The other side of the story …

I would like to address the comments made by the RDCO Board Chair in the Jan 25 Your Letters section of the Vernon Morning Star.

If the RDCO Board was truly looking to “come to a better place at the end of the process” as was stated then more attention should have been spent addressing the actual request made by the community. In the NWCA August 22 presentation to the Board the community was very clear as to both the Study requested and the results they were hoping it to achieve. It was not and is not what the Chair describes here, regardless of the statements pulled from context of discussions and correspondence between the Ministry Staff and RDCO Staff, most of which the community and the elected representative were not privy to. It is the North Westside community’s position in this case that should be championed by the Regional District.

The Chair’s position seems intent to water down the scope of the requested Study and has “reiterated the position put forward by the Ministry” as she has interpreted it. The Board in my opinion should be far more supportive of the position put forward by the North Westside and try to expand the Study to meet the request of the community they are so intent to represent.

The Study as described by the Chair does nothing to answer the main grievance; that being the loss of our stakeholders voting rights to determine decisions on services that only Electoral Area residents pay for and participate in. This current scope would produce a very limited result and no path forward and that would be acceptable to the residents request as they have clearly expressed publicly at two town hall meetings.