Calypso Time

It is Calypso Orchid time.

These delicate beauties live symbiotically with specific, soil mycorrhizal fungi.  Calypso orchids are also known as Fairy Slipper or Venus Slipper orchids.  They are so sensitive to disturbance that just picking a flower will likely kill the plant.  They cannot be transplanted and they are classified as endangered in many areas of North America. 

Calypso orchids are in flower now in their favoured woodland environments.  

Council ignoring democracy in favour of in camera decsions

Council ignoring democracy in favour of in camera decisions

Perceptions by Gerry Warner

Our City Council, elected only a few months ago, has developed a bad habit – an in camera habit – that leaves the public in the dark when important or controversial decisions are to be made and democracy goes out the window.

This was the case in February when council decided in camera to decommission the Idlewild Dam and inform the public by press release why they made the decision. Except they didn’t do that. The release said the decision was based on “findings and recommendations” of the Dam Breach Inundation Study, but those findings and recommendations don’t appear anywhere in the release!   

So what’s this? Government by press release? Surely the public deserves to know what the “findings and recommendations were? Do they justify tearing down the dam and draining Idlewild Lake – the main attraction of the park – for an unknown length of time? Maybe they do. But the public will never know because they weren’t let in on the decision. Does this council not trust the public to think for itself?

At a recent Sunrise Rotary meeting, I asked Mayor Lee Pratt if the Dam Breach Inundation Study was going to be made public. He didn’t give me a direct answer, but said the “highlights” of the study were in the press release. Read it yourself. It’s on the City’s web page. But the “findings and recommendations” aren’t there. All that appears are some fear-mongering comments about what might happen if the dam is breached which hasn’t occurred since the dam was built more than 80 years ago. Maybe the dam should be replaced on the basis of age alone. But we don’t know that because council made the decision in camera and didn’t bother to tell us the reasons.

That’s no way to run the farm! It’s also possible that the dam and it’s concrete core is still secure and the public doesn’t deserve to be deprived of Idlewild Lake for up to two years as Mayor Pratt said at the Rotary meeting. Draining the lake could also be fatal for the blue-listed, Western Painted Turtles that live in it and will be left without a home. Did council take that into consideration when they made their in camera decision?  We’ll never know, but I’m thinking of making a Freedom of Information application to find out. Stay tuned.

Fast forward to the present and we have the simmering controversy over the City’s repurposing of its unused, heritage fire hall. For the record, I would like to see the ornate, old building repurposed as an art gallery if that’s feasible, but that’s not the issue here. Once again the issue is the process by which the City made this difficult decision. And you know the rest. It was made in camera by a council that lacks the courage and integrity to discuss controversial issues in public and instead chooses to hide behind closed doors and hand out another lame press release at the end of a council meeting to cover its tracks.

So what’s the purpose of City Hall? Is it a chamber where the public’s business is done in public? Or is it a medieval star chamber where the public is only fed what Mayor and Council want them to know? The Community Charter, which governs the actions of all city councils in the province, lists several clear reasons for holding meetings in camera. The fact that a decision is difficult or controversial is not among them.

I, therefore, lay down a challenge to this council. At a recent meeting of theColumbia Basin Trust’s Community Initiatives Committee, one City councillor recused himself from the meeting when a funding application was made by the Cranbrook District Arts Council to repurpose the fire hall, which indicates a potential conflict of interest. Did that councillor recuse himself again when council made its in camera decision to sell the fire hall to the private sector instead of retaining it for repurposing.

The public deserves to know.

                                           

Gerry Warner is a retired journalist and former Cranbrook City councillor.

What's Happening....

Friday May 1st

Cranbrook Community Theatre
"Skin Flicks"
ribald comedy
running May 1st - 16th
Tickets Lotus Books

Wednesday May 6th
Information Session
Hospice
7:00-9:00pm
College of the Rockies

May 9th

Go Go Grannies
Glitz and Glamour
Light Luncheon
$25 Lotus Books

Sunday May 10th

Fort Steele
Mother's day Tea and Fashion Show

Cranbrook Community Forest Society is asking for your input

The Cranbrook Community Forest Society is looking for your input!  The Society has been working on a Master Trail Plan for the trail system in the South and Eager Hills area of the Community Forest.  A copy of the presentation made at our AGM summarizing the draft plan can be downloaded at:

http:/www.cranbrookcommunityforest.com/draft-master-trail-plan---power-point-outline.php

Comments can be sent to:

ccf.trailplan@gmail.com

until MAY 31, 2015   

We want to know your concerns, suggestions, opinions !!

Thank you,

CCFS Board of Directors

Elementary Art at the Guggenheim

If you missed the Cranbrook and District Arts Council exhibit this month, too bad, as there was much that our elementary school students had to be proud of in work chosen for the show.

In this article by:
priscilla.frank@huffingtonpost.co

Why The Best Painting At The Guggenheim This Summer Was Made By A Third Grader
it is easy to see who the next generation of designers might be.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/29/learning-through-art_n_7138636.html

Council Decides to Sell its Heritage Fire Hall

The decision came suddenly despite weeks of speculation, no courtesy shown to those involved, no final consultation but not past the time a decision should have been made.  Hearing about a decision that was made behind closed doors was not easy and many are shocked that this council would use the Cranbrook and District Arts Council's draft business plan to hide behind in making their decision. Keeping heritage in public ownership is one issue.  The Arts Council proposal is another.

There is no doubt this decision is perceived by many to be regressive and damaging to Cranbrook and its reputation. 

The story has not ended.

Advance Notes for the Council Meeting of April 27th 2015, 6:00pm

Comment
It has always been interesting in the past to read about the broad topics concerning our town in correspondence selected for part of the Council Agenda.  As correspondence included in the agenda becomes part of the public record, it is a point of curiosity that there is no correspondence other than a proclamation request included for this meeting. 

The entire agenda and attachments can be read at:

https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=4766

Delegation
Terry Miller for Cranbrook Community Theatre

Bylaws
Cemetery
Airport Lease Repeal

New Business
Community Initiatives Grant awards

https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=4772

Endorsement of BC Coal Sector

Development Variance

Abel Avenue

Sustainability Builder of the Year Award

Administration Update

https://cranbrook.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=4776

Correspondence
Proclamation for MS Week

Why We need Creative Spaces, Joel Robison

I’m a proud Canadian, a proud British Columbian, and a proud Cranbrooklyn (that’s the word right?). Spending 28 of my 30 years on this earth in one of the most beautiful corners of the world was certainly a treasure that I’m lucky to look back on and feel quite lucky about.

Growing up in a sports centric community is an interesting place, the revered celebrities of our neighborhoods are the hockey players who moved on to the National level and brought home gleaming trophies, cups, medals and awards. When it wasn’t hockey, then skiing, rowing, swimming, and other sports quickly followed suit in celebration. For those of us not graced with much of an athletic gift, it was quite disheartening to see opportunity after opportunity for sporting activities but few for arts. I applaud our local heroes for their hard work and dedication but wish our Hall of Fame was a bit more diverse.
I enjoyed creating while growing up and filled my middle and high school curriculum with as many of the arts programs as I could fit into my semesters, one of the main reasons for this was because that was the only place I was truly exposed to art in a broader sense. Fortunately I grew up in a family where art was appreciated and I was able to develop my talents just as my brothers were encouraged to develop theirs. In school I learned about incredible artists from around the world, including Cranbrook. But after those school hours ended, so did my exposure to the arts community. I spent as much time in those classrooms as I could because there was nowhere else for me to go. My teachers, many who became colleagues, dedicated their time and energy making sure we were aware of the amazing talents that existed within our valley home.
In the last 5 years I’ve worked at growing my “artist presence”. I began in Cranbrook, taking photographs in the forests by myself. Soon after I was working with other locals, taking photos of events and growing my own portfolio. In passing I would find other artists, but it seemed like we were part of an underground club showing our work in secret. Or in my case, strictly online where my audience lived. By the time I had started to share my work with friends and family I had almost as many “fans” of my photography facebook page as citizens of my hometown, now it’s reaching a quarter of a million.

We have the passion, we have the talent, but right now it’s like bees buzzing around a garden without a beehive. Musicians recognized nationally, artists working with some of the biggest agencies and companies, writers publishing best sellers, they exist as “hometown heroes” but sadly, have no “home” in our city.

http://joelrobison.com/why-we-need-creative-spaces/

Warner's Corner, Selling the Fire Hall Now Would Be a Mistake

Selling the fire hall now would be a mistake

Perceptions by Gerry Warner

“Life is short, but Art is long.”

You know who said that? Hippocrates, the ancient Greek philosopher in one of his celebrated aphorisms uttered more than 2,000 years ago, which goes to show that the artistic sensibility has been part of the human genome for a long time except for some of the genomes currently sitting at the Cranbrook City Council table.

And that’s truly sad.

It’s especially sad because we may lose yet another opportunity to revitalize our fading downtown by converting the city’s historic 1929 fire hall into a combination art gallery and cultural emporium that would be the envy of the Kootenays and put Cranbrook back on the cultural map where it belongs.

This is not an idle dream. The Cranbrook District Arts Council has been working towards this for years. They have raised money, drawn up plans and engaged the community with just under 70 per cent of the community backing their efforts according to a poll in the Cranbrook Townsman this week. Despite this, Mayor Lee Pratt has criticized the proposal from the get-go and indicates he would rather see the historic structure sold off to the private sector and money gained from the sale used to patch pot holes or other similar imaginative attempts to repair the city’s deteriorating infrastructure.

But the mayor is wrong. This not an either/or situation. The City has had potholes for 50 years and will have them for the next 50. That’s the way it is with pot holes. We all know that. What we don’t have is an arts centre befitting our city’s population and stature. But we do have a civic-minded group that’s working their buns off to show how such a facility could be developed in the future if we all get behind it.

We did it with the Studio Stage Door, which an earlier council wanted to turn into a parking lot. Now we regularly enjoy some of the best amateur theatre in the province. Last week we enjoyed an incredible concert featuring one of the biggest rock bands of the 60’s. Why? Because the council of the day had the foresight to partner with the school district to build the Key City Theatre and I feel sorry for you if you missed Eric Burdon and the Animals. Two years ago, our little burg drew Bob Dylan to town for a sold out concert of more than 4,000. Why? Because another earlier council dreamed big and fought a difficult referendum campaign to build Western Financial Place which continues to draw big acts from country music stars to monster trucks.

Those earlier politicians had their critics too, but they showed imagination, vision and leadership and today Cranbrook is a better place for it.

So what now? A motion to sell the fire hall to the private sector has already been pulled from the agenda at the last minute indicating uncertainty in council chambers over the controversial sale. Two councillors have criticized the sale and one recused himself from the table when the issue came up at a recent meeting of CBT’s Community Initiatives Committee, indicating more uncertainty and concern. The public is being left in the dark while rumours swirl. And what’s the hurry to sell one of the few heritage buildings the City has left when so many are against the sale and you have an enthusiastic volunteer group waiting in the wings to repurpose the building into a cultural asset that will boost the city’s image and attract more people downtown and more business. But for this to happen, vision and leadership is needed at the council table and normally that comes from the chief executive – the mayor – with council following suit.

Therefore Mayor Pratt, as a former councillor myself, I respectfully ask you to reconsider your position on selling the City’s heritage fire hall. If you sell it you’ll be doing nothing more than selling the City’s silverware. But if you give the arts council a chance to show what they can do, you’ll indeed be a mayor of vision and leadership.

It’s up to you. And if the arts council fails, the failure will be on their hands, not yours.

 Gerry Warner is a former councillor and retired journalist.

What's Happening.....

Saturday April 25th

Raised Bed Workshop
with Luke Kimmel
Cranbrook Public produce garden
10:00am

Cranbrook Farmer's Market
Ktunaxa Building Gym
10:00am - 1:00pm

Randy the Gypsy Musician
Brandon Blackmore
Cranbrook and District Arts Council Gallery
135, Tenth Av S.
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Admission by donation

Locals Coffee House

Studio Stage Door, 7:30pm
Tickets Lotus Books (maybe sold out)
Tom Bungay, Ian Jones, Carter Gulseth,
Shauna and megan Plan and the Rosie Brown Band