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.
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MAP posted-by: Matt