Wednesday, January 20, 1993 @ RDCK Chair reacts to counterparts criticism Editor’s Note: The following was written by Regional District of Central Kootenay Chair George Cady in re- sponse to a letter from Directors Ken Wyllie and John Voykin published in the Dec. 23 edition of The News. Cady’s letter — titled personal and private — was written on Dec. 23 and made pub- lic at the RDCK board meeting Satur- day. The letter was not endorsed by the RDCK board and it — along with the Wyllie and Voykin letter and an article from The News — has been sent to the Inspector of Municipalities for com- ment. Dear Sirs: While you have every right to com- municate your opinions on any matter to the media or others, I regret sincere- ly that you have taken the most recent action of writing a Letter to the Editor of The Castlegar News. Since you have, by inference, direct- ed your criticism at me, as board chair- man, I shall respond as board chair- man. I have no control over those people who wish to contact me or the informa- tion they seek relative to board or dis- trict matters. Indeed, it is my wish that there would be fewer calls. I have always made it a practice to invite the caller to contact the director for that area which the question con- cerns. If you would check with the Castlegar media, you would find — as I have on many occasions — that you are simply not available: particularly you, Director Wyllie. If, as Directors, you feel that the me- dia are by-passing you, I would re- spectfully suggest that it is for you to build up a rapport or establish lines of communication with them. I reserve the right as chairman to comment, when requested, on any board matter as well as give personal Politician-bashing must stop observations. Your comments regarding the loss of Mrs. Smecher, in my opinion, lead into a personal attack on her. In my mind, she is quite capable of representing her own point of view and her own case. I need not defend her or her actions on the board except to say, in my opin- ion, that Mrs. Smecher has been a hard working and dedicated board director. Again, in my opinion, the best repre- sentative that Castlegar council has sent to our table in my years on the Your comments regarding the ap- pointment to the Coalition on Re- sources and Environment process were, to my mind, decided until you, Director Wyllie — for reasons I can on- ly speculate — decided to lead a rever- sal of that decision. I do not criticize board decisions re- gardless of whether or not I agree with them. It is the board’s decision that pre- vails. It seemed logical that since the commission had asked for one munici- pal and one rural director: Barkley (rural) from the Valley where the study is going on, and Smecher (municipal) and chair of the board’s Resources Committee would attend on our behalf. It will be interesting to see where your perceived intervention leads us. Your comments regarding a non-con- fidence motion challenging the board’s resolution of appointment of a director to CORE shows your lack of under- standing of the democratic process. Such a motion would not have been en- tertained. It is my opinion that you both owe the board, the resources committee, and Mrs. Smecher, an apology for your statements on board policy regarding clearcut logging. It has been explained to you on a number of occasions, yet you still choose to ignore what was pre- sented. After a number of slides in one of our valleys (with it felt that one of the main causes was clearcut logging), the board, as suggested by Director Barkley, stat- ed that we were against clearcut log- ging in those particular cases. It was because one particular group at every opportunity stated that, “the regional district is against clearcut log- ging” that Director Barkley came to the board and had the position clarified. As stated a number of times and after pre- sentation by Ministry of Forests and others, that there were times when clearcut logging was the method re- quired for that particular area to be logged, the board agreed. To blame one person or a committee for a decision of the board is not a just course for you to follow because you happen to disagree with that decision. I must, directors, set straight your perception and my real involvement with Castlegar’s appointments to our board. I answered one telephone call from one councillor who asked my opin- ion on who would be best for Castlegar and the board as Castlegar’s appointee. I have made no secret of who I think has been and would still make the best director representing Castlegar. I did visit one councillor to ask him to seriously consider support for a council resolution appointing Coun. Smecher back on the Board. I went to Councillor (Lawrence) Chernoff be- cause he, along with other members of past Castlegar councils, had discussed with me, at their invitation, replacing Mayor (Audrey) Moore as mayor. . Obviously Mr. Chernoff has changed his mind about Mayor Moore and is now happy with his positions on Coun- cil. I would ask you, Director Wyllie, honestly, whose involvement was greater, yours or mine? Imake no comment on your diatribe against Mr. O’Connor. He and his com- mittee — for good or bad — will be judged by the Castlegar voters in the not too distant future. They have done well it seems so far. I ask you both, gentlemen, when any of the media have taken a negative ver- sion of our board, like all politicians — you and I included — we like to read and hear nice things about us and our work. When it is not to our liking or we disagree with what is said or printed, we are indignant, hurt and react neg- atively. I did not particularly like Ron Nor- man’s treatment of me in his last edi- torial. He was given half of the facts as you know: Because I did not like it I can suggest he did not make the effort to find out both sides of the story. Perhaps that is my fault not his. I do not have time for those petty games. Yesterday’s paper lights fires and covers bird cage floors. On a personal note, John, I have worked with you for years; we have not always agreed with each other. You have been, to my mind, always honest and above board; a true Christian gen- tlemen who I have been proud to call friend. I cannot help but believe that this latest response was brought about through third-party intervention. I must believe that as co-author of this latest action, this is what you believe. I regret that Director Wyllie and you have taken this public cgurse. It is my hope that the new year will see resolu- tion of some of the differences that you have with some board policies and board decisions. I thank you for past ef- forts and co-operation and look forward to a productive and Happy New Year. G.B. Cady Chairman of the Board Variety Club set for 1993 Your editorial, “Laughable Liberals”, to use your own words, “would be almost comi- cal”, if the issues “weren’t so serious”. Many have condemned the Liberal MLA who wrote to a court in support of a convicted pedophile. Why should such an act “shock a province”? How can we be so ready to cast an individual to outer dark- ness simply because they spoke in support of someone who has been convicted of a se- rious crime? If there is, or was, anything good in a person who stands convicted of a serious crime, the judge should be so in- formed before passing sen- tence. What are people afraid SeSeSeSeSeS$eSeSeS$e$eS$e$S$eSeSESeS$eS$eS eS e$ecSeSe$eSecseseses Lf the court might find out? The truth? “Gordon Wilson and Judi Tyabji are alleged...” Who needs proof? Not you. I fail to understand the issue. If proof emerges, it means that the marriages of two prominent Liberals might be breaking up. When then-Prime Minis- ter Trudeau’s marriage broke up, he made the case that his private life was private and the national media didn’t dare cast aspersions on his political ability because of his marital failure. Our provincial media can’t resist. The media must get out of the bedrooms of politicians. As far as David Mitchell who was “all but booted out of the party to the glee of his so- called Liberal friends” goes, most political parties in Cana- da that have ever elected any- one have suffered the embar- rassment of finding that some of them “refuse to toe the par- ty line”. Condemn the Liberals for this and you most likely have to condemn every gov- ernment and every opposition that has ever held office. Your editorial reflects the “politician. bashing” that seems so fashionable at this time. Now that simply being a politician is cause to be dis- honored, I wonder what peo- ple think they would prefer in- stead of politicians. Dictators? David Lewis, Crescent Valley Last year, the Variety Club Telephone raised $3,937,748 for B.C.’s physi- cally and mentally chal- lenged children. Where does the money go? oy the money raised stays in Variety - Club channels some of the fundraising pro- ceeds into Sunshine Coaches for special needs children. Last year, monies raised helped purchase 27 Sunshine Coaches in communities aa British Colum- ia. Monies also go towards capital costs for Variety Child Development Centres, as well as a wide variety of pro- jects ranging from the con- struction of water parks for special needs children to the purchase of “talking comput- ers” for children with com- munication disorders. If News readers would like more information about how they can become involved in raising funds for B.C.’s phys- ically and mentally chal- lenged children, they are in- vited to contact Variety Club’s special events coordi- nator, Denise Berg at 669- 2313. Chris Byrnes, Public Relations Won't buy you a CHOCOLATE BAR Our person for Our People Corinne Jackson 365-7266 CONGRATS Humphries Secondary student Sonoko Kambara is one of 16 B.C. winners of the 1992 Premier's Excellence Award. The award is based on academic excellence and service to the community and school. Because of Kambara’s outstanding performance in these areas, she has received a medal of recognition and a $5,000 scholarship to ~., attend a B.C. post-secondary institution. Congratulations Sonoko! HONORABLE MENTION Eighteen-year- old Jade Cropley — another Stanley Humphries student — has been notified that her poem entitled ‘In Need of Care’ will be published in The National Library of Poetry’s book A Question of Balance. Way to go Jade! THANKS David and Kaye Jones and John and Grace Nixon would like to thank all those people who attended Julie and Becki’s housewarming party and have helped their daughters make the move into semi- independent living easier. Corinne Jackson NEWS REPORTER Locks will only keep the honest people out. It’s an old saying, but Castlegar RCMP Cpl. Al Hudema says people here must start taking precautions. “There are steps a business can take to prevent breaking and enterings,” he says, but residences are not to be excluded — they can also take better precautionary measures. In the last eight weeks, there have been 14 break-ins — 10 into businesses and four into residences. These figures don’t even include such incidences as breaking into vehicles, Hudema says. A vehicle that was broken into on the Robson side of the train bridge Jan. 17 had a compact disc case and its contents stolen. Listed as a wilful damage and theft, the car-owner is minus some $300 of valued equipment. Police are more than aware of the rising number of break and enters and are preparing to deal with it. Hudema says tomorrow’s in-house meeting will examine crime trends and break-ins are “something we're looking at addressing.” According to Hudema, one way of dealing with the problem may include holding public information sessions on how to protect homes and businesses against unlawful entry. In the meantime, he says businesses should look at how their premises are currently protected and take steps to ensure they are well-secured. Installing dead bolts, adequate lighting or bars on back doors that are out of public view are just a few suggestions he gave. Alarms are another way to go. Hudema says both audible and silent alarms are good, but “if you want to catch (thieves) our chances are better with a silent alarm.” With silent alarms, thieves can continue their work while police are contacted and given time to arrive at the scene. If someone just wants to scare a thief, they may decide to purchase an audible alarm. As well, Hudema says, “we don’t recommend leaving any money.” Kathy Soloveoff echoes the same suggestion — something she had to learn the hard way. Some time between the Nov. 30th evening and early Dec. 1st morning, Tulips Floral Co. was broken into. Some $600 was stolen from the cash register. “It was frustrating and really scary,” Avoiding those | BREAK-IN BLUES I News photo by Corinne Jackson Kathy Soloveoff (left) had to learn the hard way, but the Tulips Floral Co. owner has worked with staff, like Judy Pachon (right) to increase the store’s security. the store’s owner and manager says, remembering an employee’s morning phone call about the break-in. “We had double locks on (the doors) but they were both broken,” she says. Soloveoff is thankful that nothing else was taken and there was no damage. “Our till was locked and they were able to unlock it from the front... without damaging it.” Since the break-in, Soloveoff has replaced back door locks with stronger | ones and taken other precautionary measures. “There’s definitely no cash here — that’s one of our main securities,” she says. As well, she deliberately leaves the cash register open when it’s time to close up shop for the night. According to Soloveoff, this discourages needless damage “so they don’t think there is money and they break it.” Hudema suggests if businesses have a good sturdy safe they should keep it in open view. “A lot of people hide them. All that does is give someone who wants to break-in some extra time to work because no one will see them. “Nobody is going to move it without a lot of bodies (seeing it). No one is going to risk that time to take something that visible into the street.” Often times unemployment is given as a reason for rising crime, but Hudema has another hypothesis. “I think one of our greatest downfalls with today’s technology is answering machines. “It gives (possible thieves) an indication that someone isn’t home and that’s why they’re not answering.” Hudema says leaving lights on is still one of the best ways to deter residential break-ins. However, people should change the times when lights are left on because thieves look for consistency, he says.