Manipulator Macnabb

Ever the contrarian, Greater Vernon Advisory Committee director Mike Macnabb knows better.
Or should anyway.

He routinely "stirs up" the monthly meeting pot at RDNO, desiring perhaps as much to cement new alliances to his ideas as he is to creating chasms among peers who express divergent points of view.

Mike Macnabb's years-long, public and virtually automatic opposition to anything that Coldstream councillor and GVAC director Gyula Kiss states regarding the Master Water Plan has been witnessed by virtually everyone. 


The latest Macnabb salvo arrived at Thursday's GVAC meeting when stakeholder advisory committee details were still being discussed, while calls for applications have been in the Morning Star newspaper for several issues. 

Macnabb said "The group (CCMWP) has put forward the name of an individual they want and that's biased to some extent." 

For the record, what Citizens for Changes to the Master Water Plan stated was:

"We believe that someone such as Don Dobson who is a professional engineer with considerable knowledge and experience in water supplies in the Okanagan--or someone similar--would be a credible independent source of information and expertise to assist the Stakeholder Advisory Committee.  We strongly believe that the Master Water Plan review process needs an individual with an arms length relationship to the existing plan, to assist the committee by providing GVAC with independent advice.  We respect the involvement of RDNO staff and the input they can and have provided to the process, but it is important that the SAC have an independent consultant so that the review process can proceed without any claims of bias."

In other words, exactly the opposite of what Macnabb was implying to his peers.
Or to be less than succinct, to not consider a complete illiterate in the educated and professional world of water consultants.  
Or to rely on GVW's choice--Macnabb--who heads RDNO's "water committee" for an unbiased representation to the stakeholder advisory group.

The attempted manipulation by Macnabb fell flat at his feet, as his counterpart directors, first Fleming and then Chair Cunningham reiterated "they aren't saying this has to be the person...it's just one name to consider..."

Exactly!

To end on a decidedly tongue-in-cheek example--and to show that Murphy's Law is alive and well--the letter to Chair Cunningham by CCMWP Chair Terry Mooney had a circuitous delivery route...by the time of the meeting, Chair Cunningham hadn't received it, despite it having been hand delivered to reception during the last week of July.  Paddy Juniper--who issues all communication and delegation requests for the advisory committee at RDNO -- hadn't seen it either, but quickly saw to it that a copy was obtained and advisory committee directors received theirs.

Turns out reception at RDNO--rather than holding the letter for Chair Cunningham for the upcoming meeting at RDNO--sent it in the internal mail system to the City of Vernon (where Chair Cunningham is a councillor).  Without a council meeting scheduled ahead of the RDNO GVAC meeting, Councillor Cunningham had not received her mail at City of Vernon by the time she chaired the GVAC meeting at RDNO.  (Aaaargh!)


"It takes sleet or hail for the postal system to prevail," grins Kia.
 

Apparently.

An Open Letter to Terry Mooney

I don't know how to reach Terry Mooney, so hopefully someone will forward the blog link to him.

"Kelowna built the UV treatment plants in 2006-2007 for

about $7 million and have no trouble at all." 

Coldstream Councillor Gyula Kiss

First, Terry, I want to thank you and your group for choosing to form a residents' committee to oppose what Greater Vernon Water's bureaucrats are doing and have done.  As no doubt Peter Moore and Bruce Shepherd--from the failed amalgamation push in the North Okanagan--would tell you, it's a thankless job, and one fraught with odds for failure.

"...look at the nearly $200 million (yes 200 million dollars!) proposal...(what should be, but is not...) the best solution for the long term viability of the water system."

Coldstream Councillor Gyula Kiss

While residents are thrilled the $70 million referendum failed in November, the fact that its question didn't include a "cause and effect" statement has now allowed GVW's bureaucrats to move along as though nothing had occurred.  There was no statement on the referendum on what would occur if the referendum failed, i.e. a peer review, for instance. 

The simple solution?  "Duteau no treatment, all for irrigation.  Domestic all treated and from the

 Kalamalka/Okanagan Lake sources."

Coldstream Councillor Gyula Kiss

Bureaucrats continue to ride the donkey that is the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee.  And that donkey stupidly goes along with most everything demanded of it.  A simple majority rules, and yes, the majority of elected representatives have simple views that show a complete lack of understanding.

The critical question to ask is: 

 what does Kelowna do in an emergency

 with only one water source -- Okanagan Lake?

The Greater Vernon Advisory Committee is simple indeed.  There are no thoughtful questions, none of substance, no discussions of consequence, no demands of a peer review, no proper supervision of bureaucrats!  Nothing.  GVW bureaucrats have appointed elected director Macnabb to head one of their committees.  So what you say?  Director Macnabb lives in the BX area, and he's on a well.  So none of his "vote decisions" affect him!  And GVW bureaucrats know that! 

Proof is what has occurred with the private fire hydrant two-year long issue (and about 10 other links on this blog!).

Proof also is Greater Vernon Water's abject rejection of the simply smart recommended process and solution proposed all along by Coldstream councillor Gyula Kiss:

"To me the issue is simple:  Duteau no treatment, all for irrigation.  Domestic all treated and from the Kalamalka/Okanagan Lake sources.  When we look at the nearly $200 million (yes 200 million dollars!) proposal, the cost is secondary, the important issue is the best solution for the long term viability of the water system.  The attached table sows the rate changes over the years.  The most alarming change is in the base rates which have nothing to do with consumption."   

Bureaucrats and the "simple majority" of Greater Vernon Advisory Committee (elected) officials aren't the least bit concerned the referendum failed!  

Councillor Kiss' position:  "The presentation by the staff went as if there was no referendum and we are following the same plan as before."   When Councillor Kiss objected, he was told by Juliette Cunningham, chair of the committee that he "should not be negative"!  So much for Cunningham acting on behalf of her water-using (and angry) residents!  Should we be surprised?  Nope...she did the same thing with the private fire hydrant issue, first stating the annual tax "appears exorbitant", and then doing absolutely nothing to supervise bureaucrats' mishandling of the issue, let alone saying a firm "NO" to bureaucrats!

Kiss continues:  "I maintain that the system for agriculture should return to agriculture and all allocations should be honoured.  Domestic supply should be coming from Kalamalka and Okanagan Lakes.  It is that simple.  Had we started out from those principles we would have an unaltered VID system working without any money (having been) spent on it and we would be using Okanagan Lake without filtration like Kelowna is doing.  Kelowna built the UV treatment plants in 2006-2007 for about $7 million and have no trouble at all (with either high turbidity or the Interior Health Authority, who are demanding that GVW filter Duteau Creek water).  You can find Kelowna's turbidity reading for today (and every day) here.  Obviously, there is no need for filtration at those low turbidity readings. 

And what of GVW bureaucrats' claims that their dual source system (Kal and Duteau) for water customers?  Some years ago they spouted that was important so they could change / reverse water in cases of emergency.  

The critical question to ask is:  what does Kelowna do in an emergency with only one water source -- Okanagan Lake!

"Kelowna had the balls to say no to ridiculous ideas from their bureaucrats," suggests Kia, "why doesn't that occur here?"

And obviously Kelowna has more intelligent people at their Interior Health office.

What's really sad is the pathetic silence from the Okanagan Basin Water Board, whose head Anna Warwick-Sears, who holds a Ph.D, actually should get involved in this (instead of all the other "fluff" they stick their noses into, including a sojourn into dealing with the Okanagan Indian Band which was never part of their mandate!)  So much for the OBWB's attempts at "tenacious involvement".

Councillor Kiss deserves our unmitigated support and thanks.

And now Terry Mooney and his committee of concerned citizens deserve that as well.

Good luck, Terry Mooney et al.

...and thank you and Gyula Kiss!

Dangerous Duteau

Don't filter Duteau Creek water.
Shut Duteau down.
Keep it only for its original use--irrigation of farms and acreages.

This article is (naturally) in lay language, the limit of my comprehension.
And to be blunt, that's probably the limit of many everyday acquaintances too.
Few of us are academics.
But there are things we should look at more deeply.

Let's start with a perception exercise.
Consider the following two potential water sources for your family's drinking water.
Decide which of the two will supply water to you and your extended family.

(Technical people involved in the area's water system will scoff at my "oversimplification", but we residents--laypeople--were recently asked, via a referendum, to make decisions that affect us.  To many people, my oversimplified summary may still contain "complexities" about which they were personally unaware.  Such is life.)  
    
Back to the perception exercise.
Picture two lakes: 
Lake #1 is at the top of a watershed, a plateau with a few cabins (presumably with bio-toilets or septic fields), year-round public recreation (hunting, fishing, hiking), plentiful wildlife, the only industrial use is current and historical logging with clearcuts, open areas adjacent to now-riparian-protected lakefront with water system intakes.  Agricultural use includes grazing cattle on open range.  That's the Duteau Creek water system of four interconnected lakes which act as water reservoirs for snowmelt and rainfall.

Lake #2 is in the valley bottom, surrounded mostly by housing (the majority of which are connected to sanitary sewers), paved travel corridors with associated commercial construction, farming, former ranchlands, some parkland and historical cabins whose construction predated riparian rules (which have presumably now equipped themselves with bio-toilets or pumped septic catchments), a myriad of chiefly seasonal public uses (boating, fishing, beaches, camping).  That's the deep Kalamalka/Wood Lake water system, whose water inputs are predominantly from surface and groundwater springs.  Okanagan Lake is also such a lake.

Which would you choose for your family's drinking water?

Gut reaction would likely point to the upland source, Lake #1.
Having resided here for nearly 40 years, that was my feeling too.

Was!

Would your answer change if you discover that Lake #1, the upland system of four lakes, today contains carcinogens (cancer-producing substances) in it that were not present before the Duteau Creek Water Treatment Plant was built?

That's right, those cancer-producing substances were not present before the water treatment plant was built.

Duteau Creek Water Treatment Plant trihalomethane levels

have exceeded maximum recommended levels every year since 1998:

  1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011!!!!

Compare that to Kalamalka Lake water distribution through the Mission Hill Water Treatment Plant which has

NEVER exceeded 50 per cent of allowable levels !! 

Source:  Councillor Kiss' Powerpoint presentation, page 24 of 51

I recall in the early 1970s how beige the pre-treatment plant water from Duteau Creek was.  We sent to the dry cleaner my husband's white dress shirts.  I used to daily spend an hour, walking through our 1,100 tree apple orchard with a straight pin--yes a straight pin--in hand, to tediously unplug our 8-inch microjet irrigation's risers...a "glop" of something slimy and brown was always the culprit.  Then water again sprayed in its customary 180-degree pattern (two at each tree, totalling 2,200 emitters) from the now-unplugged emitters.  Rubbing the culprit between thumb and forefinger produced a soft wood/bark thingy that resembled a sliver.

That thingy was organic material, the cause of today's health problems that originate at Duteau Creek Water Treatment Plant.
Yes, it's the cause.
Because organic material led to treatment which led to the production of carcinogens.


Technical reports indicate that the four-lake system at Duteau contains a lot of organic material, especially when compared to the much lower amount of organic material contained in valley-bottom lakes (Kalamalka/Wood and Okanagan).

The more organic material there is, the more chlorination is required to treat the water.


So Duteau-sourced water needs a lot of disinfectant compared to lowland lakes.
But it's the by-product of disinfection that produces carcinogens.

Today, Duteau-sourced water contains Trihalomethanes and Haloacetic Acids, none of which were present previously.  

"Trihalomethanes are formed as a by-product predominantly when chlorine is used to disinfect water for drinking. They represent one group of chemicals generally referred to as disinfection by-products. They result from the reaction of chlorine or bromine with organic matter present in the water being treated. The THMs produced have been associated through epidemiological studies with some adverse health effects. Many governments set limits on the amount permissible in drinking water. However, trihalomethanes are only one group of many hundreds of possible disinfection by-products—the vast majority of which are not monitored—and it has not yet been clearly demonstrated which of these are the most plausible candidate for causation of these health effects." (Wikipedia link here).

"Haloacetic Acids are a common undesirable by-product of drinking water chlorination. Exposure to such disinfection by-products in drinking water has been associated with a number of health outcomes by epidemiological studies."  (Wikipedia link here).

A recent personal story will conclude this story.

But first an observation that occurred to me.

Did you ever--in a hurry--wash your hair under either the bathtub faucet or the bathroom sink?
And get a horribly strong sniff of chlorine, especially during winter months?
I have.  Lots of times.


That was a puzzle until "a little birdie" told me that residents--chiefly in East Coldstream, nearer the water treatment plant than other Vernon, Coldstream or BX residents on the same water system--were exposed to more chlorine.
Why?
Apparently because water sample readings at the waterlines' terminus had to contain "x" residual chlorine.  So more chlorine was added, exposing those nearer the water source to more chlorine, just to get the test samples to meet acceptable levels at distant testing outlets.

Approximately one-quarter of Greater Vernon Water's residents receive water from Duteau Creek, and I'm guessing that half of that one-quarter live in East Coldstream, exposed to higher-than-necessary levels of chlorine disinfection. 

OK, now for the personal story.

My husband of 44 years is hale and hearty, always has been.
Likely a result of good genes more than determination on his part, he does maintain a fully active work schedule, and has chosen not to retire from his business.
He never gets a cold or the flu, and his medium-sized frame compliments his height; no wheat-belly on him.  He does get aches and pains in his back from lifting (there's always something heavy to lift on acreage or in a business), but he's soon over that with copious self-medication of vitamins.  I don't recall that his shadow ever darkened a hospital doorway except when our daughter was born, and I would have fingers left over if I counted on one hand how many times he has gone to the doctor in all those years.

So imagine my surprise when after Christmas last month my husband complained of a "brutal headache".
I've never before heard my husband say he had a headache (he says he's never had one).

Day after day, the headache was in the same location, same side of his head.
Its pain "ebbed and flowed", but never really went away.
Then his eye on the headache side became bloodshot.
Day after day, the bloodshot eye and the pain.
Refusing to go to the doctor, he took aspirin for the pain.
He also didn't miss a day of work (likely because he owns the business...)

After approximately two weeks, he finally did attend his doctor.
Hallelujah.
The result?
Apparently a "sinus problem".

But I know it was my husband's fault.
Yes, my husband is responsible, along with Duteau Creek.
You see, he's one of those people who takes long hot showers, saying that his back muscles benefit.

So why the reference to Duteau Creek if we're talking about the husband's long showers?

Read further from Wiki:  "Some of the trihalomethanes are quite volatile and may easily vaporize into the air. This makes it possible to inhale THMs while showering, for example. The EPA, however, has determined that this exposure is minimal compared to that from consumption."  I'm thinking back to the strong chlorine smell, especially during winter (and the "residual test results" mentioned earlier), and the fact that my husband takes 15-minute (yes, alas!) showers.

My showers are four to five minutes.  Tops.
In winter, my husband's north-facing bathroom is cold, so he doesn't activate the ventilation fan.
Nor does he open the window.
Inhaling THMs...guessing that is what caused his persistent headache.
But only in this winter; during the other three seasons the bathroom window is always open.
To be fair, neither of us recall him ever having sinus issues during other years' winter months.

Don't be smug if you have short showers, you can still inhale the volatile THMs.

And swimmers in public or private chlorinated pools?  Wiki on this:  "In swimmers, uptake of trihalomethanes is greatest via the skin with dermal absorption accounting for 80% of THM uptake. Exercising in a chlorinated pool increases the toxicity of a "safe" chlorinated pool atmosphere with toxic effects of chlorine byproducts greater in young swimmers than older swimmers. Studies in adolescents have shown an inverse relationship between serum testosterone levels and the amount of time spent in public pools. Chlorination by-products have been linked as a probable cause."

Back to trihalomethane levels at Greater Vernon's water sources.

Councillor Kiss' excellent Powerpoint presentation, on page 24 of 51, compares the Trihalomethane levels of Duteau Creek and Kalamalka Lake water.  (Note:  Enlarge the page for clarity with Ctrl + (Ctrl plus sign) three or four times, afterwards reduce page size on your screen with Ctrl -  (Ctrl minus sign) three or four times).  His entire document is noteworthy, so please read it in its entirety.

Note that on page 24 the green horizontal line is the "maximum recommended acceptable level" set by government.

Duteau Creek Water Treatment Plant trihalomethane levels have exceeded maximum recommended levels in every year since 1998.  That is, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 !!!!  During the same years, Kalamalka lake water distribution through the Mission Hill Water Treatment Plant saw trihalomethane levels that have NEVER exceeded 50 per cent of allowable levels !!

"Tear down Duteau, move all the equipment to Mission Hill and enlarge that treatment plant," shouts Kia.

The Duteau Creek Water Treatment Plant created more problems than it solved.

And now water officials are going to do a Protozoa study at Duteau.
The news isn't going to get any better, is it folks?

"We must not throw good money after bad," warns Kia of Greater Vernon Water's plans to accede to Interior Health's demands to filter Duteau Creek Water.

I'll spend the next month or so convincing my husband to take short showers, and open the window.
The other benefit is to save a few sheckles on the water meter!



Additional Reference:  Water Source Evaluation, commissioned by RDNO, document here.

EDIT:  Adding Councillor Kiss' most stunning revelation: 

"I maintain that the system for agriculture should return to agriculture and all allocations should be honoured. Domestic supply should be coming from Kalamalka and Okanagan Lakes. It is that simple. Had we started out from those principles we would have an unaltered VID system working without any money spent on it and we would be using Okanagan Lake without filtration like Kelowna is doing. Kelowna built the UV treatment plans in 2006-2007 for about $7 M and have no trouble at all. You can find their turbidity reading for today here. They provide it every day. Obviously, there is no need for filtration at those turbidity readings."

 Councillor Kiss certainly deserves residents' thanks...big time!

Latecomer to Public Opinion

He actually used the words "peer review might be possible".
Yesirreebob, that's what Coldstream mayor Jim Garlick was quoted as saying.

Councillor Gyula Kiss must be wondering why the contagion (of asking for a peer review) took so long to have an effect.

That was one of the comments of Coldstream mayor Jim Garlick in The Morning Star story January 4, 2015, with a few excerpts reprinted here.

Garlick theorized about why the public turned down the water referendum.
"Some were upset over the $70 million or using treated water on agricultural land."

Or?
Did he say "or"?

Read our lips, sir!
The public is upset, actually angry over BOTH the cost AND applying treated water to agricultural land.
Got it?
BOTH.

And the public will not approve...repeat...WILL NOT approve a minor tweaking of the master water plan.
We demand no chlorinated water be used on farm lands!

And heads should roll that the Duteau Creek Water Treatment Plant was built in the first place!
$29 million (of which $12 million was a Federal grant) has been wasted.

It could have been applied to increasing the capacity of the Mission Hill Water Treatment Plant so that it handles ALL domestic accounts.

Garlick added:  "...Greater Vernon Advisory Committee must find a model that meets the guidelines but is acceptable among taxpayers.  There is no way this will move forward without public support for borrowing.  We have to build public support, adding that a peer review of the plan's technical components could be possible."

That's right, mayor.
There is no way this will move forward...
...if chlorinated water continues to be applied to farm lands.

The public won't allow it!
So change it.

And, remember that it still can't cost $70 million.

...So the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee--the group that approved this doomed water plan after recommendation from engineers and consultants--is now tasked to find a new model? 

"Do you really think that the same people (GVAC) that engineers and consultants convinced to bring this to the public will find a new model?"

Kia is incredulous at the mayor's optimism.
And that it took him so long to realize what the public is upset about. 

CHBC-TV on Failed Water Referendum

Good job, CHBC-TV in Kelowna.

For including an interview with Gyula Kiss, a director of the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee, on the failed water referendum held in the North Okanagan November 15th, 2014.

Mr. Kiss' opposition to the Master Water Plan was supported by the electorate.

Directors Don't "Manage"

They acquiesce...

Originally submitted to The Morning Star as a letter to the editor, this letter is more appropriate for the blog, and was withdrawn.

Do people really believe that every little community in BC is suddenly filtering water to comply with the Water Act and new Health regulations to limit liability since Walkerton Ontario?  Ask Revelstoke and Kamloops how they got water treatment plants (albeit not filtration) when their residents rejected water referendums.

Whether it’s the rates charged for effluent—or potable—water in the North Okanagan, today’s issues have been building for years because Directors of the water administration of our North Okanagan Communities of Coldstream, Vernon, and Areas B & C through the Regional District do not direct, they acquiesce to bureaucrats.  And for acclaimed Coldstream mayor—and water advisory committee director—Garlick to now state that the water referendum is “educational” is a flagrant insult to all residents who are paying for it.

The problem is that Directors comprise an “Advisory” (vs. Management) Committee.  The first step always in effecting change is to ascertain what went wrong.  Because committee membership is chiefly tied to election terms (3 years; now 4), annexation disputes remove focus and don’t allow members to see beyond their elected term(s).  

Change the name from Advisory to Greater Vernon Management Committee; rewrite their mandate.   Directors need to veto plans, unlike this committee of “advisors” who never veto bureaucrats.

Forget consultants.  We have extremely well-paid professional engineers at GVW whose duties should be to actually design what our “management” committee members have agreed are the “best practices” idea for this area.  They get paid for those skills; not to hire consulting engineers.    

The second step is for Directors to realize that Councillor Kiss has the best practices, to TOTALLY separate water allocations from domestic/potable water.  Unchlorinated unfiltered raw water would be used for outdoor use (golf courses, parks, school playgrounds, turf farms, orchards and vineyards), which complies with the single category allocation they bought and paid for.  Councillor Kiss says the cost of expensive treatment would entirely disappear.

My little 9-hole golf course, Highlands, was built because I had a raw water (non potable) allocation from our 1,100 apple tree operation and no provision existed to sell it back if it wasn’t being used once farming was discontinued.  The golf course is now irrigated with chlorinated water—soon to be “filtered” too—because raw water wasn’t available after Duteau was built.  I was paying 500 per cent more for water, while today using less than 20 per cent of my paid-up allocation.  A 1,000 per cent increase since the orchard was planted.   Meanwhile GVW could re-sell my unused allocation to someone else! 

Only bureaucrats—free from requisite “direction” from directors—could have created that, and working backwards from the revenue they want, comprising myriad categories and six-pages of prices.  

"There could be 40 engineers working on this," offers Kia, "and it would only become a larger fiasco."
 

The Two Faces of the Ratepayers' Association

Granted, it's not Bernie Madoff.
But duplicity just the same.

In a recent letter to the editor, Coldstream Ratepayers' Asssociation acting president, Steve Heeren, blathered on about having invited a member of the Society for the Governance of Greater Vernon to speak to the ratepayers' meeting, and that they apparently didn't make it that snowy night.  He said the same during the meeting.

frightened sheeple

It's not difficult to recognize the face of duplicity: 
One side denotes a victim, whose lifestyle--its very being--is threatened by even the prospect of change.
The other side is a Doberman, happiest among familiar smells, but not averse to shitting a mile away.

Manipulators and Machinators?  Welcome at the Ratepayers' Association.

"Your views received ample coverage from the sympathetic media, thus people are well aware of your views."  councillor G.Kiss

Today's letter to the editor from Bruce Shepherd of the Greater Vernon Governance Society removes the wool from public eyes.  (highlighting:  blog author)

"Re: the Jan. 29 letter to the editor from Steve Heeren, of the Coldstream Ratepayers Association.

Mr. Heeren claims in his letter that he "had informed one board director ...of the society, who lives in Coldstream that he was welcome to attend, along with the others, to ask questions and provide information which he thought (their) ratepayer members needed to know."

Well, Mr. Heeren, what you actually said was totally different.  And Councillor Gyula Kiss, in writing, told the society not to attend.

After the governance society announced it had signatures to its petition from 11 per cent (816) of eligible Coldstream voters, Kiss announced on his Internet blog that a Coldstream Ratepayers' Association meeting would be held Jan. 9.

The governance society asked Kiss if it was appropriate for our members to attend and provide information and answer questions.

The e-mail response from Kiss, Dec. 17 stated, 'I don't think your association's presence (the society) would be advisable.  If you wish to disseminate your views you should call a meeting of your own at your association's expense and convince people of your views.  Wasting time and money of the ratepayers' meeting would not be in the interest of their organization.  Your views received ample coverage from the sympathetic media, thus people are well aware of your views.'

So the same question was put to Mr. Heeren.  On Dec. 23, his e-mail stated:  'It is not the policy of the Coldstream Ratepayers Association to entertain the appearance of external delegations to our meeting.'

On Jan. 8, Mr. Heeren was quoted in The Morning Star as saying, 'We have such a good council now that I personally don't feel that we need a watchdog group at this time to watch out for the public interest.'

Heeren went on to say that the actions of the governance society have 'churned us into action' and this is 'potentially a fighting issue.'

Only after 816 eligible Coldstream taxpayers asked to have a current study completed by a non-biased third party does Mr. Heeren's 'watchdog' group churn into action?

The society thought the ratepayers and all Coldstream taxpayers would want to know the facts regarding why costs in the area (including Coldstream) have increased at a far more rapid pace than population growth and inflation.

And subsequently, is there a more economical and efficient way to govern the area?

A large number of citizens seemingly want to be informed by a non-biased third party to make the decision at the ballot box.

Mr. Heeren and Mr. Kiss, the ratepayers (all 60 of them) and Coldstream council seem to want no part of the process.

Why?  Perhaps the answer lies in the indisputable fact that 816 Coldstream residents signed a petition in favour of having the question asked and both the ratepayers and council are afraid of what the answer might be."                   Bruce Shepherd, on behalf of the Greater Vernon Governance Society.

"Look up the definition of duplicity," offers Kia, "and find the CRA's membership application." 

Right after the Bernie Madoff listing.

Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city,

it might be better to change the locks.

~Doug Larson (English middle-distance runner who won gold medals at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, 1902-1981)