Kelly Hayes - Regional Director East Candidate

[mountainmama]

Re Kelly Hayes running for Director of Okanagan East.
Havent they got a proper person living in Ellison or Joe Rich that wil take the reins that doesnt have a personal Agenda.
Kelly Hayes is running on one-sided information regarding water availability in Joe Rich, and anti development. He refused to print a different water study done by a large firm in Vancouver that states that there is more than ample water in Joe Rich. Besides that, his so-called facts are all wrong. Maybe he should reside there a little longer than 6 months and find out what actually are the facts there.
Besides that, isnt a Director supposed to represent the wishes of the taxpayers that pays his or her wages??? Kinda got lost in his personal statements.
My advice to Kelly that wants to jump in to politics...Find out from ALL of the taxpayers in that area just what the issues are before you go sticking your proverbial "foot in your mouth".
I would like to see a resident up there that has genuine concerns and facts run for Regional Director in these areas. God knows they sure need one finally. oh and by the way..an open mind would be a great qualification along with a sense of fairness.

[truthseeker]

There are three candidates for director for Central Okanagan East (Ellison-Joe Rich- South Lakeshore). Can anyone name them?

Kelly Hayes
the current director (whose name escapes me right now, but will come to me any moment)
and Reg Volk who is running for both Regional Director and School Trustee.

Isn't that right Reggin?????

[truthseeker]

Hey!

Getting close but...

How could you forget the current director's name?

Patty Hansen - I told you it would come to me!

[amomof2dogs]

How could a candidate consider running for two elected position at the same time? Both jobs require a huge time committment to be done properly. What if he is elected to both postions?

[truthseeker]

I follow the regional district occasionally and without the Westside now ,they do not seem to be doing one third as much so...??

And do they still get paid the same amount (including all their per diems on top of their stipend)?

[oldal]

I follow the regional district occasionally and without the Westside now ,they do not seem to be doing one third as much so...??

This is beginning to sound like someone trying to justify running for two offices. Who cares how the work load is split up on the West side? The fact remains that the law allowing people to run for more than one office is absurd and should be changed. How do you reconcile situations like where the school board and municipal councils have haggled over sales of school district property to municipalities? The sale of Bellevue Creek school property a few years ago comes to mind. There you are representing both parties. It's what lawyers call conflict of interest.

[armor]

RUN FOR TWO POSITIONS IN THE SAME MUNICIPALITY? GET REAL!!!

[oldal]

RUN FOR TWO POSITIONS IN THE SAME MUNICIPALITY? GET REAL!!!

Unfortunately, it is real. It's perfectly legal (but is it ethical?) and it's happened several times over the years. Just 3 years ago a man in the south okanagan ran for mayor of Keremeos, school trustee in Penticton and Penticton council. If he could have run for mayor of Penticton he may well have done so, but you can't run for mayor and coucil in the same place. He wound up being acclaimed to the Penticton school board because someone dropped out after nominations closed.

In this election Reg Volk is running for regional director for Joe Rich-Ellison and also for Lake Country-Ellison-Joe Rich school trustee. He obviously doesn't see himself subject to potential conflict if he wins both seats. It may be legal, however....

[oldal]

[quote][/quote]


No difference at all. And that's wrong too in my opinion. Can anyone explain the fairness in a case where Councillor Robert Hobson, the grand old man of RDCO and Kelowna politics, exerts his influence on, say, Lake Country, the West side or Peachland municipalities to fall in line with what he thinks is good for Kelowna but may be bad for them? I'm sure Hobson would say "no conflict here", but that would be convenient thinking on his part. Trouble is, the residents of Kelowna who vote for him and outnumber us would probably agree because it's convenient. The rest of us may have good cause someday to think otherwise. No matter how thin you slice it, you cannot serve two masters.

[oldal]

That's like saying prison inmates and correctional officers have common interests in ensuring life inside the walls goes on as smoothly as possible. Can an inmate apply for a correctional officer's position with any hope of being hired based on your rationalisations? I thought not.

[sheltiepup]

Some thoughts.

Perhaps people should comment with some degree of knowledge about what goes on at Regional Board meetings by attending more than periodically, or once in a while, or even attending no meetings!

Robert Hobson is the most regionally-minded and guided politican around. He truly has the interests of the region at heart and in mind whenever he's in the chair. Other politicians at the table would do well to remember that, even though they are appointed and represent their municipality. It is after all the REGIONAL DISTRICT!

Running for two separate offices is perfectly legal...but one must seriously wonder about one's decision to split allegiances rather than focussing on seriously representing the needs and interests of one set of constituents in one body.

As for the CORD staff having a third less to do, more than 60 of them are no longer working at CORD, so the remaining ones have plenty to do...none of that truly regional workload has eased, they are just not providing service anymore as local government to the Westside. They are still the local government for the two electoral areas!

[kelownathoughts]

I am personally uncomfortable with the thought of Kelly Hayes in a political position. As earlier posters have said, Mr. Hayes has one-sided views and problems getting facts straight. Many such examples can be found in a number of his stories right here on Castanet.

I find him extremely unreliable, and has yet to prove his merit as a candidate for the Regional District.

[walkinthepark]

would like to see a resident up there that has genuine concerns and facts run for Regional Director in these areas. God knows they sure need one finally. oh and by the way..an open mind would be a great qualification along with a sense of fairness.

Seems to me, there is no one running for Regional District position for Joe Rich Ellison that fits your criteria. Acutally there really is no one worthy of a vote.

I believe "Reggin" is running. We've seen his performance at meetings, it was a real turn off, we quit going to meetings to watch people behave like that. Just how is that going to help our community? We want to know just why was he let go from the school board years ago?
Sometimes old timers just aren't what is needed. Just because you've lived here for many years, doesn't make you the best candidate for the job.
(You don't see the other candidates on this forum critizing the other cadidates like Reg is either.)

BTW, Why do we need a larger tax base? If we do, let's join Kelowna like our address says. This area could very well become the most desirable location to live in Kelowna with it's acreage and wildnerness. It should really be left like this. They can't tax you on services you don't have. We lived in an rural area in a city in the lower mainland, we paid taxes to that city, and they were reasonable for the acreage we had. (The taxes for the Regional District are almost double what we paid!) What are we getting? Right, nothing. Garbage and snowplows.
We voted no for the community hall (who needs something that old and not conveinient to get too and use).WE are only paying for a select few to have the use of it. Now that's a waste of our money. Makes us annoyed we have to go out of our way to drive out there to vote, when we should have voted in Kelwona before we came home.

As for the community water systems as posted earlier, is that not just a big well? It's certainly not supplied by the BMID, they service Black Mountain/Kelowna.

I'd would also like to know where all this ample water is? Just ask my neighbours that I see hauling water. We've noticed our own well is not producing what it was 5 years ago. If there is so much water, just where is it all? We could use more.
We know some have 100 gallons a minute, others have like .42 of a gallon. Big difference. One property has, one doens't. It does not make the whole area a huge source of water.

It amazes me the attitude of some of the people out here. No wonder we don't admit we live in Joe Rich, it's rather an emabarrassment. Between the people and the gravel pits the government seems hell bent on us residents sucking it up and living with, it won't matter who is sitting at the RD, this area will not be desirable at all.
Kind of depressing when you try to sell and get out of here.

The more I think of it, maybe we do need fresh blood at the Regional District.
Who cares how long the person has lived here? They bought a home out here. They live here.

It's not to hard to figure out the issues here:
Sub Divide or Not?
Gravel Pits or Not?
Water or no Water?
Community Hall or Not? (Oh wait we are stuck with that relic for now).
Fire Dept or not? (We've been paying enough extra in taxes for a hall we don't have volunteers to staff, so no more).

Maybe add Join Kelowna or not?
that about sums up this area.

[ksl]

There are many Joe Rich and for that matter Ellison residents with a far greater sense of optimism.

There IS much to be worked on and..... much HAS been ignored.

You will not solve problems by staying home just because someone has irritated you.

Do your best to serve the community, in some way, by getting involved in order to make it a better place for future generations.

Well said Reg! It would be nice to have some actual representation out here for a change. I choke everytime I read Patti Hanson's signs. The woman has done nothing, reported to no one, and needs to move on! She PROMISED the JRRATS prior to the last election that she would communicate with the community this time around - yet she couldn't even get her bio in on time for newsletter publication. What a joke! She does more for Ellison than she does for Joe Rich and yet she lives here! Oh, sorry, she did jump on the Gravel Pit bandwagon when it became obvious it would impact her property values.

Yes, Reg gets pretty passionate - but at least there's some passion! Someone trying to do something and to improve things out here. Hopefully, Reg, you will hear what people are saying and be willing to "Listen" to everyone if you are elected - I think you have the ability to really make some positive changes if only you will represent the majority and not just what you think is right.

I am scared about what Kelly Hayes will bring to the table. He hasn't lived here very long. What is his agenda? Will he be more responsible in his representation of our community, or will he continue with his reputation of "stirring the pot" - Kelly seems to enjoy controversy, if his reporting is any indication.

Walk in the Park - you're obviously very unhappy and embarassed to live in Joe Rich. So move. We don't need or want your negative impact in this wonderful little community. It is your loss that you don't attend functions at the hall - Christmas with Santa is amazing, so were all the community pot lucks. I can't wait for our son to skate on our community rink. Seriously, you need to get out and contribute or get out. Why do you live here at all - if it is so miserable?