliberate effort to thin the crowd by not having this in West Kelowna? Superintendent Kevin (Kaardal), yes or no?

BAXTER: Mr. Miller, you have been around long enough to know what the rules of engagement are. You speak through the chair and then I will direct the question.

MILLER: Superintendent Kevin, through the chair, is this an effort to thin the crowd of potential West Kelowna people who are keenly interested in this issue tonight?

BAXTER: Actually, I don’t know if the superintendent wants to answer that question. He may think that question is out of order.

MILLER: What is out of order? That is a fair question, madame. I’m a taxpayer in the province of British Columbia. I do not reside in Kelowna but I do work here, so I’m a citizen in this community and I think that’s a fair question. I asked it respectfully, I would appreciate an answer.

BAXTER: Mr. Kaardal, do you wish to answer that question? KAARDAL: I will and it’s, no. MILLER: Thank you.

Thank you to members of the Rotary Club of Lake Country for inviting me to be their guest speaker on Thursday morning. Rotarians, whether they’re in Lake Country or somewhere else on the planet, are awesome! Where would our communities be without Rotarians? My pick for the Oscars: Best Picture: The Shape of Water Best Director: Guillermo del Toro Best Actor: Gary Oldman Best Actress: Frances McDormand Best Supporting Actor: Willem Dafoe (I’m calling the upset here because Dafoe was great, there’s a Three Billboards backlash, and upsets generally happen in the best supporting actor category.) Best Supporting Actress: Allison Janney And look for Dunkirk to win most of the technical awards. In a regular year, it would be the front-runner for Best Picture. Bobby Fuller was gone far too soon. James Miller is valley editor for the Okanagan Newspaper Group which includes the Westside Weekly, Penticton Herald and Kelowna Daily Courier. Contact: james.miller@ok.bc.ca.