232808
Letters  

City, RDOS squabbling

It was an eye opener to read that Karla Kozakevich has so little faith in her fellow directors on the RDOS board that she thinks the loss of Judy Sentes on the board is worth fighting with the mayor of Penticton (Castanet, Nov. 9).

I don’t think Karla’s opinion of Judy is held by the majority of Pentictonites, as Judy barely squeaked in to the last seat on Penticton council this term. There will be close to a dozen members who have served as regional directors on the RDOS and have either been re-elected or have served on local city councils before. They would have sat on many boards in the past and will be familiar with board structure, so sitting on a hospital board shouldn’t be a stretch.

Kozakevich is breaking new ground. I don’t recall a previous instance of a chair of the regional district criticizing the decisions of a mayor in a neighbouring city that carries 40-plus per cent of their budget.  

It seems Kozakevich has come out gunning for Vassilaki, and it should be an interesting year. They say if you are looking for motives, you should always follow the money. Karla is running for chair of the RDOS again. As board chair, her salary for 2017 was $62,607.

There are approximately 10 other experienced board appointees who could fill that position if they want it. 

Penticton council elected by 6-1 the four people who will represent Penticton. The only person voting against the appointments was Sentes. It should be noted that Judy was selected as an alternate director, which also means she will be sitting on the RDOS board on any occasion that a regular director is unable to appear. As this happens quite often, the reason cannot be failure to appoint to the board. The real reason must be either the loss of the board hospital position, which will go to a regular appointee, or Kozakevich’s ambitions to retain the lucrative RDOS chair position.

Penticton’s council was elected to ensure the satellite communities begin to carry their share of the recreational infrastructure they use in Penticton. If they fail in their mandate, Pentictonites need to seriously question whether their city should be making an application to leave the RDOS.

Elvena Slump, Penticton



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