Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff took up Councillor C.J. Rhodes’ challenge to give a rant on Monday, but it came out as a book report. (Richard McGuire file photo)

Councillor C.J. Rhodes has delivered “rants” at the last two council meetings, but he chose to do something different at Monday’s council meeting, telling how an earlier “rant” turned into a friendly wager.

“It’s incredible how a rant about a rant can still draw media attention,” he said, referring to coverage in the Osoyoos Times of his straight-from-the-heart “rants” on March 19 and April 3.

“There will be no rant about a rant about a rant,” he assured other council members when it came time to give his report to council.

In his self-described “rant” of March 19, Rhodes said marijuana “smells pretty good” and he likes its benefits. He contrasted it with tobacco smoke, which he said he finds “incredibly offensive.”

During that rant, he also took aim at the number of cigarette butts that are tossed on Cottonwood Beach and he claimed that if you run your hands through the sand, you’d come up with butts.

In his April 3 “rant,” he challenged other council members to also “rant” about things they believe in, saying he received nothing but support from residents on his earlier rant.

At Monday’s council meeting instead, Rhodes said a friend challenged him on his claim about cigarette butts on the beach.

Soon the two engaged in a “scientific analysis” of his earlier claim.

“There was a small wager placed as a side bet to keep us motivated and scientific about it,” Rhodes recounted dryly.

The skeptical friend asked Rhodes to point to a spot on the beach for their experiment, and Rhodes pointed to a piece of sand a few feet from the stairs.

“He got down on his hands and knees, plunged his hands into the sand and sifted it through and came up with a cigarette butt,” said the vindicated councillor.

In their reports to council, the mayor and councillors usually give an account of the events they attend and projects they’re working on.

But Mayor Sue McKortoff, who is not a ranter by nature, decided to take up Rhodes’ challenge and deliver a “rant” of her own.

But instead of a “rant,” the mayor delivered a thoughtful book report, without any of the raw emotion of a Rhodes Rant.

Her book was, “I’m Right and You’re an Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean it Up,” by James Hoggan and Grania Litwin.

“Democracy requires space for compromise and compromise is best won through acknowledging the legitimate concerns of the other,” she quoted from the book, saying it really made sense to her.

“We can’t collaborate to solve global or systemic problems when we treat the other as enemies,” she continued with another quote.

The book, she said, is available from Okanagan Regional Library.

RICHARD McGUIRE

Osoyoos Times

Councillor C.J. Rhodes. (Richard McGuire file photo)