Saturday, January 31, 2009

Employment opportunity -- District of Coldstream

DISTRICT OF COLDSTREAM

DIRECTOR OF FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION

The District of Coldstream, a progressive community of 10,000 population situated in the beautiful Okanagan Valley, is seeking applicants to fill the position of Director of Financial Administration.

Reporting to the Administrator, the Director of Financial Administration is responsible for performing the statutory duties of Chief Financial Officer in accordance with the Community Charter. The Director of Financial Administration is required to attend Council meetings as well as other internal and external committee and public meetings on an ‘as required’ basis.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide recommendations through the Administrator to Council, as well as other standing, steering or ad hoc committees as designed by the Administrator

• Provide professional leadership to subordinate staff as needed, with matters such as project development and management, problem-solving, establishment of systems to address routine and recurring tasks, development of terms of reference and specifications for special projects, development of long-term plans, and preparation of committee agenda reports and submissions

• Participate as a member of the senior management team in development and maintenance of strategic and corporate goals and objectives

• Responsible for the statutory powers, duties and functions of Chief Financial Officer in accordance with the Community Charter

• Provide staff leadership in preparation of budgets and financial statements and setting of tax rates and fees, and all financial matters related to District operations

• Provide varied assistance to the Administrator, such as: research to produce reports, summaries, or schedules; field enquiries of a financial nature; facilitation in the development of policy and procedure dealing with financial matters

• Maintain harmonious working relationships with staff, elected officials, members of the business community, and the general public

• Perform other duties as may be assigned from time to time Typical Activities:

• Attend Council meetings and provide input as requested and as appropriate. Prepare reports and background documentation as required. Ensure that the Administrator and/or Council members are adequately briefed on all relevant matters at all times.

• Under the general direction of the Administrator, initiate actions required by Council and coordinate and monitor assigned tasks emerging from the meetings.

• Manage projects by liaising with staff, consultants and contractors, monitoring project budgets and schedules and communicating with various regulatory agencies as necessary.

• As designated by the Administrator, may represent the District at the inter-governmental level.


Decision Making Authority:

• Approval of expenditures within annual budget limitations and pursuant to expenditure authorization limits

• Appropriate delegation of responsibilities and tasks to staff


Responsibility:

• Optimum use of resources

• Management of workload to meet deadlines and managing expectation of Council

• Public interface


• Dealing with politically sensitive issues


• Provide leadership, advice, and information regarding all District financial matters


Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:


• CA, CGA or CMA designation, together with a minimum five (5) years of related

experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience

• Five (5) years of increasingly responsible relevant experience, preferably including experience in local or regional government

• Understanding of Public Service Accounting Board Principles and Practices

• Experience in management of staff


• Exceptional communication and presentation skills (written and verbal)


• Excellent team leadership and development skills


• Demonstrated ability to organize and prioritize


• Ability to work independently on own initiative


• Excellent computer skills (particularly spreadsheets)


Salary / Benefits:

This position offers a competitive salary as well as an extensive benefits package and
compressed work schedule.

Please forward your application by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, February 27, 2009, to:

Administrator

District of Coldstream
9901 Kalamalka Road
Coldstream, BC V1B 1L6
Fax: 250-545-4733
Email: info@districtofcoldstream.ca

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Treasurer departs municipal office -- By Jennifer Smith - Vernon Morning Star


















































Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Selected article, MS -- 2009-01-28



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Anyone who thinks that the Block MP's are not fully legitimate representatives of their electorate should take a refreshing course in Canadian constitutional studies. Quebec is one of the ten provinces with full rights. Their elected MP's have the same rights as any other MP.
The writer of the letter is correct and should be commended!

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Monday, January 26, 2009

Council meeting - Reminder

PUBLIC HEARING THE CORPORATION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLDSTREAM

TO BE HELD ON MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2009
IN THE MUNICIPAL HALL CHAMBERS 9901 KALAMALKA ROAD, COLDSTREAM, BC
AT 7:00 PM

AGENDA

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REGULAR MEETING OF THE COUNCIL
OF THE DISTRICT OF COLDSTREAM

TO BE HELD ON MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2009
IN THE MUNICIPAL HALL CHAMBERS
9901 KALAMALKA ROAD, COLDSTREAM, BC
FOLLOWING THE PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED FOR 7:00 PM

A G E N D A

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Agenda package 1

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Agenda package 2

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Sunday, January 25, 2009

Selected article, MS -- 2009-01-25



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This action is similar to the action the City has taken with respect to the sewage sludge they wish to dump into the garbage dump. I don't suppose they are paying any fees for the use of the park for the snow storage. Which reminds me: they only want to pay 10% of the fees everyone else is paying for the privilege of dumping into the landfill.

There seems to be plenty of room in Polson Park, perhaps the City should consider using that for snow storage.


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Saturday, January 24, 2009

Laughter is the best medicine -- with apologies to lawyers and engineers.


Three lawyers and three engineers are traveling by train to a conference. At the station, each of the three lawyers buys a ticket while the three engineers buy only one ticket.

"How can the three of you travel on one ticket?" asks a lawyer.

"Watch and you'll see," answers an engineer.

Aboard the train the lawyers take their respective seats while all three engineers cram into the restroom and squeeze the door closed behind them.

When the conductor comes around collecting tickets, he knocks on the restroom door and says, "Ticket, please." The door opens a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on.

The lawyers are impressed with this clever idea. One the way home from the conference, they decide to copy the engineers' technique. At the station, they buy a single ticket for their return trip. To their astonishment, the engineers don't buy a ticket at all!

"How in the hell are you going to pull this off?" asks a lawyer.

"Watch and you'll see," answers an engineer.

They board the train. The three lawyers cram into one restroom and the three engineers cram into the other restroom.

Shortly after the train departs, one of the engineers leaves his restroom and knocks on the other restroom door. "Ticket, please!"


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Canada's Harper signals permanent tax cuts in budget


By Frank McGurty


TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper signaled on Saturday for the first time that the budget his government will introduce next week will contain permanent tax cuts, not just short-term measures to lift the sagging economy.

"I think that if we're talking about tax cuts, these measures in most cases have to be permanent to be effective," the Conservative leader said in an interview with La Presse, the French-language daily.

Harper's minority government will introduce a budget on Tuesday for the coming fiscal year that will call for Canada's first deficit in a decade.

The package is expected to feature measures to stimulate Canada's flagging economy, including spending billions of dollars to build roads, bridges and other infrastructure, and modest tax cuts for consumers and businesses.

Canada has avoided deficits since 1996-97, and Harper has vowed that his government would never allow a return to permanent or "structural" fiscal shortfalls.

To that end, most of the stimulus measures in the package for the 12 months beginning April 1 are expected to be short term in nature, such as infrastructure projects, whose funding would end with their completion.

Harper, a longtime fiscal conservative and free-market champion, said on Saturday that the global economic crisis gave the government little choice.

"I think we're in a rare time where you need a deficit," Harper said in a separate interview with the Toronto Star newspaper, pointing to a sharp decline in consumer spending and business investment.

In the campaign before the October 14 federal election, Harper insisted Canada could avoid a deficit even as the global economy deteriorated. Most economists say Canada entered a recession in the fourth quarter of 2008.

DEFICIT SPENDING

"We're only moving into deficit because of the declining revenues of the slowing economy and ... our spending initiatives," the prime minister said in an interview with Global Television aired on Saturday.

"Those spending initiatives will run out eventually ... and our revenues will recover, so we should over four or five years, if we stay on track, return to a healthy surplus," he said.

The government envisions C$64 billion ($52 billion) in deficit spending over the next two fiscal years, an aide to Harper told reporters on Thursday, revealing a long-awaited number that has the potential to hurt the Conservatives.

The Liberals, the main opposition party in Parliament, have said they may vote against the budget and bring down the minority government if they consider the package inadequate.

Opposition parties have accepted the need for short-term deficits but have criticized the government for earlier tax cuts that they say led to narrower surpluses.

Public opinion appears to be divided over the issue of deficits. A slim majority of Canadians believe deficits of the size the government is planning are necessary to pull the economy out of recession, according to a Ipsos Reid poll released on Saturday.

But 41 percent of those surveyed said the spending was a waste of money.

Michael Ignatieff, the Liberal leader, said on Friday the government was irresponsible in leaking the size of the expected deficits. Ignatieff, who has said his party will wait until Wednesday before announcing how it will vote on the budget, accused Harper of playing political games at a time of crisis.

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Thank you, Ratepayers!


Friday’s potluck supper organized by the Coldstream Ratepayers Association was an unqualified success. There were about 80 people enjoying some delicious food and free beverages.


The “very special guest speaker” turned out to be Coldstream’s new Mayor Jim Garlick who emphasized that there is a need for the Association to help Council in maintaining connection with the residents of Coldstream and obtain valuable input to members of Council. In total five members of Council were present and recognized by the President of the Association, Steve Heeren.

Other distinguished guests were Leo Lecavalier, the reinstated Fire Chief and his family and Ken Henry, Assistant Fire Chief all of whom were recognized by the participants.


The event was well organized and the organizers, led by Louise Christy, deserve kudos for their excellent work. Many people expressed their belief that there should be more of these events to ensure a greater community spirit.

On behalf of Council I would like to thank the Ratepayers for the excellent event.

Gyula Kiss

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Friday, January 23, 2009

Readers write -- The Rambo Granny of Melbourne, Australia


Gun-toting granny Ava Estelle, 81, was so ticked-off when two thugs raped her 18-year-old granddaughter that she tracked the unsuspecting ex-cons down - and shot off their testicles.

The old lady spent a week hunting those men down - and, when she found them, she took revenge on them in her own special way, said Melbourne police investigator Evan Delp.

Then she took a taxi to the nearest police station, laid the gun on the sergeant's desk and told him as calm as could be: 'Those bastards will never rape anybody again, by God.'

Cops say convicted rapist and robber Davis Furth , 33, lost both his penis and his testicles when outraged Ava opened fire with a 9-mm pistol in the hotel room where he and former prison cell mate Stanley Thomas, 29, were holed up.

The wrinkled avenger also blew Thomas' testicles to kingdom come, but doctors managed to save his mangled penis, police said. 'The one guy, Thomas, didn't lose his manhood, 'but the doctor I talked to said he won't be using it the way he used to,'

Detective Delp told reporters. 'Both men are still in pretty bad shape, 'but I think they're just happy to be alive after what they've been through.'

The Rambo Granny swung into action August 21 after her granddaughter Debbie was carjacked and raped in broad daylight by two knife-wielding creeps in a section of town bordering on skid row.

'When I saw the look on my Debbie's face that night in the hospital, 'I decided I was going to go out and get those bastards myself ''cause I figured the Law would go easy on them,' recalled the retired library worker. 'And I wasn't scared of them, either - because I've got me a gun and I've been shootin' all my life. 'And I wasn't dumb enough to turn it in when the law changed about owning one.'

So, using a police artist's sketch of the suspects and Debbie's description of the sickos, tough-as-nails Ava spent seven days prowling the wino-infested neighborhood where the crime took place till she spotted the ill-fated rapists entering their flophouse hotel.

'I knew it was them the minute I saw 'em, but I shot a picture of 'em anyway' and took it back to Debbie and she said sure as hell, it was them,' the oldster recalled.
'So I went back to that hotel and found their room and knocked on the door, 'and the minute the big one opened the door, I shot 'em right square between the legs, 'right where it would really hurt 'em most, you know.

'Then I went in and shot the other one 'as he backed up pleading to me to spare him. 'Then I went down to the police station and turned myself in.'

Now, baffled lawmen are trying to figure out exactly how to deal with the vigilante granny. 'What she did was wrong, and she broke the law, but it is difficult to throw an 81-year-old woman in prison,' Det. Delp said, 'especially when 3 million people in the city want to nominate her for Mayor.'

DEPORT HER TO Canada - WE NEED HER

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Economic Stimulus Presents Opportunity for Innovation -- Green Party press release

LUMBY: The Green party believes the economic crisis combined with the Climate Crisis create an opportunity to shift the economy towards a more sustainable path. Huguette Allen, Industry/Small Business Critic on the Green Party Shadow Cabinet contributed to developing the Green Stimulus Plan that shows how government spending should be an investment in the future of Canada.

"Every dollar spent must benefit Canadians today and tomorrow by creating jobs that are sustainable, increasing the health and quality of life for future generations, and help make us more resilient against sudden shocks" says Huguette Allen. "This means eliminating Corporate Welfare by cutting the billions of dollars given in subsidies to the fossil fuel, nuclear and mining sectors, while investing in a low carbon future and repairing our degraded environment so the next generation has access to the resources they will need."

The Green Economic Plan includes increasing support to local economies and agriculture, investing in value-added manufacturing, renewable energies, habitat rehabilitation, Arts and Culture, transport infrastructures - no new roads but repairing existing ones and improving rail - water and waste infrastructures, redressing the inequities faced by First nations people, and training for a new economy. It also includes extending Canada's social safety net to help those most in need and and providing tax relief.

The Green Party ascribes to the guidelines provided by the International Monetary Fund that say spending to kick-start the slowing economy should stay within 2% of GDP. The Green Stimulus Plan is available online at www.greenparty.ca. Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada, unveiled the Green Party's economic stimulus package yesterday at a press conference in Ottawa.

Contact:

Huguette Allen
250-547-0272
www.OkShuswapGreens.ca

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Public Hearing and Council meeting -- January 26, 2009.

PUBLIC HEARING THE CORPORATION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLDSTREAM

TO BE HELD ON MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2009
IN THE MUNICIPAL HALL CHAMBERS 9901 KALAMALKA ROAD, COLDSTREAM, BC
AT 7:00 PM

AGENDA

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REGULAR MEETING OF THE COUNCIL
OF THE DISTRICT OF COLDSTREAM

TO BE HELD ON MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2009
IN THE MUNICIPAL HALL CHAMBERS
9901 KALAMALKA ROAD, COLDSTREAM, BC
FOLLOWING THE PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED FOR 7:00 PM

A G E N D A


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Agenda package 1

------------------------------------------------------

Agenda package 2


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Thursday, January 22, 2009

Border officer says she did her job in tearful testimony B.C. Taser inquiry

By James Keller, The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER, B.C. - The border officer who told Robert Dziekanski's mother that the man likely wasn't in Vancouver's airport says it was "unbelievably shocking" that he died, but says she did her job and wouldn't have done anything differently.

Dziekanski stayed mostly unnoticed in a secure customs area for hours on Oct. 13, 2007, before he finally cleared customs, only to encounter four RCMP officers who stunned him with a Taser.

While Dziekanski was inside the customs hall, his mother and her friend were in a public meeting area asking airport staff and an immigration officer for help in finding the man who didn't speak English

Tina Zadravec received a call from Zofia Cisowski's friend Rick Hutchinson, telling her they had been waiting for hours and wondering if Dziekanski was still in customs.

Zadravec told the inquiry into Dziekanski's death that she quickly scanned several spots in a secondary screening area.

When she saw no sign of the man, she made several suggestions to the Cisowski and Hutchinson, including heading home to Kamloops, B.C., and waiting for a phone call.

She said she didn't attempt to page Dziekanski or call other staff who would have been able to easily confirm he had arrived in the customs hall hours earlier.

And when Zadravec actually saw Dziekanski later in the evening, she alerted a co-worker that she had received a call about him earlier, but did not try contacting Cisowski or suggest it to other officers.

"I think about it a lot, but I wouldn't do anything differently," she said while wiping tears from her face.

"If I knew he was going to die, I would have done everything differently, but I did my job."

Zadravec also told the inquiry she had not been trained to react differently since the death.

It was only when her shift was winding down that another officer told her about Dziekanski's fatal encounter with police.

"It was unbelievably shocking, because the earlier interaction was just absolutely fine, it appeared pleasant, calm, relaxed," she said.

"Becoming a permanent resident is usually an absolutely joyous event, and it was just truly horrible that this person died."

Zadravec told police in a statement in December 2007 that Dziekanski appeared drunk and like he had just woken up. She assumed that explained the delay between when he landed and eventually showed up to be processed.

Lawyers for the RCMP officers focused on those statements, which prompted Dziekanski's mother sitting in the gallery to shout out, "Liar."

An autopsy found no alcohol or drugs in Dziekanski's system.

Zadravec said she was aware there were translators available, but didn't call one.

She also said even if she did find out any information about Dziekanski, the federal Privacy Act would have prevented her from telling Cisowski or her friend anyway.

That revelation prompted a question from retired judge Thomas Braidwood, who is overseeing the inquiry.

"How can someone outside (the customs area) determine whether their friend has come?" asked Braidwood.

"I'm not aware of any way they could do that," Zadravec replied.

Cisowski's lawyer, Walter Kosteckyj, said staff had numerous opportunities to help Dziekanski and his mother, but said instead their response was, at best, "benign neglect."

"This whole mess that we have going on where we hide behind the Privacy Act to claim that we can't help people, it's just a bunch of nonsense," he told reporters during a break in the hearings.

"Here was a simple situation. Had the airport authority and their employees wanted to go in and look for Mr. Dziekanski, there was nothing stopping them. ... Had they really wanted to deal with this woman's plight, after six or seven hours of begging for help, it could have been done, even then."

The airport and the Canada Border Services Agency have been criticized for how they dealt with Dziekanski, specifically for not finding a translator and for allowing him to stay in a secure customs area for hours without anyone noticing he was there or that he hadn't made it through customs.

The inquiry is scheduled to sit until the end of February, at which time Braidwood will prepare a report on what happened and make recommendations aimed at preventing a similar incident in the future.

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Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Babies know!

. . . today's results were preordained. As witness these pictures:

"THE BABIES KNOW....."







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And then!





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A National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation


Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 at 2:15 pm

Moments ago, in his first official act since taking the oath of office, President Barack Obama issued a proclamation, calling on Americans to serve one another and our common purpose on this National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation. Check it out below, or read it on the WhiteHouse.gov proclamations page.

NATIONAL DAY OF RENEWAL AND RECONCILIATION, 2009

- - - - - - -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

As I take the sacred oath of the highest office in the land, I am humbled by the responsibility placed upon my shoulders, renewed by the courage and decency of the American people, and fortified by my faith in an awesome God.

We are in the midst of a season of trial. Our Nation is being tested, and our people know great uncertainty. Yet the story of America is one of renewal in the face of adversity, reconciliation in a time of discord, and we know that there is a purpose for everything under heaven.

On this Inauguration Day, we are reminded that we are heirs to over two centuries of American democracy, and that this legacy is not simply a birthright -- it is a glorious burden. Now it falls to us to come together as a people to carry it forward once more.

So in the words of President Abraham Lincoln, let us remember that: "The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 20, 2009, a National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation, and call upon all of our citizens to serve one another and the common purpose of remaking this Nation for our new century.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.


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CRA Information -- Pot Luck Supper!


Reminder!


The Coldstream Ratepayers' Association invites you and your family to please join us at:

The CRA Annual Pot Luck Supper

Friday January 23 between 5:30 and 8:30pm

Women's Institute Hall

Please note there will be a short meeting with a very special guest speaker at 6pm.

Please bring your own plates, cutlery, and some food to share.

We will provide serviettes, liquid refreshments and cups/glasses to toast from!

Please note also that this invitation to celebrate is extended to all interested Coldstream residents - not just members of the CRA!

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Sunday, January 18, 2009

Friday, January 16, 2009

Selected article MS -- 2009-01-16





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Special Council meeting - January 19, 2008

SPECIAL REGULAR MEETING OF THE COUNCIL
OF THE DISTRICT OF COLDSTREAM

TO BE HELD ON MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2009
IN THE MUNICIPAL HALL CHAMBERS
9901 KALAMALKA ROAD, COLDSTREAM, BC
AT 4:30 PM

A G E N D A

1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Page 1 2. COMMITTEES

· Suggested Committees and Appointments
· Committee Questions (Terms of Reference)
· Sections 141 through 145, of the Community Charter
· Section 898, of the Local Government Act
· District of Coldstream Advisory Planning Commission Bylaw No. 907, 1985 (Consolidated Convenience Copy)
· District of Coldstream Municipal Policy MC016, Standing Committees
· UBCM Fact Sheet – Committees
· UBCM Fact Sheet – Local Boards and Commissions

Comment

Mayor Garlick would like to bring forward discussion with respect to the following:

a. Types of Committees (Standing or Select)
b. Suggested Committees (table attached)
c. Council Member Appointments to Committees
d. Terms of Reference for Committees (questions are attached)

3. RESOLUTION TO ADJOURN TO IN-CAMERA

Council to adjourn to an In-Camera meeting to discuss issues related to the following paragraphs under Section 90(1) of the Community Charter:

(a) personal information about an identifiable individual who holds or is being considered for a position as an officer, employee or agent of the municipality or another position appointed by the municipality;

(g) litigation or potential litigation affecting the municipality;

(k) negotiations and related discussions respecting the proposed provision of a municipal service that are at their preliminary stages and that, in the view of the council, could reasonably be expected to harm the interests of the municipality if they were held in public;

(m) a matter that, under another enactment, is such that the public may be excluded from the meeting

4. ADJOURNMENT
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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Selected article MS -- 2009-01-14

Interesting debate! Councillor O'Keefe states:

“We should be staying out of it and letting them do their work. Respect them for their work,” she said.

“This motion denigrates that work by saying they are charging us too much.”

Should we then allow our employees set their own wages as well to avoid the appearance that we don't trust them? After all Councils manage the finances of a municipality, so they should set the wages.

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It's bad enough that poor planning requires the dumping of feces into the landfill but Council now trying to negotiate fees.

If you and I take our refuse to the landfill we pay by the weight. If its too wet and heavy we pay more. Remedy? De-water your garbage before taking it to the dump!

Vernon should be a good corporate citizen and show the rest of us that they pay their fair share. Come to think of it ,I pay for it too, as I am a sewer customer!


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Welcome back, Leo!


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Greater Vernon Advisory Committee Meeting

REGIONAL DISTRICT OF NORTH OKANAGAN

Greater Vernon Advisory Committee

Date: Thursday, January 15, 2009
Time: 8:00 a.m.
Place: Board Room
Regional District of North Okanagan
9848 Aberdeen Road, Coldstream, BC


AGENDA – (REGULAR)

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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

NORD Meeting -- January 14, 2009

REGIONAL DISTRICT OF NORTH OKANAGAN

REGIONAL BOARD

Date: Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Place: Board Room
Regional District of North Okanagan
9848 Aberdeen Road, Coldstream, BC

AGENDA – REGULAR
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Note Resolution No. 26:

d. Award of Construction Contract – Duteau Creek Water Treatment Plant

- Report from Bill DiPasquale, P.Eng., Project Manager – January 6, 2009

Resolution No. 26


“That the Regional Board award a General Contract to Construct the Duteau Creek Water Treatment Plant to Maple Reinders Inc. at a cost of $22,309,350, including GST.”

(Weighted Corporate Vote – Simple Majority)

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Monday, January 12, 2009

President Bush Reflects On His Mistakes (Again)

Monday, January 12, 2009 at 10:11 am

From a Monday morning press conference, just completed:

QUESTION: Four years ago, you were asked if you had made any mistakes. And I'm not trying to play "gotcha," but I wonder, when you look back over the long arc of your presidency, do you think in retrospect that you have made any mistakes? And, if so, why is the single biggest mistake that you may have made?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Gotcha. (LAUGHTER)

Look, I have often said that history will look back and determine that which could have been done better or, you know, mistakes I made. Clearly, putting a "mission accomplished" on a (sic) aircraft carrier was a mistake. It sent the wrong message. We were trying to say something differently, but, nevertheless, it conveyed a different message. Obviously, some of my rhetoric has been a mistake.

I've thought long and hard about Katrina; you know, could I have done something differently, like land Air Force One either in New Orleans or Baton Rouge. The problem with that and -- is that law enforcement would have been pulled away from the mission. And then your questions, I suspect, would have been, "How could you possibly have flown Air Force One into Baton Rouge, and police officers that were needed to expedite traffic out of New Orleans were taken off the task to look after you?" I believe that running the Social Security idea right after the '04 elections was a mistake. I should have -- should have argued for immigration reform.

And the reason why is is that -- you know, one of the lessons I learned as governor of Texas, by the way, is legislative branches tend to be risk-adverse (sic). In other words, sometimes legislatures have the tendency to ask, "Why should I take on a hard task when the crisis is not eminent (sic)?" And the crisis was not eminent (sic) for Social Security as far as many members of Congress was (sic) concerned. As an aside, one thing I proved is that you can actually campaign on the issue and get elected. In other words, I don't believe talking about Social Security is the third rail of American politics. As a matter of fact, think that in the future not talking about how you intend to fix Social Security is going to be the third rail of American politics. And the -- one thing about the presidency is that you can make -- only make decisions, you know, on the information at hand.

You don't -- you don't get to have information after you've made the decision. That's not the way it works. And you're -- you stand by your decisions and you do your best to explain why you made the decisions you made. There have been disappointments. Abu Ghraib, obviously, was a huge disappointment, during the presidency. You know, not having weapons of mass destruction was a significant disappointment. I don't know if you want to call those mistakes or not, but they were -- things didn't go according to plan, let's put it that way.

And, anyway, I think historians will look back and they'll be able to have a better look at mistakes, after some time has passed. I -- one of Jake's questions -- there is no such thing as short-term history. I don't think you can possibly get the full breadth of an administration until time has passed. You know, where does a president's -- did a president's decisions have the impact that he thought they would -- or he thought they would, over time? Or how did this president compare to future presidents, given a set of circumstances that may be similar or not similar? I mean, it's just impossible to do and I'm comfortable with that.


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Coldstream Ratepayers News! All Coldstream residents are ratepayers!

The opinions expressed by "Coldstreamer" are strictly his own and do not represent the opinions of Coldstream Council!

Because I value your thoughtful opinions, I encourage you to add a comment to this discussion. Don't be offended if I edit your comments for clarity or to keep out questionable matters, however, and I may even delete off-topic comments.

Gyula Kiss
coldstreamer@shaw.ca;

***Coldstreamernews***

***Coldstreamernews***
We must protect our rights and freedom! (Photo courtesy of D. Gibson) Click on eagle to watch EAGLECAMS

About Me

My photo
I have been a resident of Coldstream since 1976. I have had 15 years of experience on Council, 3 years as Mayor. As a current Councillor I am working to achieve fair water and sewer rates and to ensure that taxpayers get fair treatment. The current direction regarding water supply is unsustainable and I am doing all I can to get the most cost effective water supply possible.