Over the next few weeks you will read and hear many comments and promises about future achievements proposed by candidates. The most important thing to consider is whether or not the candidates can deliver on those promises.

In 2008 I ran a strong campaign with two very credible opponents and I received a strong mandate to make change in Oliver. With the help of Council I led that change and convinced all of Council that the Southwinds Crossing development was worthy of support and we should proceed with re-zoning to allow development. The result of our decision is as follows:
114 completely new jobs were created and all these jobs were taken by local people. Buy Low increased its staff from 25 to 77, the Source hired 4, Marks Work Wear House hired 3, Canadian Tire hired 33 and Tim Horton’s hired 22. These new businesses offer some of the shopping options requested during my 2008 campaign and this occurred during the 2007/10 recession.
The Owner of the Oliver Suites Hotel beside the river on 362nd told me recently that he expects to be up and running in February 2012. Council will do everything it can to assist him.

Council has supported and provided staff time to assist with Communities in Bloom (we are at the top of class 4 with one more class to go); the Town applied for and received a Western Diversification federal government grant and provided administrative assistance to a “make work project” called “Paint the Town” which was spearheaded by Tracy, Petra and Alberto Veintmilla; we also supported and provided staff time to the “Measuring Up” committee to help make Oliver more accessible to people with disabilities. We now have a Restorative Justice Program to assist in diverting young, first time offenders out of the court system and re-integrating them back into the community.

These items are a few of 47 projects which Council has endorsed and/or brought to completion since 2008/9.

Promoting the Town, making us an age friendly community, promoting Main Street, launching the Oliver Safe Community Group which led to Restorative Justice under Terry Schafer, adoption of a “Controlled Substance Bylaw and an Animal Control Bylaw are some of my previous campaign promises and I have achieved what I set out to do in 2009. Unlike my predecessors I did not gain my title by acclamation; I fought hard for the privilege of being your Mayor and I believe I have won the right to ask you to re-elect me so I can continue my job of taking Oliver on a path to prosperity.

Council decisions are a democratic process and consensus is achieved by a majority vote. Any commitment made to constituents by a Mayor or Councillor candidate must receive the assent of Council and no matter how worthy the commitment may be, the “mover” of a motion must first have it “seconded” before the motion is recognized and a majority vote of Council is required to bring the resolution into being. Therefore no matter what a candidate promises you they must first get it passed by Council. The Mayor has only one vote to use as he/she see fit and typically will use that vote as a tie-breaker.

As constituent voters, you should vote in the Mayor and Councillors you believe will deliver what you want. When you make your decisions, you should base it in part on whether the present Council has made decisions which have made your community a better place to live. You should not base it on one thing which angers you nor should you base it solely on something which is being promised by a candidate.  Therefore you must consider the likelihood that the candidate can “deliver the goods” and Council’s decisions must consider the long term beneficial affect on the community. It costs money to run a Town and we do our best to keep taxes at the rate of inflation but there are costs to the services you receive and the only way to reduce costs is to cut back services. If any candidate suggests they will reduce your taxes or return to un-metered water, or return to street numbers you need to remember that those decisions need the majority of Council to agree and that there will be a cost to undo work already started or completed.

I am asking you to re-elect me as your Mayor for the 2011/14 term.

Water meters and street naming are hot topics and I want to clarify some important points:

Water Meters were a requirement of funding for the three phase water twinning project to guarantee potable water to all our customers This project started early in 2002. One line is for potable water from Town wells and the other line is connected to the irrigation canal and is for farms, wineries and orchards. The meter unit costs and installation were paid for from the Water Utility fund and the per cubic meter cost of water charged quarterly is to cover the cost of maintenance, pump replacement and wages for the people who maintain the system. The cubic meter cost has to balance out against the cost of running the utility with a small percentage put into a reserve fund to pay for emergency repairs. No money leaves town other than to pay for purchases.

Water is becoming a scarce commodity and we do not want to find ourselves draining down our aquifers to the point where rationing is a reality. We know that we can reduce water consumption by about 15% to 20% and this will enable us to allow for residential and retail store development over the next 20 years. The reality is that our water treaty with the US is coming up for renewal and BC has to be sure it can meet the contractual obligations to the treaty. Residents will have to adjust their water use habits and reduce consumption and this means watering grass less frequently but still delivering 1” of water into the ground about once or twice a week depending on weather; not leaving the tap running while working or washing in the sink, reducing the amount of water in the toilet tank and not flushing as much, reducing showers to 5 minutes and putting in a flow restrictor on each faucet. We use potable water at a rate higher than Penticton; you can get more information on this from the Town office 250-485-6200.

Street Names. Contrary to some of the comments you will read or hear, I do not care if we have names or numbers for our streets but I do care when I get calls from upset residents about problems associated with the present system of box numbers and street addresses 5 digits long. In my second term as a Councillor I tried to get the new red community mailboxes and was told by Canada Post in Kelowna that we would not get them until we had adopted a consistent system of community addressing. In 2009/10 Canada post stated that they had decided to install the new boxes and we had until 2011 to determine our civic addresses and get rid of rural routes. The Town set up a committee which included the FD, RCMP, BC Ambulance and other stakeholders to find out whether residents wanted names or numbers. There was majority support from residents who attended the two public meetings to go back to street names. The modern computerized dispatch system in Kelowna can handle the changeover and the process will be orderly. The budget for this project was $40,000 and will be under budget by about $12,000. You can get more information at the Town office 250-485-6200.

 

Thank You for your time.

Pat Hampson,Mayor of Oliver