Welcome to Your Kamloops!

Why I voted against supporting Domtar's application....

As many will know, Domtar is looking to get an extension for its end 2007 deadline to reduce the amount of harmful stuff coming out of the smokestack at the Kamloops pulp mill. Today, Council voted to support that extension request, subject to certain conditions(*).

I was the lone councillor who voted against supporting Domtar's request and I would like to explain why.

Domtar / Weyerhaeuser has had 7 years to bring the mill into compliance with provincial government environmental regulations. The data about the emissions in question, called PM2.5, seems to suggest a lot of pretty bad health effects.

The US environmental protection agency reports that "Health studies have shown a significant association between exposure to fine particles (PM2.5) and premature death".

Now, our own Interior Health Authority wrote a letter supporting Domtar's extension, subject again to certain conditions(*). The Mayor threw that in my face during the debate. As I see it, Interior Health balanced the adverse health effects from the mill with the positive health benefits of stable employment the mill offers. My thoughts on this is that there are a lot of jobs available today, especially for skilled tradespeople. If Domtar chose to shut down the Kamloops mill, now or in the near future is probably the best time that could happen. Please read this to find out why I struck out these words.

I guess my main thought was that there is really no teeth in simply extending Domtar's permit. They could simply apply for an extension again, and, given their size, they would probably get it. If they did not meet their timelines, the community would have no recourse. If we are truly concerned about human health and the environment, imposing penalties would mean Domtar would have a financial incentive to get their emissions down.  Thats the language every business understands,

It would be hard to beat Kamloops in the summer...

It's not that I dislike or even feel competitive with other communities.

I think Kamloops is such a wonderful place in the summer. Last evening, I attended the Miss Kamloops pageant. Here are my thoughts from last years' pageant. This year, I simply want to say that the Miss Kamloops program is such a great program for young female leader's in our community.

Today, I attended a seminar on building affordable housing successfully. Church groups and non profit societies were represented by great people who are trying to work together to help the less fortunate in Kamloops.

And this evening, I am going to Project X theatre production in Prince Charles park. Theatre under the stars - and the weekend is not even halfway yet!

There is so so much to do in Kamloops in the summer. I encourage you all to read the "whats on" sections in the newspapers - and/or visit the totally informative Kamloopscity.com.

Securing Olympic Opportunities for Kamloops Businesses...

I am quite excited by an initiative by the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce to help Kamloops businesses band together to take advantage of 2010 Olympic opportunities. Yesterday morning, as a alumni of one of the Chamber's business networking groups, I attended a meeting facilitated by my friend, the dynamic and forward thinking Chamber Prez this year, Brant Hasanen.

The meeting re-affirmed a lot of the things I love about the local business community. Innovative, cooperative, caring. We talked about starting joint venture, we talked about working to help each other's businesses. We talked about being stubborn about getting the most out of an opportunity.

I am going to try to help these folks as much as possible with the few Olympic related contacts I have garnered in the past while. And if I can do it without coming with a hundred thousand feet of a conflict of interest, I might try to do some Olympic related business myself.

Where do we take Kamloops from here?

A couple of perhaps scattered musings prompted by the rising senior population in BC and Venture Kamloops' forays into Alberta. I was at a furniture store last week and an older man approached me. He asked "what does this tournament capital program do for a senior on a fixed income?". He was talking about the increased costs that taxpayers have supported (with a close referendum win) for the tournament capital facilities. I had a hard time coming up with a good answer. This fellow is not really into sports or recreating at these new facilities.

The Tournament Capital - a lot of people love it. A lot of people don't. I am not sure if a brand should divide people as much as I feel our current one does. Tournament Capital is a very successful external program - it brings a lot of dollars into the community. And I think it should continue. But, as the city identity, I have never really bought in.

It seems to me that its good to develop our community - to make sure there are always thing new things happening. But, I think we have to direct that development very carefully. As Venture Kamloops ask people to move to Kamloops, what kind of targeting are they doing. They should not be just targeting geographically. In my view, we should be targeting technology businesses, educators, social entrepreneurs. This is not an exhaustive list. The broad idea: We should be targeting people who we help our community break the boom bust cycles and who will carry on the fine Kamloops' traditions of volunteerism and helping one another.
Venture Kamloops has to act more as as laser guided missle, and less as a shot gun.

"Friend of the Prostitutes"

Thats was Radio NL's Jim Harrison called me as we ran into each other, figuratively, at the CIBC parking lot downtown. Well, Jim, helping street level prostitutes exit the trade or take it into an escort agency or home helps a lot of people. I wear your words proudly.

Kamloops Garbage Collection Schedule...

Can be found here...

I was looking at my web stats and someone was looking for that information. Hope the link helps.

"Green" high rise bylaws sent to public hearing by Langley City Council...

My civic blogging friend, Councillor Jordan Bateman in Langley, reports on last night's Langley Council meeting. He summarizes a really interesting set of successful motions . These motions approve a public hearing on the building of "green" mid rise and high rise buildings in the township. I will be additionally interested to hear what comes out of the public hearing.

Mid Term Door Knocking - 100 block Victoria St...

I have always thought, "hey, wouldn't it be cool if elected people went door to door between elections" -  asking  people how they are doing and if they have any ideas or feedback for city hall.

So today, I started doing this myself. I "door knocked" businesses on the 100 block of Victoria St. I heard about desires to revitalize the 100 block. And I also fielded a few questions about the start date of curbside recycling. I walked into Bikini Bills and realized the store is a lot bigger than I thought, looking in from the outside.

A relatively unknown store, that has been actually been operating for 3 years, Shilo Living intrigued me.  I got into a great conversation with the owner Lavonne Fortie. Lavonne was telling me that Shilo makes custom made furniture pieces for comparable costs to stuff that is more mass produced. Now, thats a real advantage.

Update on community meeting on the sex trade...

I know there have been many meetings (and even a few public ones!) in Kamloops about the street level sex trade in our community. As I mentioned earlier, though, this current wave of discussion and interest has been staggering to me. I have had more public feedback on the sex trade comments I made than on any other issue. Two weeks later, letters to the editor are still appearing the papers, and I am still getting emails and phone calls.

I think I have to take a back seat, and try to faciliate some concerted community effort. I am going to organize a community meeting, likely in the next month.

A couple of challenges that I see:

1. Not allowing emotions or close mindedness to stifle a respectful, open discussion.
2. Taking the talking forward into concrete actions.
3. Getting me to shut up. I really need to take a back seat here and trust the wisdom of others.

If anybody sees other challenges or ideas to address the challenges above, I am absolutely listening.

The huge potential benefit is to make things happen that can make life better for a lot of different people - the sex trade workers, the people living near where sex trade workers work, and the businesses trying ti make an honest buck on the "current strolls".

I know this is ambitious but I belief in this community. When we work together, we can achieve great amazing things.

Me, Peter Oswell, and the North Shore Plan...

Over the past year, I have been to many meeting with my friend Peter Oswell to work on a new community plan for the North Shore Kamloops. I like Peter a lot  - and we tend to agree on almost nothing. Yes, it is pretty rare to find Peter and I agreeing on a topic or an issue.

Ultimately, this is a good thing. And it is pretty indicative of how the North Shore plan community advisory committee works. We currently have a lot of people involved with North Shore Business Improvement Association on the committee. And although I am and have been a business person for a long time,  I think its important to state opinions from other North Shore interests. I try to do that when I can. Others do to. We have had some pretty animated discussions. What ultimately generally comes out of our discussions around the table is a pretty balanced view of where the North Shore is now, and where it could go.

Peter and I went for a drink after a committee meeting we had last Thursday evening. We continued a respectful, great conversation. Sometimes I find it hard to bite my tongue and just listen to what he has to say. But, I find listening to him almost always a rewarding thing.

I am beginning to think, through the many hours of meetings I have been to and the many hours of reading I have done, that the main issue on the North Shore is really one of perception. Statistics show the North Shore is really no more crime ridden than any other area of Kamloops, it is beautifully flat and enjoys some of the best weather. There are great deals to be had in real estate.

What we might want to focus on is changing people's perceptions. No street beautfication, no great condo or townhouse project will be able to do that alone. What we perhaps should do is showcase this part of town to the people we want to recognize its great value.

You can read a draft of the North Shore plan here.

More North Shore planning documents.