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Letter: Residents need to demand that Kelowna council values opinions

RE: Agassiz Road residents and The Bench 1 condo owners
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To the editor:

RE: Agassiz Road residents and The Bench 1 condo owners

Canada uses a democratic type of government. Years ago, elected officials in Kelowna apparently decided to scrap the democratic process in favour of one called authoritarian leadership.

According to Google: “Authoritarian leadership is a leadership style characterized by individual (city council) control over all decisions with little or no input from group members (the citizens).”

To be fair to present council members, peer pressure can be very intimidating. It takes an exceptional person to buck the system.

Each new councillor likely quickly found out that if they wanted to get along with council then they had better learn to go along.

And so this authoritarian system continues. This also applies to new employees in city hall.

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The two cited references above seem to be part of the city’s “continuing efforts to train the public to be quiet and do as you are told.

Council unanimously went against the Agassiz residents in what appeared to be a predetermined vote.

For the story of Bench 1 Condo owners see their letter in the Feb. 8 Capital News.

They also found that decisions were apparently already made.

For years, public hearings in Kelowna have appeared to be nothing but a farce and an insult to residents.

City council and city hall staff are all servants of the people who elected them or hired them.

They only act like the boss because we let them.

Instead of going to council with hat in hand asking to please do as we ask, residents need to start telling council and city hall to be quiet and do as you are told.

And if that does not work then take legal action and keep taking it until the city gets the message.

It is high time Kelowna develops as we the citizens, not just special interest groups, want it to develop.

If that means continually taking legal action against council and city hall then I will be more than happy—hopefully just like most citizens—to contribute my share to the legal costs of each court case.

The taxes we save when we run Kelowna our way will likely cover our legal costs.

Although Kelowna may be Paradise, hopefully, our form of municipal government will soon be the Adam and Eve of Paradise Lost.

Bruce R. Brown

Kelowna