Council is show, not substance

Dear Editor: With municipal elections less than two months away (Oct. 20), I’m really puzzled as to why and how the present Penticton city council has managed to get away with limping through their tenure.

There was a recent press article, of how a councillor was reported as stating that there was no need to attend all community committees (because of his busy schedule), because he can read the minutes and get informed that way.

As a person who’s been on several committees and organizations over the past 30 years, I have seen, and know, that minutes are not a record of precisely what was said in a meeting, otherwise meetings would never end.

Which leads to me question and wonder about Penticton’s present city council.

At the Aug. 21 meeting, there was a recommendation from one of the city’s advisory committees. However, for whatever reason that I can’t fathom, council totally misread a recommendation (to invite a discussion with Interior Health, to promote a healthy community, traffic issues and parking at the Penticton Hospital — three issues to discuss with IHA).

Instead of agreeing to send a letter to IHA, to discuss how to promote a healthy community, council read one item of these three — parking (oh no, not parking, again).

They then voted to “receive” the request. My respect and faith in their reading and understanding abilities as city councillors has been greatly diminished.

Penticton recently participated in the Smart Cities challenge. The essence of this challenge was to come up with a single sentence that would reflect Penticton, its citizens and community: “Let’s build a physically and mentally healthier, strongly-connected Penticton where each person has access and opportunity to maximize their health potential.”

We now know that Penticton was not successful with this Challenge, and therefore were not eligible for related funds.

Does this help me understand why city council could not understand the recommendation from the advisory committee?

Does this mean that Penticton’s elected councillors are only interested in show and not substance and have little interest in a healthy community?

Hopefully I’ll get some clarity at upcoming all-candidate meetings. Brigid Kemp Penticton