Contributed

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: With referendum date set, will Kamloopsians share the vision?

Nov 20, 2019 | 4:58 AM

KAMLOOPS — THE VISION FOR A PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE is about to be put to the test again.

Kamloops voters will go to the polls on Saturday, April 4.

The question will be, “Are you in favour of the City of Kamloops borrowing up to $45 million to construct a Kamloops Centre for the Arts?”

Except for the amount, that’s almost exactly the same as the question on the 2015 ballot when the first PAC plan was voted down.

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Council will also spend $35,000 for a communications plan. That’s the same as what was spent in 2015. Franky, it seems a bit light in view of council’s determination to run a really skookum information campaign.

A lot of questions need to be answered. It became clear at Tuesday’s council meeting there’s a lot that even council members and staff don’t know. This, despite a unanimous vote by council in favour of the referendum and enthusiastic talk about the merits of the plan.

For example, the impact on taxes of operating costs is still fuzzy. There are many other things that will have to be clarified. We don’t even know what the building will look like — artist’s renderings look great but it’s often the case that reality looks quite different by the time things get built.

Unfortunately, many people seem to have made up their minds before all the facts are available.

Ultimately, the decision will be based on this: is the PAC as newly proposed good enough? Or is it too imperfect?

Certainly, the plan is imperfect. But there will never be a perfect plan. If this second attempt doesn’t succeed, it will be many years before a third try, or maybe never.

A challenging decision, but nobody promised it would be easy.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He writes five commentaries a week for CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.