(Image Credit: Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society).

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Why holding one big referendum on new facilities would fail

Oct 6, 2022 | 4:50 AM

THE IDEA THAT THE TRAIL OF MEGA PROJECTS is littered with the bones of failed dreams in Kamloops is something of a myth.

It’s true that taxpayers are reluctant to spend money on them. Some projects — such as a combined complex in Riverside Park, and a performing arts centre (PAC) — have failed but several others have succeeded: the Tournament Capital Centre and McArthur Island upgrades, for example.

The City’s Recreation Master Plan (RMP) identifies dozens of potential new and upgraded facilities, including indoor fields, a pool, curling rink, courts, and parks and trails. All that’s on top of the still-dreamed-of PAC. The wish list is into the hundreds of millions.

Can you imagine all of those projects — or even several of them — ever being approved all at once in one referendum? No way.

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Yet one City councillor is mulling over a referendum on the entire plan. As he puts it, fund the RMP “in a purposeful and timely manner.”

Mike O’Reilly, running for re-election, shouldn’t be judged on this idea alone. He’s looking ahead on building the city. But think about it.

There are several major reasons the O’Reilly plan can’t fly. One is that by the time a lot of the facilities would be built over a 10-year-plus span, the costs would be way out of line with what was approved.

Another is that priorities change. A decade from now, Kamloopsians may have much different ideas on what the City needs. A lot of the projects in the master plan are blue sky aspirations, not anything with business plans attached.

Besides, there’s no way of predicting how much federal and provincial funding would be available for each project; therefore, no way of knowing how much local borrowing would be needed.

Referenda need to be targeted at specific amenities. One thing at a time. If a multi-facility referendum failed, which it likely would, every one of those facilities would be doomed for many, many years.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC, 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.

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