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Make noise where you live

Editor: In 2006, voters in Area E (Elphinstone) and Area F (West Howe Sound) voted against restructure, which would have incorporated the rural regional districts into a municipal government with Gibsons.

Editor:

In 2006, voters in Area E (Elphinstone) and Area F (West Howe Sound) voted against restructure, which would have incorporated the rural regional districts into a municipal government with Gibsons.

Many of the people now showing up at Gibsons council meetings to protest various matters under the jurisdiction of the Town are residents of areas E and F who vocally opposed restructure. I must assume that they now regret their former position, or have forgotten that areas E’s and F’s boundaries remain in place.

They might want to look into whether or not the governance model they voted to retain — the regional district system — is actually representing their community and distributing their tax dollars equitably.

If these same vocal critics could carpool or cycle up to the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) offices on Field Road and scrutinize the board and committee meetings, perhaps areas E and F might receive a greater share of the recreation dollars being lavished on communities further up the Coast.

For example:  last year, Soames Hill’s well-used trails were closed for a period as the stairs were deemed to be hazardous and in need of repair. Routine inspection and maintenance should have ensured that these trails were kept in good shape, but the money wasn’t available until the trails became a public danger.

It seems there is funding to upgrade playing fields and pools in Sechelt and Pender Harbour, but improvements to the Gibsons pool, Brothers Park and Elphinstone playing fields — well, not so much. Where are the vocal protesters — or don’t they care about the communities they actually live in?

Celia Fisher, Gibsons