Mayor praises ‘teamwork’ in campaign-style speech to chamber’s annual general meeting

NEWS/ CITY HALL — Kamloops voters shouldn’t be in a hurry to make big changes in City council in November’s civic election, Mayor Peter Milobar told 100 people at the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce annual meeting Wednesday night.

Milobar turned his annual report on the state of the City into a campaign-style speech on how well things are going.

He said 15 years of building partnerships with other levels of government could be undermined in a year and half if voters elect a “whole new” council.

“What does ‘time for a change’ mean?” he asked. “If my car’s running well I don’t change the engine in it just for the hell of it.”

Admitting he uses the phrase often, he told chamber members, “Good local government is boring government.”

Milobar praised the “teamwork” both within council and between council and others in the community. “We have a great team in Kamloops. We need to keep things moving ahead in a positive way.”

In a Q&A following his speech, Milobar said his two priorities if re-elected will be working toward a new performing arts centre and improvements to Royal Inland Hospital over the next five years.

He said the City’s purchase of the Kamloops Daily News building will likely close in August if there’s no successful counter petition against borrowing. It could be a possible site for a performing arts centre but feasibility studies on other aspects of the project have to be done first.

The KDN building might be “a good place to start” looking, he said, but for the time being it will sit empty. It’s likely the building will eventually be demolished, depending on what the property is used for.

Council approved $260,000 Tuesday for feasibility studies on such things as size, costs, uses and financing for the centre. “It’s about trying to make sure the public has a good idea of what the numbers will be.”

It’s expected a referendum on the project will be held next year.

Although health care is a provincial responsibility, Milobar was asked about the doctor shortage. He said the whole region has a shortage. “The big problem we have is that we’re a sort of in-between city” in size, he said, which affects its ability to attract doctors.

“We’re kind of caught in this weird spot,” but he said things are “heading in the right direction.”

He also lauded Thompson Rivers University and its importance to the local economy. “If you put a smoke stack on TRU people would better understand what it means to our community.”

In reply to a question about taxation, Milobar noted that council decided this week to freeze the tax rate for heavy industry for the coming year. He felt industry’s demands for lower taxes can be met without raising residential taxes if revenues from the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion and Ajax go into the industrial and commercial tax base.

“It’s only fair to use that assessment growth in those industries.” However, he made it clear he was making no assumptions that those projects are going ahead.

Milobar closed by assuring the business crowd “you have the ear of local government.”