Mayor and council get failing grade
In less than half a year, the entire city council and the mayor will be up for reelection. The electors will need to carefully consider the performance of those now serving and whether they should returned for another four-year term. Based upon recent action of the council and the mayor, I believe the city would be better served if there were substantial change in the group we elect.
The recent decision to deny any development of Diamond Mountain just to the south of the Glenmore landfill and, indeed, a substantial area beyond serves to support my contention.
The proposed development would, when completed, have added close to 1,000 units all within three kilometres of some 7,000 jobs in a region that is desperate for more accommodation. With availability and affordability of housing anticipated to be the major issue in the civic election, the decision appears to have been very unwise.
Following the recommendation of city staff, five members of council voted against the project: Mayor Colin Basran plus councillors Maxine Dehart, Ryan Donn, Mohini Singh and Luke Stack.
One councillor, who voted against the development, later admitted to not having read the relevant staff report. Another is reported to have found the documentation confusing and not understandable.
These councillors apparently did not invest the time or effort needed to review the work of staff thoroughly.
Of greatest concern was the rationale of Basran. He has stated that he views his role as supporting the work done by city staff. Does he believe the staff put him into office rather than the voters?
It seems that several on this council are just fine with council’s governance responsibilities being assumed by — or being delegated to — staff. This is not the role of the city’s professional managers, no matter how experienced they might be.
Carried to its logical conclusion, the Diamond Mountain decision means Glenmore Road, John Hindle Road (including its extension to UBCO), and Scenic Road should all be closed because of possible odours from the landfill, which were highlighted as the reason for denying the development.
I have heard of no intention by the city to close those roads, indicating some inconsistency in application of policy.
The ratepayers of Kelowna pay the mayor about $95,000 and councillors about $33,000. Why are we electing and paying people to be rubber stamps? I see the role of the mayor, in particular, as providing leadership by demanding quality and unbiased work by staff and acting forcefully when the work is sloppy. That kind of oversight and accountability certainly was missing in the case of the report to council concerning Diamond Mountain.
Kelowna is at a critical juncture in its development and has the capacity, if we act wisely, to establish a standard of long-term development that will improve the livability of the city and make it attractive to high-paying knowledge-based industries that will guarantee our prosperity.To this end, let us work hard to attract more gifted and qualified people to run for council and mayor this fall.
Just as important, extraordinary care must be given to the selection of the new city manager. The salary paid to the city manager who just retired was $285,000. That is as much or more than the salary for the equivalent position paid by Victoria, or Burnaby, or Calgary — to mention just a few.
Virtually, any professional manager of Canada’s major cities would be at least tempted to come to Kelowna. And such a qualified and experienced person could bring vision and new blood to the management of our city — which could certainly benefit from the proverbial “new broom.”
If you speak to the current mayor or a councillor, let them know your views. And if you know someone of sterling leadership qualities, urge them to run and work to get them elected on Oct. 20. The future of Kelowna depends on it.
David Bond is a retired bank economist who resides in Kelowna.