By Lyonel Doherty
Oliver Chronicle
Area C director Terry Schafer took a “last stab” at lobbying government last week at the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention.
Schafer, who is not seeking re-election, spoke to various ministers and their staff about flood prevention in Willowbrook, repairing Sportsman’s Bowl, dredging Okanagan River where necessary and adjusting firefighter training requirements for small departments.
According to Schafer, government personnel expressed sympathetic interest in Area C’s plight.
“I was also delighted to see that government ministries openly showed a willingness to collaborate with each other like I’ve never seen before,” he said. “And I’m hopeful that they will follow through on their expressions of doing things more proactively than reactively.”
Schafer also sat in on a number of plenary sessions such as indigenous reconciliation and cannabis legislation.
When asked about Area C candidate Rick Knodel, Schafer said the man has unbounded passion and heart for the job.
“He’s been supportive and helpful to me as my alternate for the past four years and I appreciate him for that.”
But regardless of who his successor is, Schafer said he will help with a smooth transition and will be available for advice.
Also running for Area C director is Randy Toor from Desert Hills Estate Winery.
Schafer said he met with Toor to give him a sense of outstanding issues and “I feel he could indeed be an asset on the board.”
The director said he hopes that whoever wins the election can attend the “newly elected” seminars to get a better sense of the limits of the job.
Schafer said he has been vocal about the strangeness of the regional district form of governance compared with a municipal council.
“The newly elected director will quickly realize that resource staff also have at least seven other areas to deal with. That forces things to slow down and, when staff are busy operating an emergency operations centre, it’s trying at times to get things done.”
