Family irked by funding request to maintain bench
Sooke mayor to review policy covering memorial plaques after getting complaint
The mayor of Sooke says that she hopes to take “corrective action” on Monday about a letter requesting $2,000 for a memorial bench that had been paid for more than decade ago.
Mayor Maja Tait said what is in effect a retroactive bill for the bench remembering Brandy Rittaler’s mother doesn’t appear fair.
Eleven years ago, $1,600 was raised by the community for the memorial bench for Rittaler’s mother Judy Jamieson, who was known and loved in Sooke for her volunteering. Jamieson’s memorial bench is in Whiffin Spit.
Sooke is located 38 km west of Victoria.
In 2014, Sooke adopted a policy that set the price of a memorial bench at $2,000 for 10 years.
“When I found out that folks in our community were receiving this letter, it caught me by surprise,” Tait said by phone from Sooke. “This is a policy we need to fix.” Rittaler said she takes her children on a walk to the bench and tells them funny stories about their nana Jude.
“I walk out there every Christmas just to sit and feel close to her,” Rittaler said on Facebook.
Rittaler said she found out last weekend about the letter from the district of Sooke requesting more money.
“My initial reaction was confusion followed by grief — a grief I haven’t felt in years.”
Unless Sooke receives $2,000 by Jan. 31, the letter says, the plaque will be removed and the bench given to someone else.
Rittaler said the letter “feels like a heartless money grab.”
She suggests there should be a grandfather clause to cover those who paid for benches under the old policy before the new one came into effect in 2014.
“I’m speaking up not just for my family but for the sweet elderly lady I saw at municipal hall asking reception to explain the letter to her and for the many other families and volunteers in Sooke who have chosen to memorialize their loved ones with a bench or tree in our parks.
“It’s just wrong.”
In part, Tait said what may have motivated the new policy three years ago is that there is no more room for memorial benches on Whiffin Spit. Of the 26 benches in the popular area, 25 are more than 10 years old.
She said one idea put forward to accommodate more people wanting to pay for memorial benches is to build a cairn or wall for more memorial plaques.
“Let’s find a way to preserve or maintain the benches that are already there,” she said.
“How do we honour the memory of those who are there and be inclusive of this growing need?”
She said a report on memorial benches is going to the Sooke’s council meeting on Monday, Dec. 11.
A memorial park bench or picnic table in Vancouver costs $4,000 for 10 years; for $25,000, the park board sets up an endowment that provides for continuous care for a bench.
In B.C. provincial parks, $3,000 is the cost of a park bench and $4,000 for a picnic table, both for 10 years; $55,000 to $150,000 is the price of a picnic/cooking shelter and $30,000 to $70,000 for a playground, both for their estimated lives (about 25 years).