Upcoming Municipal Elections – A Golden Opportunity

 

The upcoming October 15 municipal elections are presenting Rosslanders with a golden opportunity to reassess the future of their community. New leadership is critical to ensure that forward-thinking and sound decisions will be taken to keep our city vibrant in the years to come.

The current Rossland City Council, which has been in place for the past four years, has made many changes - some good and others that should have been better.

For example, Council has raised property taxes and municipal Water, Sewer, and Garbage (WSG) taxes for many of the years Mayor Kathy Moore has been in office - even during COVID.  During the pandemic, other area councils took empathic initiatives to either freeze or reduce taxation while here people and businesses struggled. Increased taxation on seniors and lower-income households in Rossland rendered many homes unaffordable forcing many residents to leave the city.

After repeated promises to address the Trail Residents Program (TRP) issue, Council has still not resolved the situation.  The City of Trail has been asking surrounding communities (like Rossland) that use the Trail Aquatic Centre to contribute to its maintenance.  As Council has not provided compensation to date, Rosslanders are still charged twice as much for the use of the facility.

Perhaps the most contentious issue currently pertains to the construction of the Affordable Accommodation/City Hall project.  The building, newly named “Rossland Yards”, was designed to house the new city hall on ground level and provide 37 units of affordable rental accommodation above. The project is on its second contractor, well behind schedule, and costs have ballooned beyond affordability.

The Rossland Ratepayers Association put forward a petition asking for a referendum to lower cost alternatives instead of the new city hall project.  The Association wanted the City to explore other avenues to meet the needs of growing municipal government departments and the city as a whole.  Other avenues included using insurance funds from the collapsed original building to repair the structure and/or to buy the current temporary city hall to expand its office space.

A significant cost overrun was created when the council decided to leave contaminated soil beneath the proposed building.  The affordability of the project was predicated on not incurring soil removal costs.  Reversing the decision to excavate added substantially to the escalating cost per square foot which the citizens of Rossland now must shoulder on a building still not complete.

With change comes opportunity.  Here is a chance to shape a future with honesty, integrity, and vision for our city.

The City of Rossland needs you, so please get an election package from city hall and run for council. If you can’t run, encourage your friends and neighbors to run and VOTE!

Casting your ballot is paramount to the future of Rossland.  We need a fresh start - new blood.  We need councilors that will listen closely to the needs of citizens, bring creative ideas and solutions to the table, and lead with vision and good judgment.  It’s up to us and the time for action is now.

 

Your City. Your Taxes. Your Future.

Paul, if you run in this election I will take your input more seriously. Otherwise I'll vote for Kathy again. Community government is a thankless job. 

What do you mean when you say the 'yards' is on its second contractor?

It is interesting that you are open to spending everybodys taxes on Trail Aquatic Centre but not on everything else. Note that participation in TRP would most likely mean death of our very own seasonal pool which would bbe pretty regreattable.

I was once told from Rossland Rec that the Rossland pool is expensive and hard to justify maintaining because a scant 12% of the population of Rossland uses the pool.  So even if we contributed to the Trail Aquatic Center and had normal rates to pay what percentage of Rossland do you think woud use the facility?  Certainly less than 10%, possibly even as low at 5%.  So please explain why our taxes (yes, I'm a homeowner in this town and pay property tax) should go towards a rec center in another town that less than 10% of our population would use?    Yes, you can use the arguement that more families would use the facilities in Trail if they were more affordable which is true, but again, it's such a small number that it wouldn't make a difference.

  As I understood as well, funding and costs for the new city hall building was being largely covered by outside funding:

This project was made possible with funding and partnerships with BC Housing, Columbia Basin Trust, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Municipal Fund, delivered in partnership with the Government of Canada, and the City of Rossland.

http://rosslandtelegraph.com/news/new-rossland-city-hall-and-affordable-workforce-housing-building-will-be-named-‘rossland-yards’#.YwufMi2968o

“The City of Rossland is thrilled to be partnering with the Lower Columbia Affordable Housing Society and their generous financial backers for this innovative project.

Under the Columbia Basin Investment in Affordable Housing agreement between the Province and Columbia Basin Trust, a grant of approximately $5.9 million is being provided for the project in addition to financing.

The City of Rossland is providing the land and costs for construction of the City Hall space and is leasing the residential units to the Society at a nominal rate. Construction is expected to be complete in fall 2022.

https://www.castlegarnews.com/news/rosslands-midtown-housing-project-set...

A number of agencies have provided funding for the project in addition to the city, including BC Housing, the Columbia Basin Trust, and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

 

https://www.castlegarnews.com/news/rosslands-midtown-housing-project-set...

Yes, the project is overdue and overbudget and yes there's defintely some questionable decsions being made aroudn the project.  But do unforseen expenses like the afore mentioned added cost of excavation fall to the city to cover or does it get covered by funding coming from outside the city?  Was there a contingency fund established to cover unforseen costs like most major contruction projects?  Do you actaully know if the city has to cover additonal costs or is this genraliztion and projection?  Does anyone know?  I'm genuinely curious now. 

Paul, thanks for posting this here. As much as your getting grinding from the typical grinders at least there is a discussion started unlike Rossland talks.

I would like to know who from the past council is planning to run again? There was little to no balance in the past council and very little if any critical thought. It felt like decisions were made long before any public discussion took place (MTMUD).

To be fair to the community I would like to see past council members announce their intentions long before the deadline which I think is September 9.

 

I can think of at least one thing that I would have liked the current council to be more pro-active on, and hope the next council will be, and that is putting pressure on Red Ventures, the largest developer and employer in town, to build affordable living accomodations for its own employees. Anyone who cares at all about Rossland remaining affordable for the people who work here should attend the Sep 6 meeting to discuss what's in the new Official Community Plan on this issue--or what's not.

That said, what I have observed of this mayor and council is that they are the best Rossland has had in a long time. They have brought a lot of grant money into Rossland and as far as I can see, have spent it to provide Rossland with a good deal of the infrastructure upgrades it needs--including a new city hall and more affordable housing.

Also, with very few tools to work with, they have taken more steps to mitigate the effects of climate change than any council Rossland has ever had (although as a former employee in the mining and oil industry, climate change may be of not concern to you.)

As for Rossland Yards, that was a very complex issue, and what you have said about it indicates that you have not studied the details very thoroughly (if at all) or you would not have made some of the statements in your anti-everything screed.

Also, it's contradictary complain about taxes going up and simultaneously say Rossland should subsidize the users of the Trail acquacentre. I use the acquacenre it a lot, and do not think we should be subsidized any more than people who use Red Mountain or Black Jack should get their passes subsidized.

And finally, in response to Roamryder, I've heard that Spooner is the only member of council who is running this time. Kathy is not--she said when she ran last time that it would be her last.  Rossland will be lucky if it gets another mayor as honest, hardworking, and effective as she has been.  

Hold the train. Kathy? Honest, hardworking, effective? Are you kidding?

You mean, the mayor who went to the US in the middle of the pandemic and while she was there preached and lectured to Rosslanders to stay home and not travel? 

That ALONE should have seen her resign. Double standards. Lying. Deceit. Pretentiousness. 

She shouldn't be mayor right now, let alone even in the discussion for who should or is running this time around. 

Kathy Moore has done damage to this community unlike any other Mayor our Councillor and all you need to do is talk to a few folks on the street to see how. 

Hopefully she takes her riches and moves back to the US, where she obviously belongs and wants to be.

Ok, just wanted to clarify that.

Carry on.

 

Did someone say Kathy was honest?? When the whole Covid thing was taking off, I was unable to see my Mom in the hospital during her last few days, and sadly she ended up dying. The hospital protocol was only 1 family visitor, which my brother and I gave that privilege to my dad, unaware mom would pass so quickly. meanwhile our Mayor, obviously thinking the rules don't apply to her, took a trip to the U.S. To me and a lot of others, that says a lot about someones character. 

DW, By what twisted logic do you blame Kathy for hospital protocols that prevented you from seeing your mother?   Kathy's trip to the US was neither illegal nor dishonest.  Kathy BROKE NO RULES--none, zero!-- by going to to the US; and the rules required for returning to Canada she followed to the letter!!!  To me, your blaming her for something she had nothing whatever to do with says a lot about YOUR charcter!

And Bikenswim, your accusations that Kathy is lying, pretentious, and decietful are slanderous, to say the least. You have absolutely no evidence for ANY of those characterizations.  Maybe YOU should move to the US, since those are the kinds of baseless, mean-spirited accusations that get thrown around by Trumpites all the time. 

I hardly need to listen to street gossip to find out how good a Mayor she has been--or how many other good causes she  has been and is involved in. Environmental activism, refugee support, wildlife rescue, not to mention community service on many levels! I could go on but I very much doubt that you're the kind of person who would value any of those things.  Fortunately, most Rosslanders do--which is why when she has run for public office she has invariably received more votes than anyone else. 

Rosa, I couldn't care less about what you think. 

Ok, I have pretty much given up responding on Bhubble. It’s like a game of whack-a-mole with most people choosing to hide behind a fake name. However, this post begs a response. While I appreciate and share Paul’s enthusiasm for encouraging people to run for City Council, he is alarmingly wrong on so many of his facts.

  • The Rossland Yards info is false: The project is NOT on its second contractor, is NOT well behind schedule, and costs have NOT ballooned beyond affordability. We did NOT make a decision to leave contaminated soils under the building, they were removed. We had hoped that there wouldn’t be any found, but that was not the case. The cost was high, but it was covered by the generous contingency fund we had allocated precisely because we didn’t know the true cost of excavation until it was underway. Total building costs were increased when we got a large grant to improve the energy efficiency by installing more insulation and higher quality windows- these costs were covered by the grant, and we are extremely grateful to the Federal government for those funds as a more efficient building will have lower energy costs and be better for the environment. In the initial stages the building was slated for substantial completion in Oct. It’s now planned for the end of Dec. Given that world events such as a pandemic and the floods in the lower Mainland labour availability was interrupted and supply chains were disrupted, I believe this project has been extremely well managed. 
  • Rossland has continued to grow and housing has been unable to keep pace with all the folks who want to live here. We are not seeing a decline in our population or vibrancy. Our population this census has now increased to 4,147. Council made a decision to stick with our 5-year financial plan during the pandemic in order to continue to offer the services our community wants. Other communities that did not stick with their plans have now all had huge tax increases for their property owners to make up for the revenue they lost. There is no free lunch; municipal services are not free and expenses rise every year. We decided “slow and steady” was the way to go and did not want to hit people with a big jump in taxes once things approached normal. That is a choice this Council made thoughtfully and carefully. We also set aside money to help our community groups get through the pandemic from the Covid recovery funds we got from the Province. Our area was extremely lucky in that very few people lost their jobs or closed their businesses. Obviously, some people did suffer but other levels of government, Provincial and Federal, offered supports for them. 

 Running for Council is indeed a terrific opportunity to have an impact on your community. Just about everyone who puts their name forward only wants the best for our town. People mean well, work hard, do their best and have integrity. They don't deserve the sort of uninformed attacks that one sees on social media. As Paul says, “we need councilors that will listen closely to the needs of citizens, bring creative ideas and solutions to the table, and lead with vision and good judgment.” I have served since 2014 and it has been a rewarding and satisfying experience. With few exceptions the councillors I have served with strive to meet this standard. Believe me, the amount of BS on social media is far less a part of the job than you might imagine, but it does exist. It’s easy to spout off on social media without knowing much or conflating opinions and rumours with fact. That part I won’t miss. Comments like bikeskiswim about my personal life, of which they know absolutely nothing serve as a good illustration. Clearly, bikeskiswim forgot Dr Bonnie Henry’s call to be kind. That sort of post makes me worry that other good folks won’t run for office because they don't want their personal life confused with their public service. But in my experience the people of Rossland will do the right thing and elect the best candidates, as they have in the past. My other concern is that if some fringe people run and get in because there aren’t enough reasonable candidates, they may cause our excellent staff to quit. That would take Rossland backwards in a big hurry.

As Paul says, "Your City. Your Taxes. Your Future"

but we might have different ideas about what that looks like. Choose wisely.

Thanks for your hard work and care for this great little city Kathy. Continue to enjoy your awesome life after your time on council and as our mayor. And thank you to all our councillors for your hard work, commitment and dedication to moving Rossland in a positive and sustainable future.

Tennille

At the height of the pandemic when the Provincial Government and Bonnie Henry repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly told EVERYONE to stay home and stay in their communities....

Kathy, where did you go????

You vacationed in the US to visit your family.

When all other Rosslanders stayed home. Didn't see their families. Didn't see their loved ones who were dying. We listened. We followed the protocols, the mandates, the wishes of our Provincial Goverment.

Everyone but you Kathy. 

 

And now you are on here taking one from Trudeau's books and slinging the term "fringe" around in a deragatory manner? Wow. So damn gross.

Its definitely time for you to move on. Rossland deserves better than this. 

Rosa - you know nothing of me. The things I mentioned about Kathy's personality and character are a direct result of my personal experience with her. I am not slandering her. It's what she displayed herself.

 

I can't speak to the intricacies of the Rossland Yards project, however, I completely disagree that this project was in the best interest of Rosslanders and I think that the fact that Council wouldn't hold a referendum on this project displays that they too believed that Rosslanders would have spoken up and said no.

Because we would have!!

 

I bet we will have excellent people run for Council this time around, and I am looking forward to it. We need a change, and a change for the better.

And if we have someone from the FRINGE community run and get elected, we will all be better for it.

 

I really appreciate and respect the long and dedicated service of our current Mayor and Council for all their hard work. 

I really hope that moving forward in our community that the slander towards our elected officals ends so that good people will continue to run. No one deserves having their personal lives raked over the coals by armchair critics. 

Time to call your friends and fringes to get their ballots in for the fall election! Looks like it will be a good one!

- Rachael

 

I too respect and appreciate the work of the current Mayor and Council. In particular, the Rossland Yards project is an incredible example of how to do affordable housing well and I'm very much looking forward to meeting our soon-to-be neighbours who will live there.

I totally agree with Rosa, Tenille, Rachel, etc... Kathy and the current council have done outstanding work.

After 45 years living here, I love the changes we enjoy from Kathy's time as mayor... and Rossland's commiment to employee housing and sustainable energy. 

Thank you for achieving so much, with grace and vision, and for communicating so well with us. 

New candidates, be brave. Anonymous critics can be cruel, some critics forget to fact-check. But we are 4,000 close neighbours, with a lot of shared dreams. I hope we are worth serving.

 

Thanks for your comments Kathy, and your commitment to our community.

Frankly, chapeau! People's memory blends this whole pandemic with their own realities, forgetting others have different realities (dual citizenship, families, their own health etc)Life is complicated and so simple heh?! 

Please, pretty please give future council and staff more credit and inspire them at once to be curious and resilient in the face of criticism and different world views. The fringe minority is pretty proud of that term in general, with some bumper stickers proving this in town (we the fringe). And this can mean so MANY things to different people, I found out recently! 

Since we can all bike, ski and swim-How about a politics triathlon to see who can hold the insults the longest AND not get offended AND remain curious about another's point of view bikeskiswim? Ready, set, go! 

There was a time (pre 2009) when Rossland participated with other local municipalities (Trail, Warfield, Fruitvale, Montrose, Area A) in supporting the aquatic centre and there was no TRP. Meanwhile, the local Rossland pool thrived and was not threatened. Not blaming Kathy but the time she has been on Council or Mayor corresponds directly with the time there has been no agreement. If Warfield, Fruitvale, Montrose and Area A can reach agreements, plus pre-2009 Rossland had an agreement, something needs to be corrected for Rosslanders to again have affordable access to this beautiful facility that supports the health and recreation of all citizens ... families, seniors, youth, etc.

My taxes went up $300 this year. This escalation is definitely sending people out of town and bringing in a narrower demographic resulting in a loss of diversity in age of residents, socioeconomic status, etc. That is not good.

The town has developed in a reasonably positive way but it is tracking in negative way. In my opinion, there needs to be a significant change in philosophy on Council and at City Hall to correct this. We should all think seriously about participating on local Council. My vote will go to fiscally conservative candidates. I would also like to see a few people who have some experience living here and know the history.

Rossland was an unwilling participant in the Trail Aquatic Center since day 1. You can read an editorial on the process here. Under regionalization Rossland residents had voted overwhelmingly to not fund the aquatic center in Trail. When Trail tried to get the regional district to pay for operating the pool through regional recreation Rossland backed out of the arrangement to avoid the added cost. Rossland has never willingly funded the aquatic center. Every council since 2008 has attempted, at some level, to negotiate an agreement but all have failed. 

As for taxes Rossland has the second highest average property values in the West Kootenay (Nelson's are significantly higher) therefor Rossland's share of regional costs will be higher. Also Rossland has a heavier reliance on residential property due to lack of major industry in its taxation base. This situation has been the same for many years past. To reduce taxes the City would have to spend less but deciding what services to cut would be messy. 

The City has  an approved (May 4 2021 council meeting) budget of $3,369,442 for the Rossland Yard (new city hall) project which was an increase of $82,866 from the original estimated cost. This includes the cost of the land which the City provided to the project. If my calculations are correct this represents around 20% of the overall project budget. This is an interesting experiment, I am curious to see how it turns out.

I try not to criticize what somebody is doing unless I feel I can do better myself or I'm ast least willing to try.  I've been asked several times in the past about running for council and I have no interest becasue I don't belive that I would be up to being fully responsible to the postion.  Politics, epesically in a small town is a cursed job, damned if you do and damned if you don't, you're never going to please everyone and you're always going to piss off someone.

  Bikeskiswim, have at 'er, if youve got all the answers why don't you run for office and show our town how great you'd be at the job?  If you're not interested, please keep your opnion (we're allowed to have them), but maybe try providing thoughful solutions for change and constructive criticisms rather than angry ranting which doesn't help anyone.

Yes so happy about the election. Kathy More did alot of damage to my hotel. Just want here gone. We need a real Mayor this time. Not someone that makes here dessions based on being a grandma.                        It was so bad when she hanged out those plympic skiers at Clansys. Dont make Rossland famous for the wrong reasons was her slogan. Then she drove of to Arizona on holiday and ended up on the biggest news channel in Canada. With the weekest appolige I have ever herd. Talking about making Rossland famous for the wrong reasons!!!!!!

 

I'd like to thank Kathy. After living in Rossland for 35 years she's the reason we left. The final straw. Taxes upon taxes,  projects that benefit few, with no consideration for improving the collective quality of life. She's as tone deaf as they come and unapoogetic to boot. 

Im thanking her because I had no idea what we were missing being out of town. Acres of land, peace and quiet, access to all the same recreation and taxes went from $400/month to $100. I get a real sense we dodged a bullet when I listen to current Rosslanders continue to suffer from her reign. 

Thank you Kathy and current council for all the hard work and dedication you have brought to our small city. Despite the banter on bhubble, please know there are many people that sincerely appreciate your commitment to Rossland. I really hope this platform and the negativity that one often finds in the discussions does not scare away other great people who may consider putting their name in. Thanks in advance to those Rosslanders willing to do so. 

Big Thank you to Kathy and council for their incredibly hard work during their term and especially through a pandemic!  It's hard for some to have the long-sighted vision of big projects, and how many local people they will benefit, but it's impressive to see it coming to completion.  It is no small feat you have accomplished!  I applaud your willingness to engage and continue responding to all citizens.  It's not easy to take the high road all of the time, but no one can say that you have not tried. 

I agree with others that it's also hard to read the constant barage of angry ranting directed, in such a personal manner, toward the mayor and council.  I really hope that it isn't scaring off candidates, but talking to people who have previously expressed interest in becoming involved in local government several bring up the callous and trite remarks that roll in anonymously on bhubble.  Know that the community thanks future government for overcoming this deterant!

Lana

 

Yep, thanks for the increased taxes and a big fat bill to boot for the new building in the middle of an economic crisis.

don't let the door hit you on the way out and maybe next time you can actually obey public health orders by staying out.

Perhaps bhubble should encourage folks to use their actual names. I find that hiding behind a pseudonym or handle allows for a lack of civilty at times. 

Agreed

A confirmed REAL name would improve the tone of a lot of these discussions. It may be a chore for the moderator(s) though.

 

It shows a lot about someone's character when they choose to be mean spirited under anonymity. you can also see a pattern with certain people who have nothing positive to say about anything. the whole "she went to AmERicA!" thing sounds just like "Hillary's emails!"- holding on to a kernel of nothing as the inspiration for your hate. Maybe some folks just can't get their heads around women in a position of leadership.

It is clear to me that everyone on council cares a whole lot about this town and moved forward with things they believed to be in our best interests. Im quite sure the constant negativity by a few crusty curmudgeons is one of the reasons we are having such high turnover with our council members. 

Ikoric-

way to demean peoples struggles, insult them, and make it about gender.  I think you are allowing your blinding love for the current council to shield you from what these people are saying.
 
You hear complaints, I hear taxes have caused a huge financial struggle and frustration.  You hear gender issues regarding the Mayor ignoring the BC Health restrictions during covid and absconding to the USA...I hear people missing their family and anger about following rules our "leader" chose not to.  No, it isn't a gender issue as the other council members actually followed the PHO. It's called entitlement.

After disobeying the PHO and travelling, the Castlegar mayor did the RIGHT THING and stepped down. Bruno wasn't even the Trumpet of Covid protocols Kathy was...She should have Stepped down.  Her entilement made her think she was in the right...and she still thinks she's in the right.   The PROVINCE was in an ESSENTIAL travel ONLY situation. It clearly stated what Essential travel was....and a grandparent going to visit their grandchildren was not essential. 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/castlegar-mayor-election...

Well said Bentobox, it gets frustrating when some are so wrapped up in their safe little bubble that sometimes the obvious things become blurry. 

Its hard for me to see. So many people defending Kathys behavior. We had Covid. People were losing family members and could not go to visit them. Peaople working at the Trail Hospital were true heros. The goverment told us not to travel its not safe for you or others. Then Kathy Moore hanged out some Olympic skiers on Facebook with picture of them wering a mask. At a resturant in town. She was saying DONT MAKE ROSSLAND FAMOUS FOR THE WRONG REASONS. Do not come to Rossland was here words. After that she drove all the way to Arizona for a holiday. No one in her family was sick or anything just a holiday. So she ended up at national news. Dragging Rossland in the dirt. With the worst appoligy I have ever herd on National TV. And Kathys entourage is still defending her actions blows my mind. Never a bad word about Kathy on the local news paper. Very strange.

 

Dear Sir Paul and Sir Martin,

The people of Barsoom are with you! Only we from another dimension can appreciate your true genius of  speaking truth to power.  We support your bullsh%^ disinformation campaign and we stand ready to cross into your dimension once you have fixed everything that is wrong in Rossland!

The next step on the campaign was for Paul to share many of his other “theories” with the electors of Rossland.  Paul, we understand there are no conspiracy theories that you don’t think are true.  For instance, we recall that you have invented a new term, SADS (Sudden Adult Death Syndrome), to describe those that die from vaccines?  Tell them more!   

Now might also be the perfect time to share your theory about how vaccines are developed and administered?  What was it you said, that 1 in 3 people are receiving a “placebo” vaccine instead of the real thing, enabling those globalist elites to experiment on the humans?  We love it!  We doubt anyone on earth knows what you know.  Once these silly humans see what a strong command you have of the FACTS that the people of Rossland will follow you.  Just keep lying and making things up! 

Sir Martin, on Barsoom we have a cool feature on our computers called “spell check”.  Do you have this technology on earth?  It’s very easy to use, just ask around.   Another option could be taking 5 minutes to proofread instead of vomiting words on your keyboard.   Up to you!

Don’t forget, we only ones that TRULY understand YOU both,

The Tharks

 p.s. We tricked everyone using John’s name, no?  All the pseudonyms support you.  Stupid humans.  HAHA!

I think it's time to take a deep breath and calm ourselves a bit and think about the real core issues of Rossland.  The things that hold real importance that have never really been dealt with properly.  That's right.  Dog poo.  It's time we brought back the dog poo debate.  I miss those days.