Unintended Consequences

Governments generally don't get it (obviously) from the point of view of the taxpayer.

Simply put, municipal and regional and city councils decide how much property tax (revenue) they want, and work backwards through their various tax classifications to determine mill rates.

Whether it was a result of the regional district's "growth management plan", or simply (what most acreage owners believe) because residential folks wanted their Coldstream Valley views to always remain the same is, frankly, immaterial.  Whether the council-of-the-day's "support for agriculture" convinced them that too many small--hence unprofitable--acreages would result from continued subdivision  is, frankly, immaterial.  Whether continued subdivision of acreages--some of which had been held in families' investment plans for two generations--would place "too much infrastructure demand" on the community--is, frankly, immaterial.

Growth has stalled in the North Okanagan.
Economic development officers shake their heads.
So the lack of growth obviously wasn't from a lack of economic development officers on the payroll!

Despite recent newspaper stories that the North Okanagan wasn't seeing the expected population growth forecasted, in Coldstream's case it was Coldstream itself that stymied growth in East Coldstream and Lavington with their RU10/RU30 plan!   That plan would limit subdivision of properties to a minimum of 25 acres in the proposed RU10 zone, and a minimum of 75 acres in the proposed RU30 zone.  (RU10 was deleted from the re-re-revised Agriculture Plan's adoption, in part a result of the hue and cry raised by the Coldstream Acreage Owners' Association).

Even the newspaper posed this in their Question of the Day: 

Are municipalities' economic and social policies to blame for stalled population growth in the North Okanagan?  Morning Star

They sure as hell are.
But some municipalities (unlike Coldstream) manage to avoid that.   

At 12,000 residents, Lake Country is the fastest growing municipality in B.C., which makes sense.
The simple answer is because Lake Country is a 15-minute drive from Kelowna and its international airport.
But also because their emphasis on Business is front and center, even on their webpage.

Back to classes of property tax in B.C. 

1	Residential
2	Utilities
3	Supportive Housing
4	Major Industry
5	Light Industry
6	Business Other
7	Managed Forest Land
8	Recreational Property, Non-profit Organization
9	Farm Land

At Coldstream's council meeting held Monday, March 9th, 2015, Coldstream Ranch owner Keith Balcaen appealed to council, concerned with the tax multiplier for the Ranch.  And rightly so.   Pages 3 through 14 here provide both historical and current details.  Pages 5, 6, 7 and 8 are particularly interesting!

"...maybe we should start selling off ?"   Keith Balcaen

But in order to get any relief, Council needs to increase other classes' mill rates (because of the  "required revenue" thingy).

Added to that, Tolko recently repeated its appeal that the Major Industry class should be reduced from its current mill rate.

Lucky Keith.
Why?
Because the Coldstream Ranch has up to 130 land titles, all subdivided many many years ago before the reign of our "pragmatic socialist" mayor.  Even before he was born.  Wiki provides part of the history.
Harbour Publishing has a nice book on it, unfortunately it's out of stock.  And, despite the City of Vernon website including the grey canal in its public trail offerings, Mr. Balcaen has not (and apparently, won't) given permission for the section adjacent to his grazing lands (and north of Highlands Golf property) to open to the public.  Good for him.

And, as Keith Balcaen stated "...might have to start peeling off some of the 130 titles the ranch owns in order to be viable...we're a bigger entity, maybe we should start selling off?", printed the Morning Star in this article. 

So ... advice to Keith (his business acumen assures he doesn't need advice), but here's Kia's take on the subject (conveniently the same as mine):

"Sell the subdivided parcels...start at the gravel pit at Buchanan and Vimy Roads, because it's your business plan for which you are responsible, not Coldstream's," Kia offers.

Just think, Keith...that'd sure end the dust complaints from the gravel pit neighbours.

Just think, Keith...the benefit of land title registrations that precede this and previous councils.

Unintended consequences indeed!

 

Priceless!

 

"Hate bureaucracy and all the nonsense that comes with it. "

 Jack Welch, former Chair General Electric 

Unabashed Un-bashing

Sorry, Morning Star newspaper.
You did feature new Coldstream councillor candidate, Shane Hillman, wayyyyy early in the campaign, back on September 7th, 2014 (posted October 14th, 2014).
I missed it.

The blog bashed the newspaper October 16th for neglecting a Hillman bio, "November Elections Mark End of Silly Season".

So here's a verbatim cut-n-paste of the Morning Star article, written and photographed by Jennifer Smith.

"Hockey and politics may be completely different leagues, but a local player/referee/coach is hoping to move off the sidelines in his community and score a seat on council.

Shane Hillman is putting his name forward for Coldstream councillor in the November election.

Along with providing a fresh set of eyes to various issues, Hillman says his on-ice experience makes him a good fit for the job.
“As a referee there’s two things you learn very quickly. One: You have to have thick skin. Two: You’re never going to be able to please everybody.”

Shane Hillman (J.Smith photo, Morning Star)

The 32-year-old is a stay-at-home dad to his five-year-old daughter, but with kindergarten about to start soon Hillman will have the time necessary to dedicate to the position.

If elected, Hillman plans to look at every subject objectively, taking everyone into consideration.

“I’m the type of person that’s going to look at an issue and I’m going to understand both sides of it. I’m not going to go into it with a pre-conceived notion.”

He is eager to preserve Coldstream’s motto: rural living at its best. Using the pellet plant as one example, Hillman says it looks as though it will proceed, but that doesn’t mean efforts have to stop for a healthy industry.

“We need to find a way to make sure the health and environment in our community is our top priority.”

Hillman is happy with the current council, but is hoping to add a different face to the mix.

“I do think that after six years with the same council, it’s time for at least a new view or a fresh look at the issues.”

Hillman was born and raised in Vancouver but spent many summers in the Okanagan and moved to Coldstream in 2006 with his wife."

"Welcome to Coldstream, Shane, we need a referee," suggests Kia, "between residents and our 'pragmatic socialist' mayor."

Good that Shane's not an acreage owner...he'd hightail it back to the Coast once he discovered RU10/RU30 and its effect on people here.

A tip o' the hat to Shane for allowing his name to stand.
He's done what numerous other folks refused to do.

November Elections Mark End of Silly Season

At the least, the end of silly season may extend the months-long yawning produced by frivolous media "stories" that run the gamut from ensuring your smoke detectors are functional to pages-long features on which car(s) your family can no longer afford to purchase (not necessarily a bad thing given the profusion of manufacturer recalls scant months later).

At best, local elections could offer a resurgence to stories of substance.
They should.
It depends on the hopefuls, both nominees and voters.  

Hopeful voters?
Yes indeed.

And a renewed fervor to feel our votes ensure that democracy is alive and well in our personal hamlets.  We somehow missed Democracy Week--observed at Okanagan College by then-nominee Mel Arnold for member of parliament (Conservative)--fueling a subconscious twinge of a time when a functional democracy wasn't relegated to one week a year. 

First a message to the one percenters:  
Despite the likelihood they're exercising their snowbird option in mid-November, they most assuredly own property in an adjacent community.  Do they remember they can vote in a municipal election wherever they own property?  (see pages 3 and 4 of 10 here).   I know...I know...a bit of a pain all that driving around with the requisite B.C. Assessment appraisal(s) in hand as proof of ownership (here is Coldstream's Non-Resident Property Elector Consent Form) just so one can vote for--or more accurately, against--candidates whose election can affect what you own.  Think Greater Vernon Advisory Committee.  Or, if you live in Vernon, the effect RU10/RU30--still on the books in Coldstream's edited Official Community Plan--has on your East Coldstream acreage(s).

Back to this year's election in our personal hamlets.
Belying the 5 kilometre proximity between the City of Vernon and District of Coldstream, Vernon's hopefuls for mayor number five candidates to Coldstream's unchallenged two-timer and "pragmatic socialist" Jim Garlick.  For Council, Vernon has 14 vying, to Coldstream's seven, for 6 councillor seats in each jurisdiction.  (Here is Vernon's official list of candidates, with the list for that bastion of NIMBY-ism--Coldstream--list here.)


Shame on the Morning Star newspaper for excluding a "getting to know you" story on Shane Hillman, the only new candidate for Coldstream council about whom nothing appears to be known by the electorate.  Hopefully the publication will step up and do a story on Mr. Hillman toute de suite.   (Glen Taylor--another candidate for council--previously served). 

Reporter Rolke--in an editorial mid-September--sought to provide the pros and cons of numerous--versus few--candidates, but he omitted one factor that is widely discussed among residents:  unelected bureaucrats run our communities (and elected officials, mostly around in circles like mules at a gristmill, think Greater Vernon Advisory Committee...again). 

Perhaps that's the reason Coldstream Mayor Garlick was acclaimed mayor; residents know that the regional district's unelected officials have imposed a decidedly-socialist Growth Management Strategy (verbatim text originated from Victoria's socialist bureaucrats).  Despite Garlick's claims of "progress" having been made on various projects, including the unbelievably misleading phrase of "OCP housekeeping", maybe it really doesn't matter who is elected as mayor. 

Housekeeping?
Truth be known, two re-writes of Coldstream's Official Community Plan (see Sept. 19th story here) which--despite vehement opposition by the Coldstream Acreage Owners' Association--maintains its push to enact RU10/RU30.

Two rewrites?  Yup.  Read the Sept 19th blog entry about the waste of our money, then remind yourself incumbent Garlick "takes pride in completing tasks, no matter how big or small."

Back to bureaucrats running things.
And their wages.

Legislative reporter Tom Fletcher's recent Black Press (owner of Vernon's Morning Star newspaper) article entitled "Does CUPE (and here) run city hall?" provides some insight to burgeoning wages of bureaucrats, with Coldstream's Mayor Garlick in a media release dated October 7th bringing the topic home.  "The new agreement will see incremental wage increases of 8.5 per cent over the term of the five-year agreement...plus small adjustments to existing benefits..." gushed the mayor over the "hard work of both negotiating teams in reaching the settlement."

"As local election turnout has gone from bad to worse, municipal employees themselves have become an

increasingly dominant voting bloc." Tom Fletcher

Fletcher's article says "Things have been going pretty well for the main municipal union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, for the last couple of decades.  As local election turnout has gone from bad to worse, municipal employees themselves have become an increasingly dominant voting bloc."

He continued that Ernst and Young numbers show pay increases for municipal union staff of 38 per cent between 2001 and 2012, compared to 19 per cent for unionized provincial staff.  Plus what municipalities are spending generally!  A Globe and Mail story highlights the disparity among reports.

B.C. Premier Christy Clark chastised politicians attending the September UBCM meeting at Whistler, saying in effect that municipal bureaucrats were, in some cases, earning more than deputy ministers in Victoria.  A 2011 story by Farrell's excellent blog Northern Insights on Executive Compensation--even at just B.C. Ferries and B.C. Hydro--proves that municipal leaders shouldn't flinch from the shadow cast by Premier Clark's executives.

Seems municipal politicians have learned from the best.
And we're stuck paying for the rest.

Sour grapes as we enter election season in the North Okanagan?
Nope, not at all.

I'm simply envious that Taxpayers First hasn't made a sojourn northward about 40 km.

Will I vote?
Damn right I will.

You'll know me by my lapel pin: 

Socialism is a philosophy of failure,

the creed of ignorance,

and the gospel of envy,

 its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.

(Winston Churchill)

"I'm unfortunately unable to vote," muses Kia, adding "but as Alan Wilson said in a recent letter to the editor, 'give us something to vote for'."

Any business owner out there who had a 38 per cent wage increase in 10 years?

Or even 19 per cent?

Didn't think so.

Me neither.

A future blog story will feature the most wonderful mayor in the world...nope, it's nobody from this area, as you likely guessed.

Garlick Runs Again

Coldstream Mayor Jim Garlick has now indicated he will seek a third term as mayor, reported in The Morning Star today.

He describes himself as a pragmatic socialist, a label that provides an Aha! moment to irate residents who feel this mayor's focus and policies--to pull a quote from an unrelated story in the same issue: "smack quite decidedly of bullying of the worst governmental kind".

To others, it's an oxymoron.

Pragmatism, simply defined, is a practical approach to problems and issues.
In Coldstream, it has come to mean a mayor who appears to grudgingly recognize that his idealism isn't enough to make a community sustainable.
Socialism, on the other hand, is a way of organizing an entire society, which can run the gamut of no privately-owned land and everything including production being controlled by government, to choosing what a modern, educated electorate will actually allow government to control.  Or the majority--non acreage owners anyway--on voting day.

Where am I going with this?

Well, incumbent Garlick says he'd:

 "like to continue with the progress made so far in areas such as parks management, the sports facility which is expected to be completed in spring, water, OCP housekeeping, some regional land acquisitions and a contentious issue in Lavington..." (the pellet plant)

No, this entry isn't about the proposed pellet plant.
It is about the deceptive phrase "OCP housekeeping" in the list.

Yes, it's deceptive.

Last year, a consultant was hired to overhaul Coldstream's Official Community Plan.  After several months--and near completion of the plan by the consultant--it had been rumored that the consultant--and the plan--were shelved, ostensibly because Coldstream had now filled a vacancy whose role included reviewing and rewriting OCP's.  I say rumored because nothing official was released by Coldstream; it was only discussed among residents, including the thought-to-be $40-60,000 fee for the consultant's work.  Shelved, with the new bureaucrat now proposing to council his thoughts on what should and shouldn't be in the OCP review....a second review within a few months.
Both paid for.

How can Garlick call a virtual re-write (or two) of an OCP housekeeping? 
How can Garlick call that kind of wasted money housekeeping?

Unless he wants to downplay some of the OCP's changes.
The socialist changes.


Coldstream Acreage Owners (the association formed to fight the sinister--yes, sinister--changes to the OCP) can tell you what the socialist changes are.

Or I can tell you.
Remember RU10/RU30?
Refresh your memory here.  And here.  And here.  And here.

Yes, RU10/RU30 is being pushed through by Garlick's administration.
That's socialism, not housekeeping.

Garlick says it's important to "see the positives".
But only if positives exist.

Again quoting from the same unrelated story in the Morning Star today, I'll add a succinctly phrased paragraph that exactly mirrors the thoughts of Coldstream Acreage Owners:

"For most of us, our home and property is our primary asset and financial nest egg necessary for comfortable retirement living...(but) to have the property values of any number of ... properties ... destroyed just to serve the interest of...(blog insert --> "socialist leanings of local government"...defies any definition of fair play and common sense." 

 

That's the pragmatist Garlick relying on the numerical majority for his socialist ideals.
Acreage owners' property values will be destroyed.

"He's counting on the larger group--residential residents--to help him push RU10/RU30 through," suggests Kia.   

Coldstream's Acreage Owners aren't asleep, Mr. Garlick.

Amalgamation as Reward?

I liken the threat/promise of amalgamation to Punishment.
Punishing local governments and their bevy of bureaucrats for the governance mess of the North Okanagan.

But this fellow's letter to the editor on December 29th, 2013, takes a decidedly different view.

"...My feeling is that when the City of Vernon can show a significant track record of above-average decision-making and governance that doesn't appear to be patched together for political expediency but for the good of the community, then that is the time to talk about amalgamation."

Simo Korpisto

Huh?

If--and that's a big IF--there were "above-average decision-making and governance", amalgamation wouldn't even enter residents' minds.

Because things would be running well, with surpluses versus deficits, with correctly-placed priorities versus big-city-wannabe wishlists, with true cooperation among communities versus circling their wagons, with long-term doable plans versus wishy-washy stabs at trying to please every half-baked request that arrives in council mailboxes.

There'd be no need to amalgamate.

"How many lanes do there have to be?  How many shoulders?  Does there have to be a bike path?"

 Consultant M. Trickey

Examples abound, but most recently yet another consultant's report to Vernon Council, quoted in the paper thusly:  "How many lanes do there have to be?  How many shoulders?  Does there have to be a bike path?" 

Oh for heaven's sake!
That comment AFTER construction of myriad bike paths (and plans for more) in both Vernon and Coldstream, all of which cost big taxpayer dollars.
For what?
For a few bicyclists in summer?
For no bicyclists at all during six months of winter?

I'm reminded of my childhood in Vancouver, a Zone 8 gardening city where one could ride a bicycle for 12 months each year.

My family resided a few blocks off one of the busiest thoroughfares in Vancouver--Kingsway--five miles west of Gladstone Secondary School.  I rode my bike to and from school during those years, no bike paths, no school buses to ferry students to and fro.  There wasn't even a law requiring helmets for bicyclists.  Not always the "good ole' days", but those were days when common sense was, well, more common than today.  When logic rose to the top like heavy cream.

Parents--not a provincial government--set strict rules in those days:  always ride facing traffic, motorized vehicles had the right-of-way.  Only a moron would have believed bicyclists should have the right of way.  And we were respectful of bigger, heavier, motorized cars and trucks and buses simply because we knew it took considerable time for a big, heavy, motorcar or truck or bus to stop if we did something stupid while riding a bike.
Enough about bikes.

Ask any of the Coldstream Acreage Owners' Association members...is it not as punishment that we wish to impose amalgamation on Coldstream?  Punishment for their plan to rezone East Coldstream acreages to RU10/RU30?
Amalgamation is the punishment Coldstream's Mayor and Council deserve for that plan.
And once amalgamation has occurred--as we fervently hope it does--we will not allow the new government to even whisper to impose that rezoning on our acreages.

So yes, amalgamation is punishment for government screw-ups.
Screw up and we will terminate your local government...how's that for your council's legacy?
Certainly not a reward.

While rare, politicians do have their lucid moments.
Vernon Mayor Sawatzky--when considering what to do to bolster Vernon's flagging economy--said he wasn't convinced Vernon is destined to become the centre of large manufacturers.
Hallelujah.
But he still employs an Economic Development officer.

Economically, Vernon simply can't compete with Kelowna, 40 kilometres to the south.
Kelowna offers--first of all, a larger valley--more space for residential and industrial operations seeking to locate or expand.  Less red tape and lower taxes, it's said.  And despite similar weather, why do people and manufacturers choose Kelowna?  In no particular order, an international airport, one hour less driving time to Vancouver, less bureaucratic red tape and fewer delays in getting that red tape sorted out.

Admit it.
The Vernon area is a bedroom community to Kelowna.
Vernon is terrible for business, but good for those residents seeking a lifestyle devoid of mile-long traffic.

But don't kid yourself...Vernon needs Kelowna to continue to be a thriving community.

"Vernon's got a lot," offers Kia, "most notably bureaucracy."

Punishment or Reward--whichever way you see it--amalgamation is necessary in a town that can't grow dollars.

Coldstream's OCP Never Gathers Dust

It's always open, yet officials say the last review was 7 years ago.
They're always reviewing it (checking for rules requirements/infractions).

Seven years is as though it were yesterday to residents who are constantly bombarded by stories of what Council is contemplating and doing.  As in perhaps a roundabout on Kal Lake Road (loud groans), or maybe traffic lights (groan, groan).  Many people I've spoken with simply groan, "plus a provincial election".

Written 20 years ago, Coldstream's Official Community Plan is being opened up (again for public input) at a time when the public remains distracted by a poor economy, lack of new employers and the jobs they would bring, not to mention their own family's focus on increasing property taxes, water rates, and hydro/gas rates.

Add up all the Variances (to the rules) that people apply for, you'd be correct in thinking nobody ever puts the Official Community Plan for Coldstream back on the shelf.  It's always open.

Several open houses are planned for the public to provide input:
May 6th Coldstream Women's Institute 3-5 p.m., reconvening at 6:30-8:30 p.m.
May 8th Lavington Fire Hall, 3-5 p.m., and 6:30-8:30 p.m.

The Mayor states "We're looking at densities, agricultural lands and the uses that occur on them."
Several Coldstream Acreage Owner Association members quickly quipped "they'd better leave last year's RU10/RU30 plan buried, or we'll have to jump all over 'em again."

Other topics that Coldstream Council's review will consider in the Official Community Plan are listed below--followed by responses from Kia and our group:

* residential housing demands (single family, multi-family, retirement).  Leave this to the private sector, as they know what they're doing, and whether it's viable.

* future community growth areas.  Gawd, here we go again.  After this same council has vehemently vetoed "mile long subdivisions", etc. etc.  Unless the good Lord has granted Coldstream some new land, nothing has changed from the last time they studied it.

* residential/rural land-use interface planning.  The Agricultural Land Commission has created details on a buffer zone for such an interface, so that's what will be applied.  No point in reinventing the wheel unless you're Councillor Richard Enns, who is concerned riding arenas--if setback is reduced to 30 metres--will create a lot of dust.  Jeezzuzz!  Buy 'em a sprinkler.

*agricultural land use planning and farming viability.  Yeah, sure, a bunch of bureaucrats and councillors (most of whom are decidedly left-of-center) are going to find the magic formula for farm viability.
As indicated during last year's RU10/RU30 debacle--this Council doesn't have a clue about farming the East Coldstream valley--yes, it's suitable chiefly for forage crops.  Even apples (and certainly stone-fruit crops) don't work in the valley bottom where frost settles late winter/early spring from cold outflow winds from the Monashees. 

* hillsides' long-term land-use planning.  Reiterate Maria Besso's comment from last year: "We don't want mile long subdivisions".  And presto, you won't get them...or their tax dollars. 

* commercial neighbourhood centres.  Ah...my favourite thing to hate.  What merchant in his right mind is going to fly in the face of demographics--and revenue--and build a shop in Coldstream's proposed Town Centre?  Not many.  Not when every fifth retail space in Vernon has For Lease on the window.  Oh, they'll get the odd dentist or chiropractor...

*industrial land availability.  It was the Mayor who stated a year or two ago--after he had been asked if the former Consumers Glass Plant might be subdivided into smaller industrial parcels--that he preferred it to remain in one piece.  Seems a film might be produced there.  (Sigh).  

*municipal parks and trails strategy.  Needed for people who don't have acreage.

*sensitive ecosystems policy strategy.  These rules will continue to arise in Victoria (where they should originate).  Our Mayor should be focusing on a sensitive taxpayer's system policy.

*hazardous lands identification.  TerraSoft, Google Earth and Google Maps = done!  Like dinner!
Haven't seen any new Coldstream lands created recently, but the mountain opposite does look a bit taller.

*infrastructure planning (transportation, utilities, services).  Even local MLA Eric Foster recently admitted that a community "can't do water separation/twinning alone", taxpayers don't want to ask for more services because of the cost.

*interjurisdictional land-use planning.   Coldstream Council is a signatory to the Regional Growth Management Strategy, so they're bound by that, not by what we want to see.  Plus we've stopped telling them what we want.

"Maybe we should tell DoC that many Japanese companies have 300 year plans," offers Kia, "and they stick to them."