Not much new in State of the City but. . .

Very enjoyable dinner at last night’s Kamloops Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting, and I’m very pleased to serve another term on the board. I find it quite exciting to sit around a board table with a baker’s dozen of the top business minds in the city and talk about how to make Kamloops a better place.

Turnout from chamber membership for the AGM was excellent. This is the third year the mayor has been invited to present a “State of the City” speech to members. Unofficial media reviews of Mayor Peter Milobar’s presentation last night were tepid, along the lines of “not much to report on from that.”

True, it could have been jazzed up a bit, and overall there was nothing new whatsoever in what the mayor said, but it was a useful overview of where the city’s economy is at. And, if there’s nothing new, well, there’s nothing new.

It was totally consistent with Mayor Milobar’s “balanced approach, stay the course, one day at a time” approach to civic leadership. Not dynamic, but utilitarian. In his defense, I found the presentation quite interesting, and I like his casual, unrehearsed speaking style. One has to keep in mind that most of those in the room aren’t as anal about the details of City operations as news reporters — for them, it was likely very informative.

After all, politicians can’t spend all their time trying to please reporters by giving them a good story.