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March 27, 2024 - 2:30 PM
Following are emailed reader responses to stories for the last week of March 2024. They have been edited slightly for readability.
Got something you want to add? Send an email to editor Marshall Jones at mjones@infonews.ca.
Kelowna city council gives itself a 35% pay hike
"LOL. I voted myself a 35% decrease in taxes." — Justin Gauthier
"I do not live in Kelowna but just putting my two cents in. That is more than a lot of people make at the full time jobs." — Justin Harley
"I do not think any public figure should make their own pay raises. If the pay isn’t enough, don’t do the job. Some new method should be in place for pay raises. Council usually lists these positions as part time... Secondly, who ever gets 35% raise. WHO?? Believe me these council members are not so special. Whether you have lots of money or a little, this is OUTRAGEOUS!!" — Ellen Drake
"They knew the pay scale when they opted to serve. 35% is abusing their position on council to vote this in. Should be voted on by citizens." — Lorraine Carrier
"According to the city's Charter, council members are expected to attend and prepare for 35-40 meetings/yr as well as to attend perhaps a dozen public hearings. Let's be generous here, that's approximately 52 meetings — $4833/meeting. Must be nice. Many of us make less than that monthly for a full-time job. Totally appalled." — Kate Alexander
"If they didn't like the pay, they shouldn't have run, and some of them need to be removed for the crazy decisions they have made. UBCO tower is one of them! What a disgusting raise in this environment. What sort of tax increase will we see next year to pay for this incompetence?" — Dale Robertson
"Thanks for the interesting questions. Politicians work for the people, or so they claim, so why is they can give themselves raises and pension plans. What other employee has that power?" — Anthony Plourde
TRU withholds meeting documents because of news coverage
"This stand by the TRU president appears to be on par with all our governments whether regional, provincial or federal. Why be transparent with how we spend taxpayer monies as the ignorant minions wouldn’t understand anything anyway appears to be the attitude. If the president continues to balk and tries to implement his own rules with regard to providing information in a timely manner when requested, then the funding to TRU should be stopped!" — Tamara Clarke
"Mr. Fairbairn should accept he is not above the law. The TRU is a public institution, funded in large part by the public. It is his responsibility to act in an open and accountable fashion. What he has done needs to be reversed, immediately." — Robin Dunn
"I think anyone spending the public's money should be held accountable for what they are spending! After all, it's the PUBLIC'S MONEY, the PUBLIC has a right to know, isn't that part and parcel with being a democracy? Or is the POWERS THAT BE moving away from democracy?" — Wendy Hosler
How the live music culture is shifting in Kamloops, Okanagan
"We need more outdoor concerts. These warehouse concerts are no fun to attend. We have the open spaces so why do we not take advantage of that? The best concert memories I have are all outdoor venues. I have plenty of bad experiences from warehouse concerts to the point I don’t even bother with them anymore. So that may be one of the issues that needs addressing imo." — Anthony Plourde
"We are great fans of live music! It's really sad to hear of the struggle places like the Blue Grotto are having. We live out of town, but when we move to town we will see more live music. It may be the main thing I miss, living out of town now.
"Use it or lose it"? For sure Covid changed habits too. Thank you for the in-depth article." — Linda Rightmire
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