Councillor raises possible need for changes with Destination Osoyoos
Councillor Tom Shields hinted that changes may be coming to Destination Osoyoos.
At the June 20 council meeting, Shields mentioned council had received a letter from a longtime Osoyoos resident.
The letter addressed secrecy at Destination Osoyoos, particularly with respect to the motel tax issue and the packinghouse property.
The letter also mentioned the chorus of boos levelled at the report delivered by DO Chairman Arnie Polischuk during the June 9 public hearing.
Council also knows that we have had other issues come before us with little or no information ahead of time for us to make a decision, Shields said.
But Shields added that is only a method of operation, and it can be changed.
I want to apologize to Mr. Polischuk and members of the board of Destination Osoyoos because I was kind of disappointed in us all. We don't boo our volunteers. DO has an excellent board of cross-representatives of the community. They have an excellent staff.
Maybe with changes coming with the Gateway Project, they will have yearly government funding for staffing purposes.
The possibility exists for us to look at maybe bringing the economic development function back into the town, possibly co-related with the planning department.
The board could continue to set pararmeters, but the major change is that it makes the economic development accountable to the town and townspeople, who are footing most of the bill.rnThe bottom line, Shields said, is that if the public doesn't like the way things are going, the politicians would be the ones getting booed, not the volunteers.
Council will be undertaking a vision building exercise next month which may allow us to look closer at this, and other possibilities, Shields said.
He added that from an image standpoint, it seems that the name Destination Osoyoos might have run its course, and changes should be looked into.
I think everyone of us has learned a lesson here: the less we know, the more dangerous we all become.
