– Districts not communicating, co-operating with each other on amalgamation issue-
OSOYOOS TIMES-January 9, 2008-
By Chad IngramrnOsoyoos Times
The rural directors of the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) said they are fearful a proposed single regional district for the entire Okanagan Valley would overlook the needs of rural areas in favour of the interests of larger communities.
A provincial governance review exploring the option of combining the RDOS, the Regional District of the Central Okanagan (RDCO) and the Regional District North Okanagan (RDNO) will likely take place this year.
The directors said there has not been enough dialogue on the subject within the RDOS board while regional residents are not being informed about the amalgamation concept.
The directors said these are the reasons they banded together last week and sent letters to the district's media outlets.
What prompted it was a Dec. 19 meeting with regards to one regional district, said Mark Pendergraft, the RDOS Area A director. Past ones have been held further up the valley.
Pendergraft said the meeting was the first time many RDOS directors had really been exposed to the concept of a single regional district for the valley.
Some of the directors, especially those from rural areas, didn't like what they heard, he said.
The RDOS board is composed of eight rural and 10 municipal directors.
Some communities further up the valley are proposing one regional district that would, in our opinion, essentially eliminate the rural areas, Pendergraft said. We wouldn't have a voice.rnHe said the communities making such a proposal include Armstrong, Vernon and Kelowna.
Advocates of a single, combined regional district say the management of air quality, water quality and transportation would be easier under a unified governmentrnBut Pendergraft doesn't believe this is reason enough to restructure the entire system.
I've yet to be convinced of anything other than those three (issues) and they can be dealt with under the current system, he said, pointing out that organizations such as the Okanagan Basin Water Board already have members from all three districts working together to manage resources.
The idea of combining the RDOS, the RDCO and the RDNO into one large, centralized district was advocated by Peachland Mayor Graham Reid in a letter to provincial Community Services Minister Ida Chong in August.
In that letter, Reid said Peachland council had passed a resolution to urge the minister of community services to review regional governance in the Okanagan Valley with a view considering a regional governance structure that covers the entire Okanagan Basin.
Chong responded to Reid with a letter that said I look forward to working with you and your board members in the coming months to design a process for realizing these opportunities.
RDOS Area E Director and former District Vice-Chair Tom Chapman said Peachland's actions made him and others angry.
To make a request like that without consulting other districts is arrogant and self-serving.
Chapman said in the months since the correspondence between Reid and Chong he and other RDOS rural directors have been continually stonewalled by members of the RDCO, including Reid and District Chair Robert Hobson, who is also a Kelowna councillor.
Chapman said he fears rural directors from all three districts are being left out of the decision-making process.
Like Pendergraft, Chapman said informing the public on the unfolding events within the valley's regional districts is crucial.
Regional district governance is not a high priority on most peoples' minds he said.
It's not something people deal with until they have to deal with their neighbour, but we think it's a very crucial link for people to have.
At an Oct. 2, 2007 meeting, the soon-to-be-amalgamated Osoyoos, Oliver and OK Falls chambers of commerce voted unanimously in support of a study on a single district for the Okanagan Valley.
I think it's good, said Myers Bennett, interim president of the combined chamber. But we don't want to lose continuity in smaller places. Those are the kinds of things they (the province) would have to look at.
Osoyoos Mayor John Slater, who is also a municipal director on the RDOS board, said the proposal needs to be reviewed.
We have to look at this thing, he said. When the regional districts came into being they were just an idea thrown out there.
Maybe this is one of those ideas.
Slater said he was aware, however, of the potential complications of an amalgamated district.
The centre would be Kelowna, he said. The concern would be how does rural Princeton get a fair shake with the centre in Kelowna.
A meeting of the directors of all three districts is scheduled to take place on Jan. 11 in Vernon.
Pendergraft said he expects a request for a governance review on the amalgamation proposal from the province will be sent to the B.C. Ministry of Community Services sometime in February.
