Welcome to Your Kamloops!

Thoughts on the upcoming election...

First, this election will be one of the most important in the history of our community. Not just because of the freight train of catastrophic climate change bearing down upon us - which is likely issue #1. But, also because of the new methods we have to engage each other in community discussions and dialogue, because of the early successes in constructing a more holistic approach to fighting crime,  because of many other things that I will elaborate on in future posts here and future public comments.

Second, I am not going to run a regular incumbent campaign which, in my view, traditionally relies mostly on name recognition. I think its important to talk about important, sometimes challenging, issues. Issues which I am willing to commit to, win or lose.

Third, I am willing to change the way I do things to be a better community representative. I am very proud of some of my actions, others not so much. And I also look to the people I represent to help me figure out what to enhance, and what to change. I have started my own brainstorming with the help of some close friends and colleagues, and will share that soon also with my valued readers here and with the whole community.

Would love to hear your thoughts about the upcoming election - either in the comments below or by email.

Pete Backus, a guy with a disability, and the RCMP investigation...

A friend of mine literally forced a copy of Kamloops This Week upon me to show me the photos of Pete Backus wrestling with the man in the wheelchair. I have no idea of what transpired before these pictures were taken, but they don't look good for anybody.

I understand that an investigation is being done into the incident. My hope is that we will know enough from the RCMP to understand what truly happened. And, if Pete is ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing or charged, I think it is important for the public to know how the decision was arrived at.

Stephen Trower on the Downtown Hotel Deal...

Interesting letter to the editor by Stephen Trower in the local newspapers on the Scoops lot hotel deal with Tom Gaglardi's Sandman Signature Group.

(Wouldn't it be great if the new hotel had a coffee / ice cream bar called the "New Scoops" or the "21st Century Scoop" or something like that. Oh ya, and if it had a purple and green colour scheme - and a KAMI fish mascot in the corner.)

Back to Mr Trower's letter. In it he talks about a few potential concerns:

1. Taxpayer subsidy for banquet and convention space
2. Traffic flow
3. Parking
4. City selling rather than leasing lot.

Before addressing some of these points, I would first like to say that a major plus for me in this proposal was that it takes the very divisive proposal of a hotel between Interior Savings Centre and the waterfront off the table for a long time. Heck, we may even see a rezoning back to parkland.

I always enjoy reading Mr Trower's thoughtful, intelligent letters. In the spirit of conversation, here are my initial thoughts about the concerns he raises:

1. The study looking at expanded meeting and banquet space at the Interior Savings Centre, across the street from the proposed hotel, should perhaps make it clear the space should be available to all potential bookings, not just bookings from the hotel.
2. Traffic flow modifications should be the financial responsibility of the developer, and not the city
3. I am not sure what the plans are around parking. I probably didnt well enough follow some of the discussion we had on this, but I will commit to getting more certainty about these plans.
4. The city might have looked at leasing the land instead of selling it, but that might give less certainty and less opportunity to the developer.

I think a classy hotel on the scoops lot will be a good thing. It's not a make or break thing, a matter on which we need to hang our civic pride, but it will help provide a first class amenity to Riverside Park and to downtown in general.

Depressed about KIBIHT...

Today's very sad news:  Kamloops International Bantam Ice Hockey Tournament (KIBIHT) society members voted unanimously last night to cancel next year's tournament. They are upset that city hall was unable to provide their desired number of sheets of ice for their new desired tournament dates . I have met with the KIBIHT folks, and I was at the council meeting where we discussed the KIBIHT ice issue. In my opinion, it boils down to very difficult issues. With the change to the national bantam hockey tournament schedule, KIBIHT could not secure the top teams for their old tournament dates. The problem for the new desired tournament dates is that they conflict with other bookings of the desired facilities. We have trade shows booked in, and also lacrosse practices and games. So, who do we bump for whom?

KIBIHT is the top bantam hockey tournament in the world, according to a Hockey News article written I believe in 2006. I have seen the article with my own eyes, because I asked KIBIHT President Fred Cavanagh to show me. It is the longest running continuous tournament in Kamloops. I grew up around people who were very involved in the tournament.

I don't want it to end and I know we, as a council, do not want it to end.

I also realize that we have new and also important users in the trade shows and in lacrosse.

So, what we tried to do was to find a short term solution and a potential long term solution.

Short term involved offering two community arenas, and hoping that the private arena in town could accommodate. This was, at best, in my view, a bandaid, but it bought time to explore long term solutions. In hindsight, I think we should have contacted the private arena, the Ice Box, to see if they could accommodate before we announced our proposal. But things were moving were pretty fast, and I sensed city staff has a very strong confidence the Ice Box could accommodate.

Long term, we asked city staff to explore the purchase of a dry floor which could accommodate both KIBIHT and trade shows and potentially lacrosse in a short time window.

I think this might have worked. I know the KIBIHT directors have done huge service to the community and feel so strongly about offering a world class tournament to the hockey world, but I would be lying if I did not say I hope they reconsider.

Just back from holidays...

Hello!

One of the lessons I have learned from being on city council is to pace myself. A good break, not too often but every once in a while is a good thing. Every 6 months or so, my wife and I try to go somewhere to explore, to relax, and to have some concentrated holiday time.

We just got back from Las Vegas. I was personally interested in learning more about podcasting and video blogging (might one day start a business), so I actually started my holiday at the New Media Expo - great event!  And I am sure there are takeaways that I will implement here and with other activities as a member of council.

My wife then flew down and we spent about 5 days checking out the sights, the shows, and the restaurants in Vegas. A truly fun trip!

Posting here will start again soon!

Tournament Capital Centre Update today...

Hot off the press, blogged from my iPhone during the council break, here are some very impressive financial results from the operations of the Tournanent Capital Centre from the first 6 months of 2008:

- 984 annual passes sold
- 745 average monthly passes sold
- 160 average monthly track passes

-$ 595 037 revenue
-$ 421 465 expenses

Net $173 572

Most city facilities require tax subsidies. Congratulations to all involved!