Changes to Sun Bowl Arena are being done without input
The announcement of a $97,000 grant for Sun Bowl Arena unfortunately creates far more questions than it does answers.
In most cases any grant from the provincial government would be considered a good thing. However, in this case we aren't so sure.
That's because the grant is for some major renovations at Sun Bowl Arena, which the last time we checked was an Osoyoos taxpayer-owned facility.
We don't know the actual plans for the changes at the arena but we can't help but wonder why this grant was even applied for without public input?rnWe certainly don't remember any public meetings where proposals for changes were put to the acid test of public approval. Why not?rnInstead, the Osoyoos public is only informed of these changes in a pre-election photo-op announcing the grant and the changes. In a press release announcing the grant, Destination Osoyoos was named as the benefactor of the grant money. Osoyoos mayor John Slater said that is because it was DO that made the grant.
Frankly, we could care less who made the grant application. The Sun Bowl Arena is a publicly-owned facility and any money spent on it should be under the direct direction of the Town of Osoyoos and the RDOS, and not DO, a body that is not accountable to Osoyoos taxpayers.
We also can't help but ask why wasn't this same grant money applied for under the banner of Desert Park?
A grant of $100,000 would go a long way towards solving the problems that exist at that facility.
With the numerous controversies that have plagued this current council we find it mind boggling that it would even consider upgrading Sun Bowl Arena at a time when there are so many more important issues before it.
Getting a government grant is usually a good thing, but when it is done without input from those who are most affected (the taxpayers) then chances are it will just lead to yet another controversy.
