Reforming City Hall

We know that one person does not make a reform movement, and simply changing faces at City Hall will not do that either, unless those individuals recognize that the fundamental changes needed are not in personalities, but in the structure that presently erodes our government. Without limiting the control and influence of city management not much will change.

There is an undercurrent of discontent in the electorate in Penticton, but how far from the surface that runs remains to be seen. It is common street talk to want “change,” but what about serious change that will actually hit City Hall and improve the democratic stature and general well being of citizens?

Powerful forces have had a stranglehold for several decades; they are not going to give up the golden goose without a battle. City Hall, the mayor and council have been handmaidens to the chamber of commerce and developers for a long spell, and they like the bed they’ve made.

The only effective way to reform governance in Penticton is to redirect the flow of our money, and put in place simple regulatory “fences” to control the steady stream of schemes trying (and routinely succeeding) to weasel their way through what are now “Swiss cheese” rules. Consider an Official City Plan of 230-plus pages and a city parks plan of an equal volume; any developer, lawyer, or city manager will find a hole large enough to drive a truck through the bafflegab.

The foundation for a progressive, reform-minded slate of councillors and mayor would look like this:

FAIRNESS in TAXATION

• Almost immediately, eliminate the economic incentive zone that hands taxpayer dollars to special business interests, or simply fails to collect them.
• Move quickly to bring the business to residential tax ratio/multiplier (now round 1.6), which presently penalizes residential home owners, up to the provincial average (about 2.7).
• Redirect the room occupancy “tax” now being handed to the Tourism Penticton ($500,000/year) back to taxpayers and dedicate it to parks maintenance and increased management presence on beaches and in parks.

COST OF RUNNING THE CITY

Most taxpayers are concerned with the cost of running this city. Salaries and benefits are a major portion of that cost. With simplification of regulations and planning, we should see a smaller city staff.

City Hall planning department has been subsidizing developers, to the tune of millions of dollars for well over a decade. No more! Fees should not only exceed costs, but help taxpayers with services and maintenance.

Brian L. Horejsi, Penticton