Questions and answers.
It was a full house at the Elks Hall on November 1, as people came to hear what their future School Board Trustees, RDOS Director, Mayor and Councillors had to say and to ask questions.
The meeting, hosted by Osoyoos Now and moderated by Bud Alcorn, ran three hours, with all but mayoral candidate Ray Vanden-berg attending.
The trustee and RDOS candidates were each allowed a three-minute introduction to themselves and their platforms, but due to the number of candidates at the forum, were not able to take questions from the audience.
The three School Trustee candidates each outlined their back-grounds, involvement with the youth of Osoyoos, and the reasons why their experience would ensure they would be the best candidate for School District No. 53.
Next, RDOS candi-dates Mark Pendergraft and Eike Scheffler gave their introductions and outlined their platforms.
Although their styles varied greatly, Pendergraft and Scheffler shared some common-alities with regard to the town and rural area needing to work together, the importance of getting sewers around the lake, and the contentious issue of boundary expansion.
After each of the mayoral and council candidates introduced themselves, the floor was opened to questions.
The first question was directed at Stu Wells, who had noted in his disclosure statement that he owns two holding companies.
However, Wells was queried about his ownership of a numbered company, which gained approval for a development on Nighthawk Drive, but which he did not disclose on his candidate disclosure form.
Wells was asked what other properties he or his family owns in Osoyoos, and whether he was affiliated with Gateway Marina. Wells replied that he is not associated with, and has no part of, the numbered company in question. Wells added he is not affiliated with Gateway Marina, and said he and his brother own a duplex on Jonagold.
The second question was directed at John Slater and Tom Shields regarding the release of a complete and detailed financial statement from Destination Osoyoos.
Slater and Shields were asked to explain why this information has not been given readily, if something is being hidden and if there is any conflict of interest.
Slater responded by saying that anybody can obtain the information on DO's financial statement from Town Hall or Destination Osoyoos. He added that there are no secrets and that he doesn't feel he has any conflict.
Shields agreed that the information is available, and as far as he could tell, everything is above board.rnMayoral candidate Michael Ryan pointed out that, if elected, he would include the audited financial statements of Destination Osoyoos in the Town of Osoyoos Annual Report.
The third question, directed at John Slater, asked when the mayor and council will be governing the town, rather than the town manager.
Slater answered that CAO Elsie Lemke has been doing a great job at administration. He added that council is not prepared to do anything with staffing at this time.
Shields added that concerns about certain staff members will have to be addressed by the new council.
Councillor candidate Dick Flintoft pointed out that Lemke only follows the direction of council and does not vote on any issues.
Ryan answered that if elected, he and his council would determine the direction the town staff would take and would ensure they serve the interests of the people.
The fourth question, asked by a DO volunteer treasurer, was directed at all the council candidates, and asked for a show of hands indicating who had personally obtained a copy of the 2004 financial statement from Destination Osoyoos.
Most of the candidates indicated they had, but Allan Carswell pointed out that when he looked at the statement, with his financial background, he concluded there was insufficient detail to persuade him to invest in DO, were it a public company. He added that did not imply the statement is wrong or is hiding anything, just that there is a lack of detail.
Stu Wells noted that if elected, he would encourage DO to provide audited financial statements to the people, adding the citizens are owed that.
Ted Cronmiller reminded everyone that DO has an annual general meeting, to which the public is invited and have the chance to ask questions.
DO was also the subject of question number five, as each of the candidates was asked to state whether or not they are or had been directly involved with the operation of Destination Osoyoos.
Ted Cronmiller, John Slater and Dick Flintoft affirmed their involvement; the other candidates said they were not involved.
Question number six asked each of the candidates, if elected, whether they would do a full review of senior staff.
Slater was about to respond to the question, however, moderator Bud Alcorn stepped out of his role and spoke out to say Slater didn't need to. Alcorn said he knew that the Town of Osoyoos annually reviewed all staff and that the review determines everything from wages to staffing levels.
The seventh question was directed at Michael Ryan, and asked how he would resolve the deep division within the town.
Ryan stated he would institute a larger degree of consultation with affected citizens before decisions are made and change the way residents are notified about developments in their neighbourhoods.
He added that he would initiate regular townhall meetings in additional to annual and semi-annual meetings.
Slater said he was aware the town is divided but felt the key is to ensure the workers and youth of the community have jobs and can sustain the community with as little impact as possible on neighbourhoods. He added that, although the Town advertises meetings and opportunities for public input, very few residents come out to participate.
He noted that the audience at that night's meeting indicates there is an issue and that people are unhappy, but said people need to look at all the good things that have happened in town in the last three years.
A heated exchange then took place between RDOS Director Eike Scheffler and John Slater about the quality of the lake, sewers and boundary expansion.
The eighth question, directed at the three present members of council, asked why with the possibility of only one councillor and one mayor returning to the new council, they would consider holding a public hearing within five days of the election regarding the rezoning of the Gateway Marina. The second part of the question asked Flintoft, Shields and Slater if they would support a recommendation to postpone the public hearing until after the election. Shields said yes, he would support that recommendation and Flintoft and Slater said they would not consider postponing the hearing.
The ninth and final question was directed at John Slater, and asked him to name the second largest full-time employer in Osoyoos as of 2004. Slater answered the lake, but was then in fact told that, according to the Town of Osoyoos website, the second largest employer in Osoyoos was McDonalds. Slater was then asked to explain where all the good paying jobs are to allow people to afford to buy a home in Osoyoos.
Slater agreed that historically Osoyoos has seen a lot of service and agricultural industry jobs, but said that things are changing and improvements are coming in the construction field.
The candidates then made their closing comments and thanked the audience for attending.
