Two canditates for Area “A”
RDOS Area A Director Eike Scheffler will be seeking re-election this November.
Scheffler confirmed his intentions last week, saying he'll give it one more try.
Outspoken and passionate about several issues, including the Osoyoos Oxbows Restoration Project, sewer connections around Osoyoos Lake and boundary expansion, Scheffler said he is willing to carry on for another term.
Scheffler hopes to initiate a bigger picture for the community.
He is against boundary expansion and calls it a piecemeal concept that will cut off the rest of the rural area and lead to a polarized, hostile environment.
We need to have some kind of long-term plan, Scheffler said of the current development boom happening in Osoyoos.
It's not a matter of closing the door, it's a matter of doing some thinking about what is best for the whole community, from Richter Pass to Anarchist to the U.S. border to somewhere in the valley. We all pay taxes, directly or indirectly, and we all live here and shop here.
The second fight Scheffler intends to continue is to get the sewer around the lake and to get the oxbows project in place to protect the Okanagan basin watershed.
If we don't have the oxbows, we don't have a filter for anything that comes down the valley, Scheffler said.
We've got support from the economic development group in Oliver, from Commu-nity Futures, from some of the local developers but nothing so far from the Town of Osoyoos. I can't understand that.rnThe division between the town and the rural district has been widening, according to Scheffler. He plans to initiate a study to look at alternate ways of running the community, including looking at a District Municipality.
This town needs a visionary mayor. There's not just one way to run the community, there are several ways. Whatever makes geographical as well as political sense. We don't want to be boxed in with one option, which is what the town wants; pick and choose key areas that are high tax-based and leave the rest of us out.
And they're sacri-ficing the lake in terms of the sewer because they are saying they will give us the sewer if we join the town, Scheffler added.
Scheffler believes others will be running for Rural A Director, but says he is ready for the campaign.
But controversy over Scheffler's association with Regal Ridge developer Adrian Erickson keeps coming to the surface, although Scheffler insists that the rumours are unfounded.
People have been saying I'm in Erickson's back pocket, that I'm taking benefits and that I'm doing this and doing that. I haven't taken anything from him that I haven't paid for. But I also want to live here with my head held high, and down the road be able to say 'I've done the best I can.' As for the election, I love a good fight, and may the best person win, Scheffler said.
* * * Also announcing his candidacy for Area A Director last week was Mark Pendergraft, although he was unavailable for further comment at press time.
