Thanks for the help with someone else’s garbage

Saturday night, one of our neighbours, Terry Pile, called to ask if I needed a hand loading the garbage that had been dumped at Jameson Creek by the garbage pig. He’d read my column in The Daily News. We agreed to meet around 11 a.m. Sunday.

Sunday morning, I’d barely started loading up when three carloads of paint ballers pulled in. They willingly came over and started helping pile the junk and garbage in the back of my pickup. “We like to use this area, too,” said one, shaking his head at the stupidity of whoever dumped the stuff there. Terry arrived a couple of minutes later, and with all of us working at it we were loaded within 15 minutes.

The City landfill was humming. Free landfill day really inspires people to do some spring yard cleanup. I backed into an open spot and began unloading. Another pickup came in beside and when the driver saw me he asked, “Is that the stuff from Jameson Creek?”

It was, I replied. He said he’d read my column, and then came over to help me unload.

There are a lot of jackasses like the guy who dumped his garbage on the public area at Jameson Creek. But I found out, once again, that there are a lot of others who do give a damn and are ready and willing to lend a hand. Thanks to Terry, to the young paint ballers, and to the guy at the landfill for being the right kind of people.

To the man with the garbage: you are a pig

Published in The Kamloops Daily News, Saturday, April 18, 2009

“Hey, Mel,” my neighbour Bob said when I answered the phone. “On your way home tonight, stop at the Jameson Creek turnoff and take a look. You wouldn’t believe it.”

Bob is the unofficial mayor of Black Pines. He loves talking politics and issues, and has strong opinions when it comes to protecting the good of the community.

At the north side of the Jameson Creek bridge, there’s a short road that loops off Westsyde Road, runs the length of a couple of blocks, then connects back on to Westysde. You’ll often see cars parked there, especially during the summer. People leave their vehicles and hike east through the dense forest along the creek to a pretty little spot where the North Thompson River runs through a gorge. Nice for picnicking and camping, and people keep it pretty clean.

It’s not an official campground. As far as I know, the trail is on private property but there are no fences to keep the public out. People seem to get the fact that they’re there by permission, and are respectful of the area.

Well, not everybody. Following Bob’s directive, on my way home I pulled in for a look, and saw what he was talking about. Someone, likely wanting to avoid tipping fees, had decided this was a good spot to deposit a pickup load of junk and garbage.

Whoever did it has been busy this spring cleaning up his yard, repairing his vehicles, and doing some renos on his house. He takes vitamins, owns a cat and a rabbit, has a young child, and has been considering hooking up to hi-speed Internet. He lives in town.

I know these things because he dumped the following: an old window (with broken glass scattered around), several garbage bags full of yard waste, scrap wood including part of an old fence, a broken patio umbrella, an empty oil container, a pile of auto parts including a broken tail light, old tiles, a partially used box of sanded brown tile grout, a couple of plastic plant pots, cardboard boxes, a vitamin bottle, an empty bag of Temptations cat treats, bonding mix, a cement bag, several work gloves, a baby snack wrapper, a rabbit-pellet bag, an empty transmission-fluid can, a salad bag, a hi-speed Internet brochure and assorted other waste.

Sir, this is what I think of you: you are a pig. You are worse than the crap with which you have defiled this beautiful space. You should be deeply ashamed.

Unfortunately, you are not one of a kind. All around our rural areas, people like you, with the same total disregard for our environment or for other people’s enjoyment of the outdoors, use our beautiful woods as garbage dumps.

How do I know you live in the city? If you were resident in the Black Pines area you would never have pulled such a lousy stunt. You wouldn’t crap in your own back yard, and you would know that the tipping fees aren’t yet enforced at the dumpster there.

Landfill fees are a major reason you and your ilk do what you do, and when the Thompson-Nicola Regional District gets its user fees for garbage disposal fully operational it’s going to get even worse. We’ll see a proliferation of piles of junk and garbage off our side roads, just for the sake of saving a few bucks.

Psychologists say there are several reasons people do this, aside from money. They say you have little or no knowledge of the environment effects of it, that you do it because there’s no one to tell you it’s not right, and that you have no sense of pride in your surroundings.

You are probably so selfish and narrow minded that you figure as long as it’s out of your own sight, it doesn’t matter what effect it has on others or on the environment. Or maybe you do understand all those things, and don’t give a damn. Or maybe you know that others won’t be able to simply leave your refuse where it lies, and will clean it up for you.

My family and I aren’t regular users of the Jameson Creek trail, but since I don’t intend to drive by your pile of disgusting waste day after day, I’ll be there Sunday morning tossing as much of it as I can into my truck and hauling it to the City landfill. Ironically, it’s a “free” day at the landfill, in aid of encouraging people to clean up for spring, so I’m sure the City won’t mind me returning what you left us.

You’re welcome to join me if you’d like.

Two very different campaign events

If today’s NDP and Liberal campaign events — held only a few blocks away from each other on the North Shore — are an indication, Terry Lake will walk away with the election in Kamloops-North Thompson. Whether they really are indicative, of course, is arguable, but there’s no question the Liberals generated several more times excitement than the New Democrats.

I didn’t get to James’ rally earlier in the day, so my view is limited to the two events later on. James attracted about 40 people to a “town hall” type meeting at the North Shore Community Centre, while Premier Gordon Campbell packed a hundred into Lake’s campaign headquarters in a former auto dealership on Fortune Drive.

And what a difference in the makeup of the crowds. James spent a half hour fielding softball questions from a partisan group of labourites and working folk. She was asked about housing, student debt, run-of-river hydro, raw-log exports, B.C. Rail, seniors and special needs kids, all issues in which opponents of the Liberals see the government as coming up short.

Kamloops North candidate Doug Brown was there, along with Tom Friedman, going up against Kevin Krueger in Kamloops South. So was Coun. Nancy Bepple, who acted as moderator for the questions. Local media were in attendance; the lone out-of-towner I saw was photographer Jason Payne from the Vancouver Province.

It was a rather sedate affair — no music, no chanting, no hoopla.

Contrast that with Campbell’s appearance, where the crowd was dominated by movers and shakers from the business community, developers and the professions. Doug Wittal and Tom Aubrey — who announced a $250 million theme park development last week, were among them. Lawyers like Dale Janowsky and chamber of commerce past president Rick Heney were in attendance, as were Thompson Rivers University chair Ron Olynyk and president Kathleen Scherf, plus Venture Kamloops chair Chris Ortner.

And if City council had wanted to hold a quick meeting whilst waiting for the premier, they would have had a quorum: Mayor Peter Milobar, councillors Jim Harker, Tina Lange, John DeCicco and John O’Fee, all sporting Lake buttons. Along with Lake and Krueger were Fraser-Nicola candidate Ella Brown, the former Logan Lake mayor, retired MLA Claude Richmond, and health minister George Abbott in from his Shuswap riding.

There was plenty of music, plenty of cheering and noise, and lots of speeches. CBC was there, so was the Canadian Press. When Campbell arrived almost a half hour late, he delivered a rip roaring speech that focused on the economy. He had the advantage of being able to mention such things as the airport expansion, TRU’s university status, and taking the tolls off the Coquihalla.

Of course, he and his government took a lot of persuading on the airport, strongly opposed university status for quite some time, and removed the tolls years after they should have been cancelled. But, hey, this is an election, not a political science thesis.

Do today’s events actually mean the Liberals will carry a momentum into Kamloops-North Thompson that will help them retain their hold on the riding? The numbers crunchers say math is against them. As one NDP campaigner said to me at the James meeting, “Kamloops-South Thompson is ours to win; Kamloops-North Thompson is ours to lose.”

Campbell, Lake and Krueger all emphasized the need to work hard and get the vote out, and the very fact the party mustered together so many political heavyweights indicates they think they’ve got a fight on their hands on the north side of the river. But let’s put it this way: the relative lack of energy at the James town hall, and the well-orchestrated buzz at Campbell’s show certainly aren’t bad news for the Liberals.

Update on an evening interrupted

I’ve been asked for a clarification on the post below. My correspondent would like to know whether this was really a spit stream or what she referred to — if you’ll excuse the expression — as a “snot rocket.”

As a runner, she defends the latter not only as necessary, but as an acquired skill, as one must close one nostril and tilt in the right direction to avoid the runner behind you — especially in a stiff head wind — while maintaining a steady pace.

Apparently spit streaming is also viewed as acceptable in running circles, to which I can only reply that 1) I’m glad I don’t run and 2) I will certainly be more careful in future when I see runners coming down the sidewalk.

As to the clarification, I’m pretty certain I was accurate in my first appraisal of what I witnessed.

A pleasant spring evening rudely interrupted

What a fine spring evening it was last night. It’s the time of year when people go outside again, energized by the warmer weather to bike, walk or run.

I had those thoughts as I drove past the Tournament Capital Centre, and saw a slim young woman running along the sidewalk. The scene epitomized what the Tournament Capital is all about: health and wellness, keeping yourself fit.

Then she let loose with a stream of sputum that would put a hockey player to shame.

The urge to hork spittle is common among athletes during a game (can you imagine the state of the player box by the end of the third period?), but I’ve never understood spitting on the sidewalk. It seems to be right up there with food, shelter and sex as a basic human need.

Somebody really should do a study on this to determine a) why people have the urge to eject saliva in public places (or, indeed, in the privacy of their own homes),  b) why they think it is in any way socially acceptable and b) whether they feel peeing on sidewalks is also OK.

Really, do they think the rest of us are alright with walking through gobs of spit as we go from one place to another? (Take my advice, when next you hit the sidewalk, do not look down, and, under no circumstances, check out the bottom of your shoes. Not good.)

Maybe spring is to blame — I don’t think quite so many people spit on the sidewalk in snowy, slushy conditions. At any rate, to the young woman who runs for exercise and spits for fun — or whatever reason she does it — you certainly ruined the enjoyment of an otherwise pleasant spring evening.

Venture Kamloops needs a patch job

Originally published in The Kamloops Daily News, March 21, 2009

The first real conversation I had with Gail Scott was when I picked up the phone one day and received a somewhat shrill 10-minute blast about a story she didn’t like.

Her voice was loud enough that I held the receiver a few inches from my ear while I waited for her to calm down. She never did.

From this vantage point three blocks away from her Venture Kamloops office, Scott seemed to have trouble finding her niche. I was amazed one day when I asked her a question about the City’s business protocol with Changping, China, and discovered that she not only hadn’t visited Changping when she was just a short drive down the turnpike in Beijing, but she hadn’t even read the document.

Now, to be fair, it takes awhile to get your footing in an important job like leading the economic-development strategy of a city. Certainly, I didn’t envy her the task of trying to measure up to the standards set by her predecessor, Jeff Putnam, who led Venture Kamloops from a floundering, ineffective waste of money to a credible, results-oriented agency.

Whether the above examples reflect anything to do with the reason or reasons the Venture Kamloops board decided to part ways with Scott only 13 months after hiring her, I have no idea. There are rumors, but when a person’s livelihood is involved, rumors are not an appropriate basis for discussion.

Clearly, the VK board — with the concurrence of City Hall administration and a confidential head’s up to City council, by the way — didn’t take such a step lightly.

These last few months haven’t been banner for the agency, though it’s plate has been full with a number of projects. Two highly competent employees have left. Michael Eibl, who handled business attraction duties, moved over to BDC, while Wendy Snelling has left for the Tournament Capital Centre (to work for her old boss, Putnam) after years heading up the business-care program.

Now, down three staffers, Venture Kamloops is scrambling to fill the vacancies with temporary contract people as it prepares to face the music — budget-wise — this fall. That’s when it will have to make a case to City council to sign a new five-year contract.

Current talk about Venture Kamloops being doomed, that it’s obviously broken and can’t be fixed, that it should be shut down and so on, is nothing but uninformed prattle.

When a CEO is fired, questions are going to be asked. When the boss says the reason for the firing is that the organization “is going in a different direction,” it sounds a bit lame. It sounds even lamer in view of the fact exactly the same line was used when the last CEO, M. J. Cousins, got the axe a few years ago.

But that’s the way things have to be done with personnel matters. You don’t announce to the world the reasons you’ve parted company with the employee because to do so would be unfair to the employee. Instead, the employer stays neutral and takes the heat.

Whether the reasons for terminating Scott’s employment are justified is between her and Venture Kamloops. Far from being mealy mouthed or demonstrating incompetence, the Venture Kamloops board is playing it by the book.

So will this be the death knell for the organization? I hope not because it’s proven that with the right people and the right strategy it can do a good job for Kamloops.

The “new direction” involves some serious navel-gazing by the board to decide if its strategy of the past five years has worked. I suggest it has, and that any thoughts of returning to a regional model, for example, should quickly be discarded. Scott was toying with that idea, and VK president Chris Ortner hasn’t ruled it out.

“It’s certainly going to be looked at. It is worth considering,” he told me yesterday.

We need look no further than the initial five-year deal between Venture Kamloops and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District to prove that a return to a regional model would be folly. It was so ineffective, unproductive and unmanageable that the City declined to renew for a second five-year term, instead insisting on an exclusive contract that didn’t include the region.

The decision on what happens during the next five years, of course, isn’t up to the VK board at all. City council, which funds almost all of VK’s $500,000 annual budget, can structure Venture Kamloops any way it wants.

But rather than scrapping Venture Kamloops or trying to save money by spreading costs around the region, the City should fund it better and keep it focused on the city. As Ortner said, there are tremendous opportunities out there, and we need to take advantage of them.

Venture Kamloops has proven its worth, and this bump in the road will settle like a frost heave on a city street if we patch 

Media have to show respect for others’ grief

I’ve never been big on funeral coverage. It seems like an intrusion to me.

When the departed has been a prominent part of the community, it’s difficult not to cover the funeral or memorial service, though, because people who aren’t able to attend want to know a little bit about it. In a sense, the person has been lost not just to friends and family, but to the entire community.

So, we send reporters to services for well-known community leaders who have a high level of name recognition. A reporter can attend, keep a low profile, and not intrude on anyone’s grief. And that’s where I draw the line.

It has to be an unusual situation where we would send a photographer to a service for someone who has passed away. A reporter with a pencil and notebook, sitting quietly in a pew, is one thing. A photographer clanking around with three cameras, a bunch of lenses and a bag full of filters and flashes, angling in front of people for a good shot is entirely something different.

I wouldn’t like it if it was a member of my family involved, and for the most part I don’t think others like it either. It’s a judgment call, of course. There are rare occasions when someone’s passing has been of such significance to the community, or it’s occurred in such circumstances that the entire community has a direct involvement, that full coverage is warranted.

Otherwise, friends and family deserve not to be interfered with in their time of sorrow. We in the media have to temper our instincts for getting a good photo that will attract people to a page in our newspaper, with respect for those who are going through a difficult time.

That’s why we didn’t take pictures at the service for Dick Dickens, and why we won’t be taking pictures at the service for David Ross.

The power of marketing

It would seem the decision on which city to pick for the multi-million-dollar theme park announced at this morning’s press conference hinged on a Powerpoint video.

Tom Aubrey, in explaining how Kamloops won the project, said he watched the Our Place in the Sun video over coffee one morning and used it to tip the scales in our favour.

If you haven’t seen this video, you’re one of the few who hasn’t. It was produced five years ago as a marketing tool for the city. We presented it to Premier Gordon Campbell when we were looking for Tournament Capital and airport expansion money. We played it at the official opening of the Kamloops Centre for Water Quality. We translated it into Chinese and Japanese and took it overseas.

Everywhere, and every time, it’s been played, it gets rave reviews. Occasionally, it gets updated with new pictures (my own photo has long since disappeared from the presentation). What makes it work is the music in combination with the quality of photos and the theme.

While the video received a lot of credit today, those who make it what it is didn’t. The City of Kamloops commissioned it, but Henry Small’s lyrics and music make it sing, literally. And the production by Sharon Stevens and her Communications Solutions company is first-rate. In fact, they’ve won awards for it.

Now, it seems, that Powerpoint, just a few minutes long, is responsible at least in part for getting us a huge new tourist attraction. That’s the power of marketing.

Footnote One: I wonder when Mayor Peter Milobar, who was at theannouncement, will be able to resist the urge to take shots at the media every time he speaks. Get over it, Peter, we’re staying.

Footnote Two: Coun. John O’Fee has a trigger on his computer that gives him a head’s up every time his name appears on somebody’s blog. This is for him, because now he’s going to have to log on to see what I’m writing about him. Hey, he gets his name on the blogosphere; I get another hit.

Who did what on airport, TCC, water plant

A correspondent sent the following yesterday: “Brian Alexander published a rant in the KTW ’Daily’ (page 13) in which Terry (Lake) is to blame for the Water Treatment Plant, the Tournament Capital Centre and the loss of the KXA.  I know for certain that you are to blame for our water quality and I am pretty sure you were mayor when the Tournament Capital referendum was held (skirting the blame there too). You are also to blame for not caving into the very reasonable proposal of the KIB regarding the KXA….all on your shoulders.  Now, when people drink a glass of clean water or enjoy an event in the TCC they can be outraged at Terry instead of you.”

I haven’t laid eyes on Alexander’s piece, but for some reason it doesn’t shock me that it’s not quite accurate. He shouldn’t be blaming Terry Lake for any of those things.

The importance of winning something

Well, that was quite a weekend. The B.C. Yukon Community Newspapers Association held its annual Ma Murray Awards gala at the River Rock in Richmond on the weekend, and it was a fine do.

The Daily News, in the days before it was a daily, was a longstanding member of the BCYCNA. We were able to rejoin last year when the organization extended its membership to include B.C. dailies. We were fortunate last year to pick up a half dozen awards, and we did alright this year, too.

It’s easy to say awards don’t matter, that it’s all about the satisfaction of doing good work but, let me tell you, there’s nothing like a little recognition and a very nice trophy to make you feel good about what you do.

The Ma Murrays are one of the best-run awards galas I’ve ever been to. It moves fast, is highly entertaining, and the tension is high as the award categories come up one by one. You can’t help but feel nervous as your turn approaches.

Susan Duncan, our city editor, scooped the best columnist award, as well as the community booster award for The Daily News Boogie. Photographer Murray Mitchell and I came up just a bit short in feature photo and editorial writing respectively, but coming second among all of the people who work for all of the newspapers in B.C. is nothing to complain about.

By the way, Maxine Rashinksy of the TRU journalism program was at our table, and her passion for journalism always provides for some great discussion.

And, dammit, some day I’m going to come out ahead of Susan when it comes to awards. I must give her credit, though, not only because she deserved to win, but for a couple of very good acceptance speeches.