Losing faith in council

With municipal elections less than two months away, I'm really puzzled as to why and how Penticton city council has managed to get away with limping through its tenure. 

There was a recent article in which a councillor was reported as stating there is no need to attend all community committees (because of his busy schedule), because he can read the minutes and get informed that way. 

As a person who's been on several committees and organizations over the past 30 years, I have seen that minutes are not a precise record of what happened in a meeting. 

At the Aug. 21 council meeting, there was a recommendation from one of the city's advisory committees. However, for whatever reason that I can't fathom, council totally misread a recommendation (to invite a discussion with Interior Health, to promote a healthy community, traffic issues and parking at PRH). 

Instead of agreeing to send a letter to IH, to discuss how to promote a healthy community, council read one item of the three – parking (oh no, not parking, again). They then voted to "receive" the request.

My faith in their understanding has been greatly diminished.

Penticton recently participated in the Smart Cities challenge. The essence was to come up with a single sentence that would reflect Penticton, it's citizens and community: "Let's build a physically & mentally healthier, strongly connected Penticton where each person has access and opportunity to maximize their health potential."

We now know that Penticton was not successful with this challenge, and therefore were not eligible for related funds.  

Does this help me understand why council could not understand the recommendation from the advisory committee? Does this mean that Penticton's elected councillors are only interested in show and not substance and have little interest in a healthy community? 

Hopefully I'll get some clarity at upcoming all-candidate meetings.

Brigid Kemp, Penticton