Memorable quotes of the year
Here are some of my favourite Kelowna-area quotes and comments I’ve heard and read about in this unusual year, mostly without leaving my basement in Peachland.
It’s the usual random-y assortment common to year-end lists, but I’ve tried to squelch down the COVID-19 references because we heard enough about the virus all year long. Here’s to a safer, better, and thoroughly vaccinated 2021.
“It won’t look very good on a business card,” Kelowna Coun. Brad Sieben said in early December, suggesting the goofy title of a new City Hall position, ‘Champion for the Environment,’ might make it hard for whoever’s hired to be taken seriously.
“I’m not doing this to be seen to be making a sacrifice,” Coun. Charlie Hodge pushes back during budget deliberations against Mayor Colin Basran’s assertion he was simply grandstanding when he advocated trimming back a $4.7 million renovation of Kelowna City Hall.
“The impact has been negligible to nothing,” West Kelowna Coun. Rick De Jong in early December sensibly notes the effect on the community of legal pot shops, despite much hand-wringing earlier about the social impact of the drug’s legalization.
“I look at this and go, ‘This is not regional. This is a Kelowna plan, and I think we need to do better’,” Lake Country Coun. Todd McKenzie said Dec. 2 as he and his colleagues questioned the relevance of a much-hyped Central Okanagan transportation plan for their community.
“A dynamic user-pay system for access to the transportation network could become a critical tool to manage congestion,” Kelowna city planners wrote in that transportation plan. Translation to English: A new tax on Kelowna drivers is coming down the road.
“A little gas station alone should be good with me,” Gurjeet Gohal said Nov. 3, suddenly seeming to downsize his plans for a gas station, fast food restaurant, liquor store, car wash, and other commercial shops city council unanimously rejected for farmland at the corner of Benvoulin Road and Byrns Road.
“Residents elsewhere tend to take a more balanced view on whether their quality of life is improving or worsening,” Catherine Knaus of pollster IpsosReid said Oct. 26, putting a diplomatic spin on the shocking finding that 35% of Kelowna residents think the quality of life is decreasing compared to only 22% who think it’s improving.
“Community input suggests that West Kelowna has many unique and special elements, but has not yet achieved a ‘vibe’ that calls to people,”
consultant Jana Zelenski tells city council Oct. 23 that, 12 years after incorporation, the city still has something of an identity crisis.
“I don’t want to editorialize on it, but there are 98 names listed here earning over $75,000. There are 14 women, the rest are men. And three of those women have left the city’s employment,” West Kelowna Coun. Carol Zanon, the only woman on council, remarked in August on the striking gender inequity revealed in a list of the city’s top earners.
“This is completely within our authority. I hate to see a public hearing just to have a public hearing,”
Kelowna Coun. Gail Given said June 15 when she opposed the reinstatement of public hearings after they were paused during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and argued for the continuation of direct city approval of some projects.
“The public needs to have the opportunity, not just to write letters, but to come and speak to us,” countered Coun. Mohini Singh.
“Our school is situated on 10 acres of land and there is not one tree or any other plant life on the premises,”
eight school officials at Pearson Road
Elementary wrote in a sad-sounding letter in early June, explaining why the school would like to build a greenhouse.
“It’s a game-changer for Kelowna, on part with UBC’s arrival in Kelowna 15 years ago,” Mayor Colin Basran said in June when it was announced the university had bought the former Daily Courier building and has plans for a major new downtown campus.
“Eliminating drive-thrus may represent a small inconvenience to many, but it also represents a relatively easy win in our efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and combat climate change,”
Kelowna city planner Aaron Thibeault wrote in May suggesting drive-thrus be banned in the future. Council declined to take up the suggestion.
“I think this reduction goes beyond where it should,” Kelowna Coun. Brad Sieben said in May when he was the only member of council to vote against reducing the municipal tax hike from 4.1% to 2% to offer some relief to taxpayers battered by the financial effects of COVID-19.
“These events are traumatic for homeowners, the community, and the officers involved,” Kelowna planner Corey Davis said in May, describing the gruesomeness of incidents where
deer get impaled trying to jump over fences with pointed metal pickets. Council banned the use of such fences in the future.
“Music equipment closed due to COVID-19,” stated a bleak message taped by Peachland town staff in March to an outdoor xylophone and a set of plastic drums on an Okanagan Lake viewing platform.
“I’m already missing Jim. I only pray that the people of Kelowna stop for a moment to appreciate the great city he built for us all,” former Kelowna Mayor Walter Gray said in March on the passing of his immediate predecessor, Jim Stuart. Stuart, a farmerturned-popular politician was mayor from 1986-96, presiding over an era of rapid growth.
A $300,000 indoor hydroponics farm proposed for KLO Middle School “shall only be used to grow produce in connection with education programs at the school,” and will “not be used for any other purpose.” trustees were assured in February when they agreed to put $50K toward the project.