Readers write -- Building bridges not walls?

"Building bridges; not walls" is Glen Taylor's campaign slogan. It's catchy but also deceptive. Was it his idea or the idea of a public relations consultant?

It tries to simplify the contest to just one issue: Glen Taylor the champion of openness, inclusiveness, flexibility and compromise against his opponent['s] close mindedness, exclusiveness, rigidity and intransigence. Of course there are many issues which separate his positions from those of his opponent[s].

To the uninformed and the unwary the choice is simple because it is thought to be better to build bridges than to build walls. Not that walls are necessarily bad because sometimes they are needed to protect precious and vulnerable things from plunder and destruction. You can build a bridge when you are not being besieged from the outside, however Coldstream has been under siege by a number of special interest groups that don't really care what the residents think about their projects. Take for instance the GVSC wanting to convert the Spicer Block [ ALR land] into a Sports Complex or Kalavista Drive into a major boat launch facility for tourists, or developers asking and getting variances from the OCP, or Coldstream Meadows getting approval against the wishes of local residents or Coldstream Meadows getting a sewer line in spite of local opposition, etc. Perhaps Glen Taylor, who supported all these intrusions considers those acts of bridge building. Moreover was firing the fire chief an act of bridge building and putting our whole volunteer fire department at risk. Perhaps he thinks it's only natural that Coldstream should be bridged to Vernon for future amalgamation or that the residents of Coldstream should be receptive to the desires of Funtastic, the greater Vernon

chamber of commerce or outside visionaries. Maybe Coldstreamers just want the siege to be lifted, by ridding themselves of any Trojan horses in their midst. Maybe Coldstreamers just want to be left alone to manage their own affairs, they don't want to build walls but would rather have some peace and quiet without outsiders telling them what to do!

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