Would the real Dan Ashton, please stand up

Penticton residents may be wondering how the West Bench has been maintaining its cheap property tax designation. (My data shows an $800,000 home in the West Bench area pays about $1,500 per year less than the same home in Penticton.)

Folks in Victoria view the West Bench as a rural satellite community (which puts it under the Regional District Okanagan Similkameen). This may have been partially true 50 years ago, but is it valid today?

Let us imagine an imaginary Dan Ashton MLA who is very much like the real Dan Ashton MLA with the exception that the imaginary Dan Ashton will be helpful to resolve an unfair property tax issue.

Let us imagine the imaginary Dan Ashton walking out of his office which is at the corner of Riverside and Westminster. He walks to the street corner and places a golf tee into the ground in the grassy area. He places a golf ball on the tee and takes a golf club and lines up at West Bench Hill Road. The imaginary Dan Ashton waits for traffic to clear and hits the ball. With a good shot this ball should come to rest on West Bench Hill Road.

If the imaginary Dan Ashton can reach West Bench Hill Road in one shot from his office location then it should be clear that the West Bench is not a satellite community, but rather a nearby adjoining community.

Now let us imagine the imaginary Dan Ashton driving his car on the West Bench. He will see Sage Mesa and Westwood consisting of quarter-acre lots (the same as Wiltse Flats). Along West Bench Drive he will see half acre lots. In fact, the vast majority of West Bench residences are on small residential lots.

The thought that West Bench is rural is decidedly false.

Therefore with the help of an imaginary Dan Ashton, the West Bench is an adjoining residential community and should be taxed fairly under the City of Penticton.

Would someone please tell the real Dan Ashton MLA this.

Ron Johnson Penticton