Society presses province to review Coldstream council

VERNON – The District of Coldstream is being questioned over its opposition to a study of Greater Vernon’s governance structure.

The Greater Vernon Governance Society is asking the province to review Coldstream council’s actions leading up to its decision not to support the study, which would investigate the pros and cons of amalgamating the City of Vernon, District of Coldstream and Areas B and C under one structure. The society gathered 3,160 signatures from Greater Vernon residents in a petition on the matter.

“The society believes that council has not represented all constituents, in particular the 815 that signed our petition, in their review of the issue presented,” the society said in a release.

The society says Coldstream council encouraged its residents to oppose the study at a public ratepayers meeting, thereby demonstrating “personal biases” towards the existing governance structure.

“We believe, in common with other municipal jurisdictions, councillors should not offer personal opinions in public forums, and when a quorum of elected officials is present and speaking on a topic, formal minutes should be taken and entered into the public record.”

At a council meeting Monday, the City of Vernon passed a motion to not only support the study but to pose the question of whether or not to pursue one to voters during the upcoming municipal elections.

The society is also pressing the province to support all Greater Vernon jurisdictions putting the same question on their ballots.

“It would appear to us that this is the only way that elected officials in Coldstream will indeed follow the wishes of their citizens.”

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca, call (250)309-5230 or tweet @charhelston.