After the rural Enderby mosquito referendum was categorically denounced by members of the public, directors of the Regional District of the North Okanagan (RDNO) are speaking out.
Amanda Shatzko, who is the electoral director for Area C (BX/SilverStar), began the monthly RDNO board meeting on Wednesday, March 20 calling out the failure.
鈥淭his was the biggest failed referendum in our history,鈥� Shatzko said. 鈥�92 per cent. If this was university, 92 per cent would be considered an A plus. So we had an A-plus failure.鈥�
The program would have applied biological controls to mosquito larval habitats within areas of the Shuswap River floodplain in a granular form. Residents鈥� reluctance to approve the program was mainly because of the significant impact to the ecosystem, affecting plants, birds, fish, insects, bats and other animals.
Voter turnout at the referendum on March 4 was 35 per cent, with a resounding 1,232 of 1,346 votes for 鈥榥o鈥� on the mosquito control service.
Property owners overwhelmingly shut down the program in an alternate approval process previously, yet the RDNO voted in favour of taking the bylaw to referendum. Former directors Jackie Pearase, Herman Halvorson, Earl Shipmaker, and Denis Delisle spoke against the plan in late 2023.
鈥淚t is a fact that the mosquito control bylaw would increase taxes paid to the regional district by Electoral Area F by slightly more than 20 per cent of last year鈥檚 tax requisition,鈥� said Shipmaker. 鈥淚t is a fact that only the Shuswap River floodplain is proposed to be treated. It is a fact that the majority of electoral area F residents live outside the proposed 鈥榤osquito control area鈥� but will have to pay taxes toward it.鈥�
Shatzko, at the Wednesday meeting, also confirmed to the board that taxpayers (through RDNO) would have to pay $30,000, the cost of the referendum.
Delisle, who was against the plan from the beginning, lamented back in December the expected financial impact of a referendum.
鈥淎 referendum will be a costly failure and the taxpayers will be eating the $30,000 loss,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is a majority of the taxpayers who are paying for a small population of benefactors. Area residents have spoken clearly with an overwhelming response, likely one of the largest responses in Area F to any RDNO bylaw, and there are a multitude of residents who do not want to pay for a service they do not want or need.鈥�
Director Rick Fairburn of Area A (Rural Lumby) chimed in after Shatzko鈥檚 comments, expressing his disdain for referendums.
鈥淭his is an example of why we do not conduct business with referendums,鈥� he said.
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