Mary Mandarino - Council Candidate

[Bestside]

Westbank OR West Kelowna will NEVER be a unifying name.

Because of the WESTBANK lobbyists, WEST KELOWNA lobbyists are now coming out in force.

From my understanding of Mary's platform, and correct me if I am wrong Mary, that Mary stands for ALL across the Westside - from Casa Loma to Glenrosa, regardless if we are West Kelowna or whatever, unlike some candidates (read: current incumbents) who listen only to Westbank voices.

I actually have hope that with the new council this ballot will be thrown out completely as being invalid. What do you think about that Mary?

I don't really care if the WEST KELOWNA lobbyists are out in full force. My concern is the students in this area.
70 % of the entire westside relates to the name "Westbank". I am including the WFN ( they are our neighbours and our friends--their children attend the same schools as the rest of the area. My question is: if we have a new name--we will have in our schools the devisive name factor? The Westbank kids and the West Kelowna kids. Is that unifying--is it good for our young people? If the name Westbank is chosen there will be absolutely no divisive name factor--everyone will be equal. We would all have the same name to identify with and with teenage kids that is very important. The more continuity in our community and respect for each other ---the better for our entire area.

steren ... it's about time to have some blunt realities in the mix.

How in the world can "Westbank" as the name be any more unifying over the West Kelowna kids than say... as an example... can "Israel" as the name be unifying for that place West Bank over there... it just does not work and that is why this destructive exercise is in play.

Your arguments always prove that you are just clutching for straws... Students are much more open to newness and change than us old crocks... it's just a fact... A completely new name like Okanagan Hills would place both Westbank and West Kelowna as localities where people can celebrate their right to history ... and come together in school with a common name that makes them equal in all respects. Choosing any existing community name over another breeds an animosity / class structure that is not appropriate. Council should be disgusted with themselves for not having any balls!

I might add that, although you don't mean to, some of your comments about WFN border on not being politically appropriate. I can give you example If you like.

[mary mandarino]

Bestside and steren,

my children attended Mt. Boucherie S.School. ALL 4 of my children played team sport.

Right or wrong our children competed against other schools on both sides of the bridge.

Now as adults here we are doing the same thing.

This is NOT healthy for our community.

I have a question for both of you and anyone else who may want to answer me.

Do you want to see the Westside as a united, healthy and sustainable community?

If your answer is YES, which I believe it will be, then we MUST find a way to unite ALL areas of the Westside.

If we remain divided then we will not reach our full potential. Think about it:-)

Regards from Mary Mandarino

[steren]

[steren ... it's about time to have some blunt realities in the mix.

How in the world can "Westbank" as the name be any more unifying over the West Kelowna kids than say... as an example... can "Israel" as the name be unifying for that place West Bank over there... it just does not work and that is why this destructive exercise is in play.

Your arguments always prove that you are just clutching for straws... Students are much more open to newness and change than us old crocks... it's just a fact... A completely new name like Okanagan Hills would place both Westbank and West Kelowna as localities where people can celebrate their right to history ... and come together in school with a common name that makes them equal in all respects. Choosing any existing community name over another breeds an animosity / class structure that is not appropriate. Council should be disgusted with themselves for not having any balls!

I might add that, although you don't mean to, some of your comments about WFN border on not being politically appropriate. I can give you example If you like.

I'm certainly glad to here that you think students are much more open to newness than us old crocks. I wonder if you raised your children in this area during the Boucherie Pringle era. In my school days at Pringle (Pringle was the only high school from Peachland to the bridge ) our animosities were between Kelowna and Rutland kids verses Westbank/Peachland kids. I don't think the mentality of teenage kids has improved since then. I'm sure that kind of mentality was happening all over--not just here.I know even the type of clothing kids wear has an effect on their status at school nowdays. If any new name were to be choosen we would still have the WFN with over 9,000 non native residents using the name Westbank--so there would still be the two name factors used in our schools. If Westbank is choosen--we all have the same name. That is the point I am trying to make.
I would appreciate an example of of my comments bordering on not being politically correct. I would appreciate an example. I have a daughter with the last name Derrickson. I would certainly hope that my comments are not offensive.

[parachute]

I have a daughter with the last name Derrickson.

That is the strangest statement I have seen in a long time. If I wrote: “I have a daughter with the FIRST name Mary” then the reader could infer a few things but not everything about me and my family (e.g., the reader still would not know the age of my daughter). But if I wrote: “I have a daughter with the LAST name Jones” (and the reader didn’t know if MY last name was Jones or some other name) then the reader would be COMPLETELY in the dark about me and my family.

Does steren's mind work in strange ways all the time? Or perhaps steren is really brilliant and wrote that strange set of words on purpose?

[the_zipper]

Good Morning to the_zipper,

According to Dorothy Hewlett Gellatly,

Mr. Goldie's pre- emptionNo.985 was dated 1890. She does not state the date his house was built.

She does state that Mr. Goldie abandoned his pre-emption.

Mrs. Susan Moir Allison was the first white woman to ride the trail from Hope to Similkameen.

In 1872 Mrs. Allison was the first white woman to homestead on the west-side,

her daughter Louisa was the first white child born on the west-side January 2.

According to this historical report it appears that Sunnyside was settled many years before Mr. Goldie pre-empted land that today is called Westbank.

If you have infromation that states otherwise, we would all be happy to hear it.

Regards from Mary Mandarino

You are absoutely right Mary! But in your first post there is some of the time line missing.
Try this link enjoy the read.
http://www.okanagan.net/wmuseum/Templates/About.htm

[mary mandarino]

Hello the_zipper,

thank you very much for this information. ALL I can say to you is WOW!!!

I will share this link with anyone who may be interested in the history of the westside.

Thank you again.

Regards from Mary Mandarino

[Bestside]

Bestside and steren,

my children attended Mt. Boucherie S.School. ALL 4 of my children played team sport.

Right or wrong our children competed against other schools on both sides of the bridge.

Now as adults here we are doing the same thing.

This is NOT healthy for our community.

I have a question for both of you and anyone else who may want to answer me.

Do you want to see the Westside as a united, healthy and sustainable community?

If your answer is YES, which I believe it will be, then we MUST find a way to unite ALL areas of the Westside.

If we remain divided then we will not reach our full potential. Think about it:-)

Regards from Mary Mandarino

The galvanizing issue is the municipalities name.
To work towards a united, healthy and sustainable community we need a new unifying name like "Okanagan Hills". The current community names are divisive and destructive.

steren should put aside her obsession with having Westbank for the name.
Mary Mandarino should put aside her desire for West Kelowna for the name.

Those names will just drive the community apart.
Both you people should Vote for either Okanagan Hills or Westlake.
Set yourself free!

[hereiamagain]

how do you feel about community projects, ie "barn raising" (thanks Jim) to create much needed municipal buildings, and community service by those who sin against the community...? would you support something like that?

the managers that we have in the municipality office are (potentially) up for a 16/22% raise. Since $$ is so tight in the municipality, why are we looking at raises now (as they were just hired) and would you support these raises? What in your opinion would pose an acceptable situation for the raises?

[mary mandarino]

Good Morning heriamagain,

Restorative Justice is an interesting appraoch when addressing deviant behaviour issues.

I am aware that this approach is meeting with success in Australia and based on the research that I have read it is a more appealing method than the punishment model which has a 40% recidivism rate.

As for salary increases I would like to see a citizens committee established to review wages, salaries and political stipends and allowances.

As we follow castanets news reports each day we read about job terminations.

The economic downturn is particularly troublesome in our area as we have a small business and industry base. Residentail taxes make up the bulk of our revenues.

During this economic crunch I would certainly like to see a review of ALL expenditures. This would be best undertaken by an independent citizen's review committee.

Regards from Mary Mandarino

[mary mandarino]

Good Morning dpellerton,

I have emailed an inquiry to district staff regarding the cost of police officers and the tax implication of hiring additional officers.

To date I have not recieved this information.

However, at a recent meeting with RCMP administration we were advised that the cost of an officer is $120,000 per year.

As soon as I have information from district staff I will share with you.

Regards from Mary Mandarino

[hereiamagain]

Hi Mary, thank you for the info - something you all may be interested in -
Darren Schlamp did this very interesting tax implication website last year - the website address is
http://taxes.schlamp.ca/
He has police being at 600K -
anyway, the idea is that if you want to see what your taxes will be like, then you add and take away services and it will give you an idea of potential taxes.

Darren if you are reading, could you please say why you put the police at 600K? is that for five or six officers?

[canadman]

Hey Mary Tangerino Good luck tonight! You're gonna do it.

[mary mandarino]

Good Morning to you All,

I want to thank you for sharing your thoughts and questions as well as your support on this blog.

It was a lot of fun.

Thank you from Mary Mandarino

[occasional thoughts]

Congratulations on a good campaign, Mary. I'm not surprised, I guess, but I am sorry you lost.

[mary mandarino]

Hello Rob,

thank you for your kind words.

While I did not win a seat on council, I met a lot of very wonderful people. So I do not view my result as a loss but rather as a win!!

I am sure I will remain in contact and a friend of many people that I would not have otherwise met.

My life has been enriched as a result of this process.

Regards from Mary