Thank you Peter Weeber

Let me add my voice to the chorus of residents praising the work of Peter Weeber, who announced this week that he’s leaving his job as CAO with the City of Penticton.

Weeber was a breath of fresh air ... and at the right time. The secret to his success was simply being visible in the community. I’d often see his family at local events and often on a Sunday morning, Weeber would be spotted walking down Main Street by himself.

When the flooding occurred two years ago, he took the lead.

Weeber didn’t run away from uncomfortable situations. When he was invited to speak at the Save Skaha Park annual meeting, he accepted.

Weeber is leaving to take a job in the private sector locally (he hasn’t said where, but we can guess.) That’s great to see him stay in the community.

Maybe in another four years, he will run for city council.

Mayor John Vassilaki and council have a crucial decision to make. They need to hire the right person as Weeber’s replacement. If they get stuck with a dud, it will be disastrous to the city and duds are nearly impossible to get rid of.

Unfortunately, all of this is done in camera (land, labour, legal) so we have to trust their judgment.

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I was trying to watch “America’s Got Talent” the other night. Like all reality shows, you can predict the camera shots before they happen.

On this night, it was particularly annoying because they had some interesting acts — a Russian dude swallowing a sword, a lady with a dancing dog — yet they insist on doing cutaway shots of the judges, audience members (parents especially) and the host all reacting.

Keep the camera on the act. Show the reaction shots after they conclude their act.

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“Bohemian Rhapsody” was enjoyable and Rami Malek is absolutely terrific as Freddie Mercury. But, sorry Golden Globe Awards, no way was it the best dramatic film of 2018.

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Trivia: Clint Eastwood was not the original choice to play “Dirty Harry” in the 1971 cop classic. In fact, he wasn’t even on the radar. The actor who was originally pencilled in for the project was Frank Sinatra. That would have sucked. I love Frank, but couldn’t say him saying, “Do you feel lucky, punk?”

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Steve MacNaull was away for most of this week so I tried my hand at writing the weekend business column. It’s on Page C1. Hopefully, I did it justice.

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News scoop. The theme for next year’s holiday decorations at the Penticton Lakeside Resort, according to general manager David Prystay, will be “Polar Bear Express.”

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Get well soon and best wishes to Lynn Kelsey.

James Miller is the valley editor for Okanagan Newspaper Group. Email: james.miller@ok.bc.ca