Problems in Summerland

Dear editor: We have an election coming up in October. I thought it might be interesting to look at a few things that have transpired in Summerland over the last four years.

First, there appears to be a bit of a revolving door at City Hall. Since our current council took office, we have burned through one CAO, one director of public works, one director of finance, two directors of development services, one manager of recreation, three corporate officers, one community development coordinator, one GIS co-ordinator and one development planner!

These are all highly paid positions with full benefits located in the Okanagan. The former development planner would rather commute to Kelowna everyday than apply for one of the two planning promotions currently posted on the Summerland website?

Second, our council has seen fit to implement the following list of brand new management positions that Summerland has done without up until now: community development co-ordinator; planning manager; economic development officer; sustainability/Alternative energy co-ordinator; manager of human resources; manager of electrical utility; arts and culture centre project manager.

I also note that when this council took over, my taxes were $2,565.61. I just paid my current tax bill of $3,331.21. That is 30 per cent more than what I paid in 2014. Just saying! Ian McIntosh Summerland