CJ Says

Don’t get me wrong…please, I’m not a bleeding heart liberal “fist pumping” my way through life supporting environmental causes. In fact, I’m kind of a red-neck who is probably typical of a generation who didn’t care much about recycling and such. Lately (and I mean the last few months) I’ve become concerned about environmental matters particularly our landfill (the garbage dump). 

The facts support it, Osoyoos is behind much of the world in waste management. An incredibly large percentage of our household waste ends up in our landfill. I asked a manager of from our garbage pickup company for the stats on percentages of recyclable and compostable material and how much ends up being dumped in our landfill and surprisingly he didn’t really know the answer. That’s the first problem. I feel that we are around 70 percent to the landfill and 30 percent is recycled and/or composted. My estimation is probably conservative but, none the less, it’s unacceptable. Many European communities are in the 90–10%. category. The city of Vancouver is around 60–40%. The cities of Calgary and Edmonton are in the 80–20% range.

Landfills have a definite life span. Can you imagine the overwhelming costs to our community if we had to find and develop an new land-fill site in our current economy. It could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, it really doesn’t matter because there is no available land for landfills within our region anyway so it would get trucked somewhere whereupon your taxes would increase proportionally to cover trucking costs. Additionally, landfills contribute to pollution. Indiscriminate dumping practices cause all kinds of toxic impact to our water tables. I’m not going into the pollution aspect any further because if you need to be told about landfills impacting our environment there probably isn’t much hope for you anyway.

What do we do to make this circumstance better? Well, I guess the reason I have this blog is to offer answers to the questions. I need to qualify some things. I’m not an expert and I don’t have hard-core facts to support any of my comments but one thing is for sure, “I care deeply about our community and I have a vision of the future and I hope that I can make a positive impact for my kids, your kids and, future generations”. REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF GARBAGE THAT IS PICKED-UP AT HOUSEHOLDS BY 50% (2 bags to 1) WILL SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASE THE LIFESPAN OF OUR LANDFILL AND ENCOURAGE (HOPEFULLY) ALL CITIZENS TO RECYCLE AND COMPOST. I have a personal goal whereas I would like to see us as a community strive to reduce our intake of household garbage at the landfill to less than 20% in the next three years. For us to accomplish this we need to provide leadership on this issue. We need to push the envelope by doing more to keep recyclable and compostable materials out of our landfill. In other words…we all need to do our part and pay attention to our obligation to the future. 

As always, your ideas and opinions are important to me so please let me know how you feel by responding to this post.

Osoyoos BC

The reasons are (at least they should be) obvious to everyone. We need to do our part and seriously reduce the use of plastic petroleum based plastic bags. It is my intention to introduce an initiative to Town Council that prohibits the use and distribution of plastic carry-out bags in Osoyoos.

It is estimated, by persons much smarter than me, that a plastic bag takes 1000 years to decompose in a land fill setting. Another staggering statistic is that, in Osoyoos, our retail outlets may distribute in excess of 25000 bags per week. A huge majority of those bags end up in our landfill. I need to emphasize that my knowledge is limited to common-sense and that I am not an expert and my statistics are not scientific but it doesn’t take much to understand that we need to stop this practice and stop it right away. The purpose of my initiative is not to replace plastic bags with paper products but to encourage everyone to use re-usable products to carryout retail products.

Osoyoos residents are obligated to do their part to reduce our “carbon footprint” and this is one very important step towards that goal. Osoyoos will not be the first municipality to ban the use of plastic bags but we certainly will be in the forefront and we can clearly demonstrate that we are a community that cares about our environment.

You can let me know how you feel about this subject by offering your comments (click on the comments button at the top of this post) and by participating in my informal non-scientific poll (located on the right side of this page).

Osoyoos BC

I hope everyone has the best Christmas ever and a happy and prosperous New Year. I hope you experience the season and all the joy, warmth and happiness it holds in store. 

When I started this blog I had no idea that it would “take off” like it did. Currently, I am getting over 200 readings a day and 20% of those are unique visitors. I have re-newed some old friendships and found some new ones. I have received hundreds of comments about many topics….some controversial, some friendly, some not so friendly, some informative, some downright rude, some offering advice, some offering advice on sex and travel and, even my Dad made some comments. My point is (????), this blog has changed my life and made me a better person. There are people that care enough to put their words, ideas and, opinions out there for everyone to see. And for that, I have tremendous respect. I don’t care what you have to say but I do care that you say it (how’s that for a cliche’?). 

I have to admit that I’m somewhat of a humbug (what a strange word). Past Christmas’ have brought on that seasonal disorder depression thing that many suffer from. I know, it sounds like I’m a being self-absorbed but it is a real pain in the butt every year. But somehow this year is different. Lisa and I are travelling to Alberta to spend Christmas with our kids and we haven’t done that for 8 years which, is way to long. I guess I’ve discovered the cure. Christmas is more than giving and receiving and admittedly, I haven’t done much of either. It’s not about the copious amounts of food and booze. It’s not about the watching hockey or football. It’s not about anything but sitting in a room and listening to your children and their children talk about their lives and the things that are important to them. I ask you (or anyone else that will listen) is there anything more important!!! Not likely.The next time life feels like The Barbarians from the Capital One Commercials are after me I’m going to sit-down and call my kids.

Spending quality time with your kids supersedes all things.  We’ve been so fortunate to have kids and grand-kids that are blessed with good health and share an enthusiasm for life and that makes me the proudest parent on earth. 

I’ve just completed the first month as Councillor in Osoyoos and it has been a wonderful experience. I’ve been asked what is the most important thing I’ve experienced so far. The answer comes easy to me…it’s the people. It’s the people that live here, it’s the people that work here, it’s the people that run businesses here, it’s the fine people that work for the Town of Osoyoos and…I hope I’ve not forgotten anyone. Yeah, Osoyoos is a small town but how many small towns can you walk around and even strangers will greet you? Not many. How many towns can boast about the sense of community pride and involvement we have? Not many. And (finally) how many towns have the natural surroundings we have? Not many. We are truly blessed in Osoyoos.

Warmest wishes to you this Holiday Season.

Osoyoos BC

Over the past few weeks I’ve been asked many times why I ran for Town Council. WHY is a very peculiar word!!! Some people ask why as in…”are you outta your frickin’ mind”. The look on those faces is hilarious. Some people ask why as in…”what the hell have you done CJ”. The look on those faces suggests that you are going to screw-up big time. Some people ask why as in…”you haven’t got a chance”. The look on those faces is condescending because they really do think that you don’t. Some people ask why as in…”who do think your are”. The look on those faces portrays and suggests that they really are better than you. Then there are the people who ask why because they are sincerely interested in your response. Those are the people that I generally spend quality time with. They are the people that really care about the person who is trying to make a difference and most importantly, they are the people that care about their community. Thankfully, the latter is the majority.

I need to digress for a moment and comment of the fact that Osoyoos really is blessed with many people that care about our community. As a council member you get to meet a lot of folks and my experience is that we are fortunate and extremely lucky to have this. If you are a reader of newspapers, watch TV or, a regular Internet user you know where I’m heading. It seems that many towns and cities in Canada are full of people that genuinely dislike where they live. I think (yes, once in a while) that most people live here by choice and do so because they like the community and the surroundings.

So what’s my point, oh yeah… WHY. It’s real simple. Osoyoos is a Town that I care about. I care about the people that live here. I care about the people that voted me into office. I care about doing a good job and as corny as it sounds, I want to make a difference. That is why.

Osoyoos BC

Over the last two days I’ve been taking a course in Grand Forks. The course is designed for newly elected councillors. It was a very informative session that will shorten my learning period considerably. I feel that the voters in Osoyoos have put together a real good team. We had an opportunity to “bond a little” and it’s obvious to me that my fellow councillors and our mayor will be effective, forthright and diligent.

It thought you may be interested to know that we have made our submissions for the 100 day plan talked about in my previous post. I feel good that so many of you contributed solid ideas. In the interested of clarity I would like to mention that the ideas that I presented were based on the following: it must be achievable and must be cost effective. I certainly wanted to tackle bigger issues but many of my ideas will take time and would not have fit the criteria of being cost effective towards this project.

1. To establish solar lighting on the marker buoys directly east of Haynes Point (in the water). The lighting will greatly enhance the navigation of boats during low-light periods.

2. To develop an email database that would enable willing participants to receive a wide variety of information from the Town of Osoyoos i.e Agendas, study results etc.. This idea is based on many (dozens) requests from residents to have the Town of Osoyoos improve communication. I feel this can be a valuable tool and a further step towards enhancing communication with residents and businesses in Osoyoos.

Osoyoos BC

We’ve been asked (not officially yet) to come up with a plan in our first 100 days of office for a project that we feel would benefit Osoyoos. The idea was mentioned casually by Stu Wells during an informal meeting following the recent election. This idea has taken on a life of its own. We’ve been asked by the Osoyoos Times, somewhat prematurely, to provide information on what we feel we are going to do. I am one that likes to have all the details before proceeding and, to this date, we have not received clear direction from Stu Wells so I declined to comment to the newspaper.

However, I like the idea!! It is an opportunity for the new council (myself included) to show everyone in Osoyoos that we are motivated. However, I feel the project must be beneficial to the community and, most importantly, cost effective.

I have a few ideas of my own but then I thought (I do think once in a while) why not see what the residents and business owners think. Classic idea eh! After all, that’s why we were elected… right?

To date, I have received the following ideas that have merit and they appear to be “cost effective”:

1. PARK BENCHES– To strategically place several benches along main street that would serve as resting areas for seniors and others. 

2. RECYCLE BINS–To locate several recycle bins at the Osoyoos Bottle Depot (centrally located) to allow residents and tourists to sort recyclable materials conveniently.

3. EMAIL DATABASE–To start a database of email addresses of willing participants that would like to receive information from the Town of Osoyoos (ie Council agendas, Town events, Special projects…)

Your ideas and opinions are important to me and would really help to get things done in Osoyoos. This is an opportunity for you to have input. Let me know which of the above you like or, more importantly, make your own suggestions.

“How do I do that” you ask….Directly under the Osoyoos photos to the right you can leave a short message or you can leave a more detailed message by clicking on the comments button at the top right of this post (it might say “no comments or 3 comments etc.)

Osoyoos BC 100 Days, council, Osoyoos Times, Stu Wells

These two guys are, in large part, indicative of the financial crisis we are experiencing worldwide. The guy on the left is Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli and the other is Alan Mulally CEO of Ford. As we all know they, along with General Motors, are asking for billions of dollars in bailout money due to their financial crisis. 

Never for a minute will I deny that there is a financial crisis world wide and I have no doubt that the auto makers are hurting “big time”. Their problems (in the USA) will be our problems. A large part of our Canadian economy is dependent upon the success of these companies and if they fail we will impacted in a very negative way.

You know, I have a small brain. I can’t help it, it’s there and I gotta deal with it but to me a private jet is a very expensive toy. They are expensive to buy, expensive to maintain, expensive to operate and the people that use them are expensive. In fact, private jets are the pinnacle of expensive toys. Someone told me they can cost upwards of $7000.00 and hour to operate but I have no way to verify that. Even if they cost a more modest $5000.00 an hour that’s a lot too.

I am a proponent of free enterprise and if a company is doing good then have at it. But it doesn’t take much thought (even with a small brain) to think that flying to Washington to beg for money in a private jet is “JUST WRONG”.  What the hell were these jokers thinking? There are hundreds of thousands of people losing their jobs and suffering financially and they’re jaunting around America like Saudi Princes going to a horse race. It’s like getting dropped off at a soup kitchen in a limo with a tuxedo on. The cost of this trip to beg for money probably could have paid a willing workers salary for year or more. Yeah they probably stayed in an ultra luxury hotel as well. I think you get my point.

I think that bail-out money is probably necessary but they shouldn’t get a dime until they a prepared to give up their ultra luxury lifestyles that got them into trouble in the first place. The solution lies in sacrifice. Sacrifice by everyone involved not just the everyday working stiff.

Mmmm….business is tough in Osoyoos during the winter months. I have a lot of friends who are business owners and most of us eat beans and macaroni during this time. I wonder???? Where can we get a private jet to fly us somewhere to beg for money? Any suggestions…..I hope you get my sarcasm.

Osoyoos BC Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Mulally, Nardelli, Private Jets

 Well…we had our first meeting yesterday with the new mayor new councilors and our new Town CAO, Barry. The key word in the previous statement is NEW. The meeting was casual and informal. Barry was very informative and it appears that he is fitting into the new position very well. Although he didn’t show it he must be under a lot of pressure to learn our Town dynamics. My first exposure to the Town hall staff is an excellent one. Without exception, they have been very helpful, informative, courteous and friendly. They certainly will make my huge “learning curve” shorter and easier.

There are several courses available to newly elected persons and I intend to attend all of them. The first is in Grand Forks on December 3 and 4. My goal is to learn how to be a good councilor in the shortest period possible. I am excited to get going with the job.

During the meeting several informal discussions ensued and the one of particular interest to me was about how to keep Town residents and businesses informed about Town business. I am keen to work towards ensuring that everyone has access to information about the various goings on with our Town particularly council business (TRANSPARENCY).  We discussed several methods many of which are implemented already but terribly underused.

I would like to know how you feel about the Town developing a database of email recipients that would like to receive information from the Town ie: Council agendas, minutes from council meetings, proposed by-law changes or anything else of interest. Of course, the database would contain the email addresses of willing participants/residents and never used for any other purpose. It would be purely voluntary. Please let me know what you think but remember I’m not taking a poll….I just want to know if you like the idea and, of course, if you don’t like it. Click on the comments button at the top of this message and there will be a handy form for your comments.

Osoyoos BC

What can I say now. I’m humbled, excited and, happy for the support and confidence that the residents of Osoyoos placed in me yesterday. 

I am proud to live in Osoyoos and I’m (really) looking forward to serving on Town council for the next 3 years.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Osoyoos BC

Davis Shearing killed 6 members of a family in Wells Gray Park in August 1982. This is more than a “regular” murder. He held captive two young girls for a week after killing the other family members. During this week he sexually assaulted (at least) one of the girls. Then, after a week, he walked them into a wooded area and shot them then (yes it gets worse) burned their bodies in an effort to disguise his crimes.

“I gotta tell ya” is it possible for there to be a worse crime? I don’t think so! This animal (to put it mildly) devastated a family. The horror of this crime is probably lived every day by surviving family members. There are no words or actions that could possibly console these victims. My mind can’t even comprehend this tragedy.

Our courts apparently did the right thing and sentenced Davis Shearing to life in prison. I digress for a moment…isn’t this a perfect case for CAPITAL PUNISHEMENT? It’s so hard for most of to understand the effect of the highly controvesial subject of capital punishment when we are not victims. But, when you live the horror of having family members slaughtered, raped, and burned-up I’ll give Las Vegas odds that our opinions change and we begin to support executions of criminals like this.

The purpose of this post is to express how outraged I am about this criminal being released on a day pass today. Last month he was denied parole due to his lack of remorse. Does this not speak volumns on how he should be treated. Additionally, he receives 3 conjugal visits a month from his wife and that angers me. What the hell is going on?

In my opinion (at least I’m putting my opinion on display) Davis Shearing should have no rights particularily, he should not be released on day parole for any reason at any time. He should receive the bare necessities that allow him to live in prison and nothing else. 

Let’s all give our head a shake and let our ideas and opinions be known. This is a hideous crime committed by a vicious and out of control individual whose lack of remorse is unforgivable. 

You can email our National Parole Board at: info@npb-cnlc.gc.ca

Osoyoos BC