Elva Webber - Council Candidate

[Jo]

A thread for Elva Webber, council candidate.

[cpt64]

I've been out of town since Thursday and just returned today. I expected there to be a lot more signs out upon my return but found the number and size of Elva's signs the most interesting for someone who is running for the first time. It seems she must be backed very well.

[occasional thoughts]

I believe Chuck Jean, master sign man, is doing her signs.

[fairweather]

That sounds about right, as I understand things.

[Ewebber]

Hello everyone.
Jo thank you for starting this thread for the candidates.

To danner [and anyone else who is interested]
I think the Citizens Advisory Committee is a good way for area residents to let their voices be heard to council. I would have voted in favor of one being formed not against it.

I think the motion that the governance committee passed about a naming committee should have been acted upon and we may have been able to avoid this whole naming debacle. We should have voted last year for a name if the vote was for incorporation.
I [and others] just wanted to have Westbank as one of the choices to vote for on this coming ballot.
Clearwater and Barrier both incorporated at the same time as we did under their historic names so I don’t think it unreasonable that a lot of people here thought we would do the same. Lake Louise is an unincorporated town; if they vote to incorporate do you think they should take a new name?
I would like to see things to be out in the open.
Some talk among committee’s and council will always happen.
The naming committee talked prior to the open meeting where they passed a motion to remove the existing names off the name list. I believe that it was not an abnormal thing for them to talk in advance of the meeting.

I don’t know if there is a plan for a permanent town hall location. I think it should be located wherever we have the space to do so where it would be accessible to all.
To me decisions like that one should be made with logic. If we had the land to build it anywhere we wanted I would love it to be in the middle of Westside but in reality we will probably be limited as where we have the land to build upon.

As for the door knocking, no one can knock on every door in the area.
It would be great if we could all talk to each and everyone that can vote but again it is just not possible. Please forgive me if I don’t make it to your door.

My husband Al and I lived on Ross road from 1973 to 1979.
Al was a volunteer fireman with the Lakeview Heights fire department for part of that time.
Al was born and raised here. I moved here from Peachland in 1963 went I was 8. I can truly tell you I love the whole community [the whole Valley for that matter] we know people all over the area.
No one part of the area is better or less important than the other areas.
We are one and should all be working to make this a wonderful place for the future.
There is a saying: Old men plant trees so young people can enjoy them.
That is how I believe we should be looking after Westside we should make every decision with the future generations in mind. Elva Webber

[Jo]

Welcome Elva! It is great to have you join us!

[canadman]

Elva, there is a big difference between members of a committee or Council talking about issues outside of public meetings and Council members who sit on committees lobbying fellow Council members for proposals they themselves have drawn up in direct confllct with the work of the very committee they're still sitting on before that committee has even had a chance to make it's own recommendation.

This is what happened with the naming issue and is part of what people are upset about.

The other part that has some people frustrated is the fact that since the alternate ballot was discussed and basically decided on privately this resulted in little to no discussion or debate regarding it, its rationale, its pros and cons, or any expert input that went into its creation during the public Council meeting. All that most us got to hear was a ballot read out followed immediately by a vote. This is not how a Council is supposed to function.

As one of the most active advocates for the name Westbank during the committee's operation how would you have felt had the naming committee conducted all its work in private, then shown up to council, simply read our ballot with no summary of the rationale behind it or any of the work that went into it and then held a vote and had it pass with no further discussion or debate.

I have a feeling a few people in our community would have gone berserk.

And that's just using a committee of non-elected volunteers as an example.

This was how our own elected officials who are required to conduct the municipality's business openly and transparently handled the matter.

I would hope that your position in this campaign does not condone such actions as being the appropriate and acceptable way for elected officials to handle an issue.

And just to be clear, this has nothing to do with the naming issue, Council's right to reject the committee's recommendation or the merits of the ballot that was adopted. Our committee was fully aware that Council had the right and might very well reject our recommendation and create its own ballot and list of names. This has to do, as has been stated many times by many people, with the way the matter was handled and the appearance of a lack of transparency on the part of Council and a lack of respect for the committee by working against the committee before it had even had the chance to present its work, the culmination of hundreds of hours of volunteer time.

[canadman]

I would also like to know your position regarding:

1. Development of the waterfront
2. The role you see of tourism on the Westside
3. How you foresee expanding the commercial revenue base of our municipality

[Ewebber]

Adam the whole naming thing has been a debacle from the start. There should have been some checking within the community done before the whole thing was started in the first place. It should not have been something that needed to be rushed through.
For many people the open naming committee meeting in August was the first time we had been allowed to have any input into things that had been done to this area over a period of years and years, its no wonder the whole thing has gotten so big….

We were a small group of people spread over a large area where most people knew each other. In a lot of cases we were related through big families or through marriage.
We had two elementary schools and one high school. All the kids, including the Westbank First Nation kids went to school together, we were friends, and many dated and married high school sweethearts. Many people are like Al and I and have lived in different areas within the Westside. We all felt we were one and shared one name Westbank.

When the naming came up, we did not hear one thing about Westbank’s history come out. Others and I thought there are a lot of new to the area people and they need to be told the history so they know where we came from. We were shocked to learn that a lot of people didn’t care about history it made no difference they just wanted to rename us.
I do understand that everyone has their own reasons for this, whatever they may be.
We just believed we should have a chance to vote for our historic name.

Yes we could keep our name but in a very limited way. We were told we would not lose history, but funny how things that happened in Westbank keep getting called Westside or Kelowna in the news. Several times now the horrific deaths of the Bob and Jackie and their daughters have been written up as them being from Kelowna or from Westside.
They lived and worked in Westbank. People who are their family, friends and coworkers still live here and still mourn for them.

I also understand if I had moved into the north end after all that has taken place over the years I probably would not have understood all that happened to the area.
Some of the mailing addresses changed from Westbank to Kelowna mailing addresses. Which I still don’t think most people understand that you can live in one name and have a different name mailing address. You come to have an identity with your address. For many families in Westbank that identity has been formed for two, three, four and five, generations. The streets are named for family members and for friends, or for friend’s relatives.

When Westbank’s section was removed from the phone book and our numbers were mingled in with Kelowna’s people should have made the phone company change it back, I think it was done to cut costs but it was a bad thing to do.
So now we had people moving in to the area and they had a different address from Westbank and their phone number is mixed in with Kelowna, no wonder people didn’t relate to us. People should have seen this coming and done something sooner.




The first while after this happened people still knew they were part of Westbank.
When Al and I moved from Ross Road to Glenrosa in 1979 Lakeview still believed they were a part of Westbank. Glenrosa and Shannon Lake believed they were part of Westbank. West Kelowna estates were not yet built.
I don’t know just when people started feeling we were not all one community?
We have the Westbank and district chamber of commerce, and Westbank Lions, Westbank Rotary, the people who started these, were from all over the district and they felt they were a part of Westbank.
I would like to see us feel like one community again.

Sorry Adam I got carried away.
Back to the council I think they have done a lot of things right and some things wrong.
We are all human and we are all learning in this life as we go long.
Man I make mistakes. It is just worse when we make one the whole world sees and keeps bringing up. Our Mayor and council are in their first year of their job; I think people should be forgiven more. This has been a very stressful time for all involved.
A big round table discussion last spring might have brought out better results, or a few brain storming sessions. Phone calls to about 200 people throughout the area first may also given us insight, before a committee was formed. I think some things were done backwards but we can’t turn back the clock.

I think everyone needs a hug and maybe some ice cream and a walk under the stars and start laughing again. I took my 93-year-old Dad and my 87-year-old Mom for a long drive all over the area today so they could see the changing of the fall leaves.
Then Mary Mandarino and I [we met for the first time today] were ask to pose for a picture for an article that is being written, I hope it is honest and shows our different view of a name but for the most part I think all the candidates want the best for the area.
Now I think we need to go ahead and see this through and get on with our lives.
With times being as they are we there are much more important things to work on in our community if we want it strong and healthy in the future.

We need get past who did what wrong and get on with trying to do things right.
We need to build and work together for the good of us all.
Elva..

[canadman]

Elva,

I appreciate your post recounting the history of Westbank, something you have recited many times before on this forum and through your letters to the editor. My question however regarded the lack transparency on Council and where you stand on that, it's handling of the naming issue and the way in which it handled the naming committee.

I also appreciate the sentiment you expressed regarding hugs and ice cream, but unfortunately the reality is candidates for Council can't solve the issues facing a community with hugs and ice cream and many of us are keen to hear answers to questions regarding issues confronting our community.

Like you, I can't wait for all of this to be behind us and I hope when it's all said and done we can all get back on with being one community and make this the best community in BC.

But again I really am interested in finding out candidates positions on the issues (especially those candidates I don't know too much about). If you could do so it would be most helpful to me and I suspect to others as well.

I would add one other point that I agree with you on and never meant to appear deaf to and that is the issue regarding preservation of our history and I would hope the next Council, regardless of the name issue will make this a priority.

[Ewebber]

My position on Development of the waterfront:
I think the waterfront has to be looked at lot by lot and see what the impact would be on the environment, and the surrounding area. We would need to know why and how it would be developed. We have precious little waterfront so I would want any development to be very carefully planned out. The entire waterfront needs to be looked at a whole and an overall plan should be put in place.

The role of tourism on the Westside:

Tourism is very important for Westside.
With something going on in each of our distinct seasons we are popular year round.
I would like the Westside to have more events happen over the course of the year that locals and tourists alike could enjoy.
With swimming, skiing, biking, hiking, boating, wine tours, and shopping to name just a few things. And our wonderful Okanagan weather it is an easy sell for people to want to come to Westbank the heart of the Okanagan. [or any name we choose in this space]

I think we could do more at the info center to let tourists and locals alike who come through not only learn about the area but want to do more or stay longer so they can take full advantage of more of the great life we have to offer here.

How I foresee expanding the commercial revenue base of our municipality:

We need to get a plan in place that would help new business, we should be looking at businesses that complement existing businesses so shoppers would have more choice and we would be more of a destination.
We need to revitalize not only the downtown area but also many areas in the district.
Fresh air, lakes, mountains, vineyards, shopping is all drawing cards for the area.
Once people come to our area you find them coming back year after year.
Todd’s campground in Peachland have had some of their campers coming for 50 years, and they drive, shop and bring in money to not only Peachland but Westside and other areas also. There are areas that are not in the ALR that could be looked at for development that would also add to commercial revenue base for us.
Elva

[Ewebber]

I think many things were mishandled; this whole thing has been a learning experience for us all. Many things were mishandled. That is all I will say. I don’t want to say more than that, I think many people were doing the best they could in a difficult position.
A lot of things should have been done with more time taken and more thought to how everyone would react in difficult times.
We all had so much coming at us from many directions people for us, people with different views. People who don’t know us saying things against us.
The news media writing about everything. No wonder things got out of hand. We need to all say enough.
I need some sleep so goodnight Adam
Elva..

[hereiamagain]

Hi Elva, your answer to Adam on the naming committee was a bit vague to me, and did not quite answer anything -
1. do you think council acted appropriately, and
2. in an appropriate, correct, transparent manner?
3. How do you think the volunteers and the electorate were treated?
4. What would you do if you were one of the two councilors who were on the outside of the behind the scenes decisions?

[canadman]

Thank you Elva for answering my questions.

All the best with your campaign.

[lakeviewgirl]

I am concerned that Elva is only wanting to be elected as part of council for the naming issue. After the naming issue, she will disregard everything else. As well, you mentioned that your husband was in the Lakeview Heights fire department and you lived on Ross road, I just would like to remind you that is not Westbank.