RDOS feud disrespects new mates

Sour grapes. How else to explain the stink raised by Coun. Judy Sentes at the new group’s inaugural meeting Tuesday night?

What was supposed to be warm-and-fuzzy gathering to get sworn in and approve the acting mayors’ schedule and appointments to the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen went way off track when Sentes made clear her displeasure at having lost that plum top-up.

Exercising his prerogative, Vassilaki appointed to the RDOS himself and the three councillors who got the most votes in the Oct. 20 election (with the exception of second-place finisher Campbell Watt, who declined the position due to work and family commitments).

Sentes placed sixth and was named an alternate.

She argued, however, that Vassilaki’s method was flawed, because it didn’t take into account her vast experience on the RDOS board.

But as Coun. Jake Kimberley pointed out, everyone’s got to start somewhere just like Sentes once did.

For her to try to do an end run around Vassilaki was not only disrespectful to her new colleagues, but also sets the stage for what could be a fractious term of council.

We can only guess at Sentes’ motivation for wanting the RDOS job so badly.

She collected $13,000 for her work last year while also serving as the vice-chair of the companion Okanagan-Similkameen Regional Hospital District. We also suspect she wanted to be at the helm of the hospital district when the ribbon is cut on the Penticton Regional Hospital expansion next year.

Of course, it’s possible – and one must hope – that she simply believes she is best suited to represent the city’s interests at the RDOS table.

Don’t forget, though, that at the final meeting of the last RDOS board she mused about having Interior Health food inspectors crack down on Monday night dinners for the homeless in Nanaimo Square in a bid to keep undesirables away from downtown. That’s hardly the kind of leadership this city or region needs.

On a related note, it will be interesting to see who the next chair of the RDOS board is.

Traditionally, the job has rotated between the mayor of Penticton and a rural director.

That trend came to a screeching halt under former mayor Andrew Jakubeit, who was unable to secure the support of the RDOS board, so the job went from rural Osoyoos Director Mark Pendergraft to Naramata Director Karla Kozakevich.

Penticton contributes about 40 per cent of the RDOS’s annual budget, which earns it a special place at the head of the table.

Vassilaki and his team all got elected on a promise to get outlying communities to chip in more towards Penticton’s public facilities. That commitment will be easier to fulfill with the mayor at the helm.