One Foot Off Center discusses fuel mitigation in and around Kelowna, are we at risk? .

Wildfire fuel mitigation

Castanet presents One Foot Off Center, a podcast tackling the big issues facing the Okanagan.

Rick Maddison, Ron Mattiussi, Scott Lanigan and Jeff Cox will meet every month to discuss how those issues impact everyday Canadians.

Maddison is a well-known entrepreneur in Kelowna and owner of Tempest Media. Mattiussi is the former chief administrator of the City of Kelowna and has worked in local government across the province.

Lanigan is the lead pastor of Trinity Church, one of Kelowna’s largest churches, who has served with various community groups like Journey Home.

Cox is the founder and CEO of Kelowna-based Simply Benefits.

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On this episode, the panel discusses wildfire fuel mitigation around Kelowna. Are we at risk?

Despite several start-ups in recent weeks, the Okanagan has been spared from the worst of this year's wildfire season.

The panel discusses whether or not the province should be putting the money saved from this year's firefighting season into mitigation efforts.

Maddison shares his frustration with Woodhaven Nature Conservancy Park, where he says he has asked various levels of government for help in mitigating the fire risk of dead trees in the park.

The other topic discussed deals with how budgets are allocated year over year.

"If a city department doesn’t use its budget one year (snow removal for instance) do you lose the budget for next year or is there any kind of incentive for city employees to look for cost-savings? To the outlier, it appears like, 'you better spend it or you lose it,'" Maddison says.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.