While Gibsons council is endorsing a yes vote in the upcoming referendum, the regional district director for Elphinstone continues a no vote campaign and the West Howe Sound director has announced her intention to vote yes.
The Nov. 18 referendum will ask voters whether they support restructuring the Town of Gibsons and Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) areas of Elphinstone and West Howe Sound into a new district municipality. Under a restructure, the Town of Gibsons would dissolve and the new district municipality would form next year.
For Lorne Lewis, director for Elphinstone (Area E), the question comes down to a rural versus urban issue. "First and foremost, living outside the municipal boundary is a valid lifestyle choice," Lewis said in an interview this week. The projected property tax impacts in the consultant's technical report lay out a range of by how much the taxes could increase or decrease, including the known costs, such as policing, as a base level.
However, Lewis questions the report's predicted projections. "I have virtually no faith in the technical report's projections," Lewis said. "It's virtually impossible to predict."
Lewis noted taxes will increase for homeowners living on an Agricultural Land Reserve who are not farming, as well as for business owners in the current rural areas.
Lewis is also concerned the rural voice could be lost at the SCRD board table. The new district municipality council would be a ward system whereby one councillor would represent the former area of Elphinstone, another the former West Howe Sound, another the former town. Three councillors would be elected at large, along with a mayor. The new municipality would then have two appointed directors at the SCRD table.
The current regional director for West Howe Sound (Area F) Lee Turnbull said she will be voting yes. She believes the SCRD provides effective services; however, she would like to see local control over road planning and maintenance instead of being under Ministry of Transportation authority. She noted she receives more public complaints about roads and drainage than any other issues.
Turnbull stated tax levels would ultimately depend on the future elected council's spending decisions, similar to now. "Basically you're charging for the services that you supply, and if your service demand goes up, your taxes go up," she said.
Regarding concern over a restructure changing the area's rural character, Turnbull said, "I think that is up to us, based on who we elect and what their values are, as it is now."
Gambier and Keats islands, currently within the West Howe Sound electoral area, would form their own rural area under restructuring and have one seat at the SCRD board table. Turnbull noted that during consultation, the local Islands Trust council had expressed support of having their own area rather than joining with Roberts Creek, should a restructure go ahead.
Turnbull notes the Granthams and Hopkins Landings improvement district boards have expressed concern over restructuring, wanting to protect the local control over their water source.
For more information on restructuring and the referendum, visit www.E-F-G-referendum.ca.
