Pubdate: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2014 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/5NyOACet Website: http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531 Author: Salomon Rayek THE CHALLENGE FOR OUR NEXT MAYOR After Mayor Walter Gray decided not to run for re-election, everyone is talking about his legacy. The mayor says his legacy was the reconstruction of Bernard Avenue and "opening Kelowna for business." For some, Gray will be remembered for megaprojects and construction. The establishment got on well with his policies. But the majority of Kelowna residents will remember him as the big spender, donating taxpayers' money to organizations like the ballet or the Okanagan Symphony. Furthermore, he ignored the needs of most Kelownians - particularly young families struggling to pay their bills and those looking for work or affordable housing. During a time of economic recession and hardship for many, he increased taxes instead of at least freezing them. Several areas of Kelowna were ignored until election year. Rutland received little until it suddenly was given a "Rutland Pride" grant. But Rutland people know their taxes have been increased and that they have not seen benefits from it. To the contrary, their money was spent on the city centre. The biggest challenge for the next mayor will be to earn the respect and support of all of Kelowna's residents, not just a few. This can be done through projects that benefit us all. The next mayor will face further challenges. The current mayor argues he has supported business development. But, his idea of fostering business is to build large infrastructure projects. He is wrong. Large infrastructure projects are costly and don't result in many long-term jobs. To foster business growth, the next mayor should consider how to create a climate that welcomes business. This can involve such factors as tax rates and the judicious support of new businesses. In a recent magazine article, Kelowna was ranked No. 92 out of the best places to live in Canada. Our economic development officer responded by stating the study included irrelevant criteria and that the city's own poll, not surprisingly, found high satisfaction among Kelowna residents. Kelowna's next city government has to stop sugar-coating the facts and confront the reality there are a number of reasons why Kelowna was ranked 92nd. These include high housing costs and lack of employment opportunities for young people, who end up leaving Kelowna and going to work in Alberta. The city can do a lot to address these issues, as well as others, such as traffic. This is a fairly small city, but if it doesn't work to address the congestion on our streets, Kelowna is going to end up with Vancouver's traffic nightmares. On the issue of crime, the RCMP seems to be focusing its attention on speeders and traffic offenders, rather than actually tackling real problems in the city. Safe, secure streets will come with good government and a local police force, not a fancy $42-million RCMP building. Kelowna has the embarrassing title of marijuana capital of Canada. Yet, for some reason, the local government allowed the Crossroads rehabilitation centre to close for lack of funding. Crime, poverty and drugs are not unrelated, and the city has a responsibility to come up with some proactive methods of addressing these. On my evening walks with my dog, I am always running into kids smoking marijuana in the park, and I hear from teachers that pot use is high among students. I think about my young son, and wonder about the kind of city he is going to grow up in. City Hall has a responsibility to address these issues. Doing so would be a true legacy. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt