My Shoulder Hurts...

There are many elements in the equation of community health and vitality. We need good quality health care. We need relevant, quality education systems. Our social systems have to be functioning at a high level as well. There is also the question of a healthy, diverse economy. Although it could be argued that Kimberley's economy is actually very healthy and very diverse ( I don't quite agree)... some call it Cranbrook, or NWT, or Yukon, or northern Alberta. Many people who call Kimberley home commute daily, weekly, monthly or seasonally to various well-paying jobs away from our small town. I know because I am one of them - I commute to Cranbrook during the workweek, Monday to Friday. It's not all that bad, considering that most of the money does flow back to the community one way or another - not all of it though, I certainly recognize that piece. Given our reality of travel to work, can we actually start to reverse that trend? I say we can and we should consider the shoulder season for starters.

So how can we improve on our situation in Kimberley? How can we make things a bit more diverse and improve the economy?  Certainly,one thing that needs work is the shoulder season. Currently, the shoulder season is broken pretty bad and is in need of some serious healing. So how do we go about fixing the shoulder? First of all we need to recognize that there is an amazing (uncommon) culture living in our midst. These are people that have chosen the mountain lifestyle to the corporate lifestyle; growing friendships over bank accounts, and truly living with the four seasons that Kimberley offers. If you are wondering what this (uncommon) culture looks like, please refer to exhibit "A" below:

      
Dave Quinn is the quintessential (uncommon) culture... AKA : "Dirtbag".  In Kimberley, this (uncommon) culture that is actually becoming common, which is a good thing. Many mountain towns the world over had the essence of the Dirtbag, but quickly lost it - for various reasons. The culture is sharing their brilliance with us all, and this is very good for Kimberley. They instill a sense of wonder and vitality to mountain living through their various art forms, whether that be film, photography, spoken word, or even creative entrepreneurial maneuvering - it's all good for all of us. And it's also good for our economy.  One event that showcases these brilliant people (I meant that - they are brilliant!) is the upcoming Dirtbag festival. Also, another event that happened in June - the Round the Mountain. These two events are one piece of the formula to fix the broken shoulder.    

One of the (many) prescriptions to repair the shoulder season would be to listen (very carefully) to the wisdom of the Dirtbags. Kimberley is very lucky to have them living in our midst - they offer a lot.
Darryl Oakley

The Sun Also Rises...over Kimberley

It could have been a scene that Hemingway would have found compelling; instead of a mix of British and American  expats, we were a room full of expats from various corners of the globe - now calling the mountains of Kimberley home; instead of a Paris cafe, we were Centennial Hall; instead of cigarette smoke, we were clean air; instead of angst within a post-world war one generation, we were angst against an overly optimistic business case ( techno-facts dripping with a french accent - no less).   Hemingway would have loved the Sun Mine open house last Wednesday, all the colorful characters were in place for a new age "The Sun Also Rises".

God bless Ernest Hemingway.

So what happened at the Sun Mine open house?  Quite a bit actually. We learned  about the technology of solar power and the economics of competing with cheap BC hydro electricity (vs expensive electricity from Nuclear or Coal), we also learned about some of the risk factors that can be associated with solar generation - namely peaks and valleys in electrical output and also peaks and valleys with BC Hydro's purchase of electricity (they don't always pay the same rates).  We also learned that when the (2 million dollar) loan payments are made, we should end up with approximately $32,000 in surplus each year. The 2 million dollars that we borrow (if approved via referendum) will be paid off in about 14 years. That's not bad.

Should we go for this project?  I think we should support this project.  Here's why:
Even though Teck is not paying increased taxes as a result of this project (BC Hydro is also getting all the carbon credits) - they are supplying the land base, security fencing and substation connection. I would like to have seen Teck pay more in taxes - like a good corporate neighbour. We keep negotiating on that, I suppose.

However, here are three really important reasons to support this project:

- we model to the world how a heavy-industry town can clean up and change from polluted to green... and thrive!
- we model to our children the right thing to do. (this is the "biggie" from my perspective)
- we use this as part of our tourism platform... the world will be curious about this little town that did... and they will come to check it out (Accommodations/ Restaurants/Stores/Golf courses etc will all benefit).  

On November 19th vote to support the Kimberley Sun Mine.

Darryl Oakley                              


       

     

WHERE'S THE BEEF?

I asked for it.... I got it!

I have been busy seeking feedback from Kimberley's Seniors and just completed two sessions. One thing that is resoundingly clear is they have a voice! When you ask for an opinion - you will get feedback, lots of it, LOUD and CLEAR.

When Kimberley's seniors experience unjust processes, unfair treatment, and community-based experiences that are creeping beyond their cost of living reality... you will hear from them. Kimberley's seniors will not hold back on their opinion. Feedback from some of the stories I have heard is based on being told that they are OK, and that they will be just fine.  Wrong!

Common thinking within the ranks of  Kimberley's seniors: WHERES' THE BEEF?

They want answers to grassroots, community-based problems that they are facing and not getting help with. Here is some of the feedback that I received:

First of all, there are obvious things emerging: 1. Kimberley's Seniors built our town, they deserve better.  2. They represent a much larger percentage of our town in the >65 age group (around 20% , compared to provincial average of around 14%). 3. They have an excellent voice - as long as someone is listening.

The question I asked was simple: "As a senior living in Kimberley, what concerns would you like priority given to?" 
In order of priority, here is the feedback: Transportation issues, Access to Health Care, Cost of Living issues
Here are SOME of the Kimberley Seniors comments:

- There should be accessible low rent housing that is near town and amenities, also a bench halfway up the trail so I can rest on my way to the Doctors appt. (above Boundary Street).
- Bus quits too soon - get left at clinic (Kimberley) or hospital in Cranbrook.
- Bus should run on weekends, I can't visit my friends or go to Crib.
- Keep funding SWIM program for seniors.
- Cost of living is very high, prescriptions are very expensive.
- Transportation is very difficult if you no longer drive. No service on weekends.
- Transportation, going out in Kimberley after 3pm (plays and social activity) would keep me going, but service is not there. I can't afford a taxi.
- Transportation evening/ weekends. Bus rushing the seniors because bus is full of students.
- Keep recreation programs for seniors, its all I have left.
- There should be a "just" fare adjustment for short rides. For example: Kimbrook appt. to pool should be less that three dollars each way. Right now it's three dollars each way.
- Transportation to Cranbrook should be more often than twice per week.
- Transportation to outskirts in Meadowbrook (and Wycliffe).
- Bus driver should not be able to pick and choose where he picks up and drops off.
- How about a flyer with all the available people  that make our things easier for us.
- Help for people still on their own - snow removal, gardens, etc.
- Affordable housing for seniors (where is the Lions Manor replacements?).
- Rotary Park playground is not accesible to wheelchair (to be with family).
- Cats/Deer/Dogs... I've had it!
- Can't make ends meet
- DEEEEER!
- No Hospital in Kimberley - have to go to emergency in Cranbrook. Expensive for rides.
- Welcome committee
- Dead trees in Mark Creek need to be cleaned up.
- Support from city for the Seniors Swim program, it's a necessity for me and my crippled friend to make progress.

There you have it... a sample of the Kimberley Seniors survey.  Obviously, seniors in Kimberley need to have a better say in how things are done in town. They need a better deal with things like transportation and access to Health Care. We need to work with them to better refine affordable access to basic transportation.
Kimberley's Seniors built this town - they deserve better...much better!!
Darryl Oakley

-       

Occupy Spokane St.

All around the globe a growing movement is spreading from the original "Occupy Wall St."  Now the movement has moved to Canada. People are calling it "Occupy Bay St." According to the media reports, people are frustrated with the apparent growing disparity within our capitalist system. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The gap between rich and poor is apparently growing. Middle class is disappearing fast.

The other day, I did my own version of "Occupy". I went downtown and occupied Kimberley City Hall, but instead of carrying a placard or a banner, I had a coffee cup in one hand, a muffin in the other - and a bunch of questions written on a piece of paper, jammed in my pocket.

For weeks I had been going through a myriad of Kimberley's financial statements. I needed a clearer picture regarding the state of our town's financial health - what is the history of it, where are we now, and where are we going - so I dove headlong into the massive pile of financial statements. After consuming gallons of coffee over many weeks, and driving my family crazy at the supper table with "finance speak", I eventually came to grim conclusion that I still knew very little about Kimberley's municipal finance picture. Given that the fog wasn't lifting for me, I knew what my next step needed to be... go to the experts, seek their wisdom and clarity!

When Kimberley's Chief Financial Officer, Holly Ronnquist, agreed to meet with me, I felt a huge sense of
relief.  The only lingering question was, could she keep it simple enough for me to understand?  After only a few minutes in her office - amid the stacks of financial documents - I was pleasantly surprised to feel that the fog bank was lifting, Holly was able to explain a very complex financial picture in laypersons terms. What a wonderful, wise, and very understanding person. I received her version of "Finance 101 for Council Wannabes". The conversation with Holly was excellent, I enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks so much Holly.

Here is a snapshot of what I learned:

Historically, Cominco represented 54% of our tax base. The final year for full tax payment from Cominco was in 2001 - the City received approx. 2.7 million. In 2001-2002 Cominco paid approx. $670,000 in taxes and now pays under $200,000 annually in taxes.
When Cominco closed, our surplus was at $4,092,629 Over the years, we have used it to help in our transition, and after using one million as our contribution for the Conference Centre, our surplus has dipped below our one million minimum, and is currently around $900,000. The surplus has helped us transition away from reliance on Cominco taxes. We currently have long-term dept (debentures) of $7.4 million costing us
1% below prime.

Our current reality is that it takes approx. $22.5 million annually to operate our City. Of that approximately 45% is covered with property taxes, the rest via various user fees (water,sewer,garbage) and transfer grants from other levels of Governments. In  2012 - after 11 years - we finally start to add back to the surplus fund. It's a small amount ($23,452), but at least it is a start. The ten year plan for the surplus fund is for it to creep above the one million mark in 2014 and over three million by 2017.
Last year (2010) we had 96 new taxable occurrences representing $16.6 million in new taxable assessment. Holly mentioned that a minimum of 30 - 40 new taxable occurrences need to happen each year (minimum of $10 million in new taxable assessment) .

For the future of Kimberley, discussion will be how do we grow the tax base. We need to keep paying our municipal bills, while growing the surplus - who knows when we will need the surplus - and for what!  I think we need to be open to new clean,light industry initiatives  that will help grow and diversify the tax base. Even if the Sun Mine doesn't supply direct jobs, if it adds significantly to our tax base, then that would help ease the burden for the rest of us. I also think 30-40 homes per year is not an unreasonable amount to expect, we should be able to accomplish that, and the growth will be a positive not just in the tax base , but in our social and cultural base as well.  If all this comes together, I don't see any reason why our residential tax increases should not be kept to a minimum - covering the increases in fixed costs (heating, fuel etc)  that the city is constantly facing.  Lately, that tax increase was at about 3% annually. 

My "Occupy Spokane Street" was a success in terms of getting some answers to my questions. Thanks for your help Holly, I truly appreciate it! :)
Darryl Oakley

But mom....Happy Hans has no clothes.

It was a scene right out of "The Emperor has No Clothes". A beautiful cloudless July day was in the cards for Kimberley, already temperatures were in the mid-twenties and rising fast. I was wandering through the Platzl, past racks of new mountain bike "eye candy", comparing new tech versus my old- school (Ritchey) mountain bike, when a mother and her young daughter popped out of the dollar store in front of me heading for the Credit Union. Outside of the restaurant My Place, standing on the sidewalk, a mix of adults were enjoying their apres-breakfast smoke. They too were enjoying the day and sharing some laughs.

Everyone was in a good summer mood.

As the mother and daughter walked past the smokers and into the cloud of cigarette smoke, the youngster cringed,  held her nose, and said to her mom "That stinks". The little girl called a spade a spade - no clothes on the emperor.

 According to the BC Gov. no-smoking rules, there are no rules being broken when someone smokes - as long as it isn't within 3 metres of the business entrance and not in a confined public place. But what about the young girl and her mother who has to inhale the second - hand smoke, which has for years been known to cause lung cancer? The doesn't seem right either, why should people be put at risk in order to visit the dollar store. If given a choice I'm sure fresh, clean air would be the preferred choice for non-smokers shopping in the Platzl.  In some respects the Platzl is actually a confined area, because you only have certain routes through . Maybe its time to consider a "Fresh Air" bylaw for the Platzl?   Also, maybe its time we listen more carefully to children in our town?
Darryl Oakley

The fat booth ... and the economics of hope

Thanksgiving is always one of those special long weekends when family comes together for a weekend of fresh mountain air, good food and lots of hiking around the trails of Kimberley. This year was no different with an abundant supply of crisp cool air, food and exercise (pick your order ).
One of my sisters and her daughter came in from Banff. My brother and his wife drove in from the big city, Calgary. My mom, who lives in Joseph Creek Care Village in Cranbrook came up to spend the night.
After dinner we were all sitting around sharing tidbits from our respective, but different lives. Everyone was involved - especially my mom, even though she is coping with serious loss of hearing and other chronic conditions. Mom was beaming - completely surrounded with the love of her children and grandchildren. In the middle of all this commotion, one of my sisters pulled out her iphone and started to take head and shoulders pictures of selected family.  Little did we know that she had an app on her phone that is titled the "fat booth".
Think picture booth in a mall and you get the idea. The only difference is that this app loads about 300 pounds onto your face. The outcome created a lot of sore stomachs - laughing so hard, while still trying to digest too much food. The pictures quickly circulated around the world to other family members, with the subtitle "I think I ate too much"!
Its the simple connections that are so healthy. As with many (so- called) primitive societies on this planet, the formula of happiness is simplicity and good old fashion togetherness, nothing more, nothing less.   Kimberley is good at affording these simple things - how can we not with only one set of traffic lights in town. We love simple. Simple is healthy. Simple is part of the equation of vitality. It's also easy to come here from other locations. We offer no hassles on the highway, no congestion given that we are only 6000 in town, and once here everyone can take a deep breathe and relax.
The next day, my sister-in-law was busy making beautiful handmade bead bracelets with my mom. Predictably, they soon ran out of beads and my brother and I were voted best candidates to venture to the dollar store for a resupply. Of course we had no choice but to comply.
After shopping, we strolled across the street to the derelict garage that has been mothballed for years, and that was originally built by our father. Our father ran the garage for over 30 years as a successful business before selling it off and retiring. Times have changed, and now it sits - mothballed. My brother walked around the property reminiscing about the years we both worked there as high school students before heading off on different life journeys. Good memories from this place while learning a healthy work ethic, engaging on a daily basis with locals who needed gas and wiper blades and batteries and tires and...the latest news complete with a parting joke. (That was my dads specialty - all customers needed to be greeted with a smile, and leave laughing).
But now my brother commented that it is kind of sad how this all ended. The community has sensed the loss too. Maybe, just maybe, that can change. Because of the strict (and costly) environmental regulations virtually strangling the redevelopment of this key piece of downtown property its really hard to visualize different realities. But we need to see what can be. We need to see that the city might be able to broker change while respecting the realities of working class owners. Nobody has an endless supply of money.  The city needs to be an intermediary with all the various government agencies that keep the redevelopment of this property stifled. I see a beautiful park with a greenhouse and an urban garden. I see parents and their children mingling and enjoying an urban oasis playground. I see beautiful things happening on this property.

When I look at the mothballed, derelict garage what do I see?   I see hope.
 Darryl Oakley

       
 

Things are out of control in the produce department...

The other day I slipped into Overwaitea on my way home from work. I only needed a few items from the produce section so thought I would just be a few minutes in the store.

Wrong!

It all began when I was picking through some tomatoes. A few local elders in their seventies (who I knew, and also knew me) were involved in a discussion involving some things Kimberley... a little bit of political comment, some health discussion, price of produce, grand kids lives etc. Inevitably, the elders turned to me, drawing me into the great "produce department debate". They knew me, and also knew that I worked in the Health field - with seniors, no less. Of course this connection is a frequent occurrence that I half expect (and relish, actually ), and it comes with living in a small town. The "produce department debate" lasted about 10 minutes, was packed with snappy verse, raised eyebrows, tense moments and high drama. What it completely lacked was  the ability for any of the participating parties to actually pick through the produce -that stopped abruptly until the debate was finished and everyone was satisfied. Only then could each person continue on with their day... smiling, of course!

What was interesting about this particular interaction was the intense interest from the observers gallery. Three males about my age (mid - fifties ish) were also picking through some of the produce when the "produce department debate" began. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that they studied the produce longer, and were much slower at placing it in their grocery container. Clearly, they wanted to experience all of this - and they did! Later, while standing in the checkout line they introduced themselves (all three from Calgary, in Kimberley to golf) and after they described the wonderful day they had just experienced on the links at Trickle Creek,  I noticed one of the gents had a look on his face that I can only describe as one of " distant contemplation". Outside, as I loaded my groceries  into my backpack (I was riding my motorcycle) , it suddenly occurred to me what his "look" meant when he gave me a parting smile and said "That was priceless in there."

Kimberley currently has almost the identical population as it did in 1961 - approximately 6200 people. The population spiked in 1971 to 7641 - when Cominco was firing on all cylinders! Increasing the population approximately 1400 required a huge heavy industry.  Having a population of around 6000 people isn't really a bad thing, and it certainly affords people a small town atmosphere that is very healthy - for all ages.

In my opinion, Kimberley is the living definition of "Vitality in Life".   People from all corners of the globe are desperately looking to experience the small town "Vitality in Life"  Its up to us to figure out how to package that and share it - without losing it.
Darryl Oakley