Elva Webber - Council Candidate

[Ewebber]

Hello lakeviewgirl Oct 25,2008

I hear your concern that people think I am only interested in the naming issue.
The entire area and what happens to it is of importance to me.
Yesterday I took a long drive to see how the school sidewalks were coming along.
The ones I saw look great.
Did you know that Glenrosa Elementary school is not having a sideway installed?
The parents are very upset about it. I wasn’t aware of this until a few days ago when I dropped my grand daughter off at school and the father of another student filled me in on the issue. There is a safely meeting at the school Monday night and I believe council is looking into it. All children deserve to be safe.

Over a period of years and there are many things done to the area that were not best for it. The couplet has been one that was never liked from the beginning and I would love to see a more pedestrian friendly town center.
My children and grandchildren live here and I would like to see a bright future for not only them but for all the young people yet to come and live here.

I spoke of living on Ross road so people would know that I have lived in more than one part of the area. I lived on Old Okanagan highway before I was married. [But back then it was called First Avenue North] then after we got married we lived in Kelowna for two years, then Ross road, then Glenrosa. Al was in the fire department for five years in Lakeview. We moved there after the address had changed to a Kelowna mailing address but we still considered ourselves part of Westbank. I am not saying that all people living there then or now feel the same way. I can only say we were not the only ones that felt that the whole Westside was one.

How and why do think I would disregard everything else if I got voted in?
Do you really think I would go through three years sitting on council and not care about everything that I was to read, research, and comment on, and vote on?
Every decision that Mayor and Council make affects everyone living in Westside.
For anyone to let their name stand for Mayor or Council is a very serious thing to do.
If I were to be elected I would work hard to make good decisions to make the home I love a better place for us ALL to live in.
I would do my best to serve with commonsense and logic in an open, honest, way.

I don’t mind answering questions on here.
But please don’t ask about how the naming committee did things or how the Council did things, I think mistakes were made by all concerned. Some things need to be let go and we need to get on with building a strong community together.
I don’t know how old you are or how long you have lived here, or how many older people you have talked to about the names of the area. Everyone is entitled to his or her own feelings or reasons for wanting one name or another.

We need a health care facility badly on this side. I think where it is built is a big issue, I believe there may be land out by Brookhaven that should be looked at as a option for where it could possibly be built. Land not in the ALR I believe.

The Westbank Yacht club has lost its tax exemption for this year, if I remember rightly the land beside the club was given to the district by the Yacht Club as a park, and a lovely spot it is.
They have done and continue to do good for the community so maybe we should allow them in future to have tax exemption.
Al and I are past members of the Yacht we had a sailboat and enjoyed it very much.
I remember Phil Wakefield [teacher from George Pringle school and father of a good friend] tell the story of how the old boat that is the Yacht Club being driven up and beached where it still stands.


Community plans need to be prioritized, yes all should be looked at in a timely manner but the ones that are most needed by many should be a priority over the ones just wanted by a few.

We should be doing more to get the community involved in council meetings.
If questions had been allowed at more of these meetings some things could have perhaps been dealt with in a better manner.
We need more input from the community and that is one way that I think we could come together for the good of all. Goals are the same, safety, good roads, sewers, controlled building and taxes that will not kill us are just a few that come to mind. We need housing for people of all incomes.

We need to come up with ways to get the young people involved in government from the community level up. The poor showing of voters in the federal election should be a warning to us all. If we don’t start to get our youth involved who will be our leaders in the future?
Lakeviewgirl thank you for posting on here.
Elva

[hereiamagain]

I see, so Elva ignored my questions, and went on to someone else. Interesting, and highly indicative of her future actions.

edited to add....

. Some things need to be let go and we need to get on with building a strong community together.

Some things need to be let go? You mean like questions of integrity and transparency?

Again, all I can say is interesting, and highly indicative of her future actions.

[Jo]

Please remain civil to the candidates. The candidates who are joining us in this election forum aren't going to be able to answer every single question, and there will be no badgering of them if a question is missed.

[hereiamagain]

There is a difference between being missed and ignored.

This is why I say I was ignored:

I don’t mind answering questions on here.
But please don’t ask about how the naming committee did things or how the Council did things, I think mistakes were made by all concerned. Some things need to be let go and we need to get on with building a strong community together.

If a candidate wants to ignore, then this needs to be held up to scrutiny as well. How many times do council members ignore what they do not want to answer? Does this not frustrate you? It does me. If I am being asked to consider someone for office, then I want to know how they will handle the stuff they dont want to handle.

[Ewebber]

I am sorry I missed you hereiamagain.

The naming issue is a hot subject for so many people I think you need the wisdom of Solomon to answer the questions you have ask me.
I don’t mean to ignore your questions I just don’t want to make a difficult issue worse.
Sometimes in life we need to let things go.
I have said there were mistakes made I believe from most everyone involved in the whole name thing. Mayor, council, naming committee, people who wrote letters, people who spoke out. We all made some mistakes, we are all human and no one I know has gone through an experience like this before. No wonder we made mistakes.
I ask your forgiveness hereiamagain I am far from perfect, and yes I may make more mistakes as I go through life. That is normal.
I will try and answer questions on this forum, but I won’t mud sling. I won’t bad mouth people and I won’t try and make a difficult time worse.

After the vote, I will accept the name chosen by the majority and let it go and get on with life even if it is not the name I would like myself.
Elva…

[occasional thoughts]

Elva, as I've asked before, possibly not of you, what if the top-ranking name does not receive a majority. What if it gets 45%, 39%, maybe 33%, but it has the largest number of votes? Will you accept that?

[hereiamagain]

Thank you Elva, I have an understanding of your position now.

[Ewebber]

Hi Rob, no I don't think you have asked me that before.

Before I answer you.
I thought more should have been worked through before a committee was put in place.
We should have had some way for people from all over the area to tell others of their views. I think we have all learnt from this whole thing. Everyone got really worked up I think in part because of the need to get info out before a decision was made for us.
Maybe some meetings where we could mingle and let others know of our concerns would have helped.
Personally I agree that the whole thing was being rushed.
We have grown so fast over the last few years it is no wonder we have growing pains.



by rturner on Today, 11:21 am
Elva, as I've asked before, possibly not of you, what if the top-ranking name does not receive a majority. What if it gets 45%, 39%, maybe 33%, but it has the largest number of votes? Will you accept that?
Rob Turner


To answer your question.
Last year Westside accepted a Mayor that got I believe 33% of the vote, so yes I would accept a name that got the largest number of votes.


I have to tell you Rob my husband Al is doing the sign building, a friend Richard helped one day and our son-in-law Steve has done a lot and a couple of other friends helped put up some of the signs.
Yes the basic design is Chuck's Al and I have known Chuck since we were young .
My son Jason with the help of my grandson David has done the welding for the pins.
My daughter Jolene and I stapled most of the signs onto the boards. The two younger grandkids are too young or they would have no doubt helped also.
So there it is the info on the signs for everyone who wanted to know.
It is good to have handy people in your life.
Elva…

[occasional thoughts]

Thanks, Elva, always have to remind myself you're a calmer, kinder pro-Westbanker than I became used to on earlier forums.

To clarify, I didn't mean that I'd asked you this question before, but I've asked it before and never received an answer.

And lastly, given your answer, please don't call it a majority. The "winner" in a multiple-entry race with the winner not receiving a majority is called a plurality or, to use the current popular lingo, first past the post.

[canadman]

Rob, for those on here who are reading these posts to assess the merits of Elva as a prospective Councillor, I want to concur with your comment. While I don't agree with her stand relative to Westbank having some kind of proprietary 'ownership' of the entire Westside I do have to say Elva Webber was certainly much more respectful and considerate than most of the Westbank advocates I've encountered. As I expressed in an earlier post, though tenacious and unwaivering Elva was always respectful of our committee and has never, during any of this time made her firm stand on Westbank a personal attack against any individual.

As I say, while I don't agree with her I do respect her for standing up for what she believes in.

That said, while I don't question her personal character I do question her objectivity and after such a strong advocacy campaign that many felt was supportive of one group of citizens on this side of the lake while it was at the same time dismissive of a whole other group, whether or not someone like this can represent the entire constituency.

Having read many of the things Elva Webber would like to see done were she to take office including improvements around Glenrosa Elementary School, improvements to the downtown Westbank area, support for the Westbank Yacht Club and adjustments to the Westbank couplet, I've yet to read a single mention of anything that she would address for the many communities to the north of Westbank proper. I've yet to hear Lakeview Heights, Rose Valley, Mount Boucherie, West Kelowna, Casa Loma or any other areas even mentioned.

The concern that I and many others have is that if someone who has literally up to a couple weeks ago been so Westbank focussed makes it onto Council how will she represent the non-Westbank proper areas of this municipality. It would seem she (and to be fair some other candidates as well) rarely make mention of anything north of Old Okanagan Highway as though our community starts at Gorman's at ends somewhere around Canadian Tire.

Once again, having met her I think Elva seems like a very nice person and I have never experienced her being anything but respectfully tenacious but I am concerned about her ability to put her personal objectives aside and represent the whole Westside and all its views and opinions.

[Ewebber]

Adam I know less of the other areas of our district and would therefore have learn more about them and the people living there. What their needs and concerns are to start with.
I was happy to see the sidewalks looking so good up at rose valley.
And I can't wait to see the mural on Neil Bruce school. What a wonderful idea. Not actuate as to what happened but it should look very good and get the idea across.
Lakeview probably needs some work sooner than some areas because it is older.
The same of the downtown core because it is old it needs a lot of work.
The whole Westside needs to be cleaned up.
But no matter who gets in it will be a one thing at a time as money allows and needs are put in priority. Because I have not been on council I would have much to learn should I need to.
Elva

[Ewebber]

Rob thank you for explaining the term plurality. I am never to old to learn.
First past the post I am familiar with. lol
Have a good night.
Elva

[lakeviewgirl]

You want the whole area of Westside to be named Westbank and that is terribly unfair. Casa Loma, West Kelowna Estates, and Lakeview Heights are NOT Westbank and we should not all be called Westbank. I'm asking you to open your mind, and think about a name that would be fair to everyone. A new name will not take away the history, it will start new history. I have lived in Kelowna (Lakeview Heights) for the past twelve years; not that it matters.

[the_zipper]

You want the whole area of Westside to be named Westbank and that is terribly unfair. Casa Loma, West Kelowna Estates, and Lakeview Heights are NOT Westbank and we should not all be called Westbank. I'm asking you to open your mind, and think about a name that would be fair to everyone. A new name will not take away the history, it will start new history. I have lived in Kelowna (Lakeview Heights) for the past twelve years; not that it matters.

Sorry Lakeviewgirl but if you have lived in Lakeview Heights for the past twelve years, you have not been living in Kelowna! You have been living in a Regional District same as the rest of us. You have not been paying taxes to Kelowna nor have you had the right to vote in Kelowna munciple elections. Lakeview Heights is a subdivision, a parcel of land divided off in the 1950 to be developed for housing. Same with Glenrosa, Casa Loma, West Kelowna Estates, Rose Valley, Shannon Lake and Smith Creek..sorry if I missed any.

Edited to Add: I'm so blown away by the amount of people that live on the Westside but still think that they live in Kelowna after all that has happened in a little over a year. I'm curious to know if there are a still alot of people living closer to the bridge that still think they live in Kelowna. It's funny how some people can live in one place for a long period of time but can be bothered to find out any history on where they live.

[fairweather]

They're not Kelowna, nor are they Westbank.