To: Ian Thorpe, RDN chairman
Many thanks to the editor of the PQB News regarding the April 4 editorial highlighting the need for live and archived web-streaming. And his comment “How are we only ‘looking’ at this, especially when the area the RDN covers is so vast? (Whether the notion of the district as an entity should be restructured is a question for another day).”
And many thanks to our director, Stuart McLean, for making the motion and representing yet again the opinions of residents of Area H and having monthly community meetings for discussions.
I fully agree on both items mentioned in the editor’s comments—the need for web-streaming and restructuring. Enough in-camera meetings.
And enough subsidizing recreational “needs” for Parksville and Qualicum Beach where 35% of the $1.5 million of Area H’s tax revenues to the RDN support those two municipalities for their recreational “needs”. They are big municipalities now and should be paying for these services themselves as those services are at capacity with their own municipal residents.
Is that why the RDN board required an in-camera (PQBNews, April 2) meeting so rural area residents paying for these municipal amenities wouldn’t be able to hear about the cost details from their rural area directors? When will Parksville and Qualicum Beach subsidize Bowser’s swimming pool or other rural village pools? It’s time for change which includes restructuring.
BTW, Chairman Thorpe, how many letters do you need to draw your attention to the fact that Area H is some 65 kilometres north of the RDN’s board chambers and that there is a need for the 4,000 residents living here to have access to live and archived web-streaming of RDN meetings when decisions affect our communities (round trip takes two hours, plus meeting time, for us)? Many of us prefer not to drive at night.
Dianne Eddy
Mapleguard Ratepayers’ Association
Deep Bay