Relocated welfare office sparking town hall meeting with MLAs in Kelowna’s Rutland

Two Kelowna BC United MLAs have called a town hall meeting for Rutland next week that they’ve framed as a way to talk about a “positive vision” for the neighbourhood.

But it was triggered, to a large degree, by the move of the Kelowna social services office to the corner of Highway 33 and Dougall Road last spring and the deluge of calls to their offices that followed.

“They moved the social services office into downtown Rutland without even a word of hello from the provincial government to the local MLAs,” Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick told iNFOnews.ca. “We could have told them what we thought was the pros and cons of it. Even my own office (which is across the street) has seen the results of more people, quite frankly, doing drugs on our doorstep, etc.”

Residents are riled at the increase in drug use and other unwanted activity on their streets, especially since that office opened.

READ MORE: Homeless following 'welfare' office to Kelowna’s Rutland neighbourhood?

Kelowna-Mission MLA Renee Merrifield is co-hosting the meeting since both their ridings include parts of Rutland.

While Letnick expects to hear concerns raised by those attending the town hall meeting, he wants it to be more than an “issues” session.

“We're trying to get people in a room that can say, amongst themselves and us, this is what we want Rutland to be and then look at the barriers to that,” he said, whether those be provincial, federal or municipal.

He noted that, prior to the social services office relocation, the NDP government put five supportive housing buildings in Rutland. He suggested it may take a change in provincial government to bring about a more positive vision of Rutland.

Letnick refused to speculate on what changes could be made, saying this is not a “top down” process.

The town hall meeting is on Wednesday, July 19 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Kelowna Christian Centre at 905 Badke Rd.

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