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Logo creates double take
Kelowna Daily Courier - Ron Seymour - 2009-12-23

If she had it to do all over again, Mayor Sharon Shepherd would definitely have invited more public input into plans to change the city‘s official logo.

Because people didn‘t feel they were consulted in the process, and particularly because they didn‘t like the end result, Shepherd is still getting an earful from the public.

“In retrospect, absolutely we should have had more involvement from the public,” Shepherd said in a year-end interview. “I would have preferred if we‘d come up with three possible designs, and then let the public choose which one they preferred.”

Shepherd said she‘s getting more negative feedback about the logo change than any other issue since she became mayor in 2005. She‘s open to the idea of dropping the new logo, said to have been inspired by a pinecone, but notes that there is not much support for that idea among city councillors.

The only upside, she suggests, is that, like all logos, the new one will eventually give way to another.

“It‘ll get changed – maybe sooner than later,” Shepherd said. “I don‘t think it‘ll last as long as other logos have.”

A sense that the old city logo – featuring the Sails and silhouetted figures, framed by water, hills and the sun – was outdated led the city to engage the services of consultant Phred Martin to come up with a new design.

In a meeting with council in August 2008, Martin said any new logo would have to authentically represent Kelowna.

“It‘s amazing how many cities try to be something they‘re not,” he told council at the time.

But when the new logo was unveiled this past summer, much of the criticism centred precisely around the question of authenticity. The new logo, a circle made up of colorful triangles, was denounced as a meaningless abstraction that in no way represented Kelowna.

“When I think of Kelowna, I think of the beach, the Sails, the lovely park, the good weather, etc. I do not see this in the new logo,” Mary Pavich wrote in a letter to the editor. “It reminds me of a sombrero from Mexico.”

“Of course, the lovely city logo picturing the Sails could have been improved on. Instead, we went backwards to something that will never connect anyone to our great city,” Marc Whittemore wrote.

The controversy only deepened when it emerged that the new logo bore a striking similarity to one created years ago for a U.S. housing company called Sunhaven.

Martin denied drawing inspiration from the other logo, telling a reporter: “I wouldn‘t risk my reputation by plagiarizing because I had never even seen the other logo.”

Human rights tribunal refuses to dismiss complaint against city
Kelowna Capital News - News - Published: February 05, 2009

A Human Rights Tribunal complaint against the City of Kelowna alleging a prospective employee was not hired because she was perceived as “sickly” will proceed.

Earlier this month the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal decided not to dismiss Roxanne Stevenson’s complaint alleging the city discriminated against her on the basis of physical disability.

The decision, released Feb. 4, notes Stevenson claims she was not chosen to fill a clerk position, in part, because of her addiction to cigarettes.

Stevenson is already a relief employee at the municipality and, according to a memo filed by her supervisors, failed to attend work three times during a one month period. She applied for a part-time operations clerk position at the city’s wastewater treatment facility.

“The position has unique customer service responsibilities where specific knowledge about the City’s Water Cross-Connection Control program is required,” the document notes.

It is noted the city claimed the specific requirements of the job meant it would not be easy to replace her on short notice and reliable attendance was a key determinant in the decision not to award her the job. She was also deemed too quiet for the position which requires high-level communication skills.

However, the tribunal complaint does include mention of a memo in which a human resources manager notes she is a “heavy smoker” and “reeked of smoke.”

The Human Rights Tribunal has recommended mediation. Should the parties not take that option, the case proceed to a hearing.

18 June 2001

From British Columbia Civil Liberties Association website

Civil liberties group condemns Kelowna’s second surveillance camera

Kelowna has its second surveillance camera aimed at city streets. And unlike the first camera, which was installed by the RCMP, this camera is in private hands.

The Association has carefully considered the issue of video surveillance cameras in public spaces and is opposed to their installation. The BCCLA previously condemned the installation of such a camera by the RCMP in Carey Park, Kelowna, B.C.

The BCCLA found that one main objectives of public video surveillance—the reduction in crime—is not made out. "Where the police have had any effect at all in lowering crime, they have done so by getting out on the street, not by sitting around watching videos," says BCCLA Board Member Dale Beyerstein.

The BCCLA also believes that the installation of this second camera in Kelowna demonstrates one of the dangers inherent in public video surveillance. Instead of crime being reduced by surveillance cameras, crime simply moves, one step ahead of the cameras. Then a new area experiences an increase in crime, calls for cameras, and the whole cycle repeats itself.

This cycle is already starting in Kelowna. After four months operation on the Queensway, the camera there is apparently displacing crime down to the corner of Bertram and Lawrence. "Where it will move is anyone's guess," says Beyerstein. "But we can be certain that innocent people will lose their privacy on these two street corners now. As crime moves, Kelowna residents will lose their privacy on those streets, unless Kelowna residents call a stop to the installation of cameras. It makes no sense to lose privacy, lose the tax dollars used for maintaining these cameras, and be no more safe on the streets."

The installation of video surveillance cameras by private persons raises other concerns. The police’s collection, use and disclosure of video images is governed by federal and provincial privacy legislation. Video images captured on this private surveillance camera are not.

"Who will view these tapes? The owner of the camera? Their employees? Their friends?" asks Beyerstein. "Lots of people will be innocently doing things and going places within the view of these cameras. Although they won’t be embarrassed to do these things, they still don’t want them broadcast all over the place. But they no longer have a choice."

The BCCLA continues to oppose plans by the RCMP in Kelowna to expand their unjustified video surveillance of ordinary citizens using public spaces.

The BCCLA’s position on Video Surveillance in Public places is on our web site at http://www.bccla.org/positions/privacy/99videosurveillance.html

http://www.bccla.org/pressreleases/01kelownavideo.html

Writer feels city is not the best place to live in B.C.
May 25, 2008 - Kelowna Capital News - Letters

To the editor:

I have been living in Kelowna for more than 12 years.

I left Kelowna for two years and came back.

Why? Because I hoped that Kelowna would have changed.

I used to own a house but now I rent.

Why, you may ask? Well, it’s not that hard to know why.

The market went sky rocking after I sold my place but who knew.

Now that my family and I are renting and we have a dog, what a challenge it was to find a place.

Also to rent a place where condominium strata rules are involved is another story too.

Kelowna is not a friendly place to live.

It might be one of the most beautiful places to live, but you need a lot of money and need to know people.

Don Martin
Kelowna

Complete disclosure required
May 28, 2008 - Kelowna Capital News - Letters

Open letter to the Premier of B.C. and the Minister of Highways:

During the Okanagan Lake Bridge opening on Sunday both of you made statements which apparently contradict each other.

We, the taxpayers, have been told that the bridge costs were $144 million and that they came in “under budget.”

The premier said in a media interview that because the bridge was opened over 100 days early the taxpayers would save $25 million over the next number of years.

Where do these savings occur? Please quantify it.

The Minister of Highways said in an interview that since the engineering company SNC-Lavalin completed the contract ahead of schedule that they would be paid (“earn”) additional bonus funds for early completion.

He did not elucidate how much that amount was.

These two statements appear contradictory.

Since you are committed as a government to transparency and full disclosure of this public-private partnership (P3) contract, and because we also do not know the costs of the long-term maintenance contract for this bridge to be paid to SNC-Lavalin, what are the exact costs and the exact savings?

SNC-Lavalin’s chief executive officer publicly admitted in the Globe and Mail last week that maintenance contracts would be high margin, expensive contracts.

Full transparent public disclosure of these costs and non-documented alleged savings are necessary in view of your contradictory public statements.

Second, would the provincial government reconsider the cost of this self-admitted expensive maintenance contract and renegotiate this on-going cost to the taxpayers to a more moderate level?

This is a long-term contract.

John O. Powell,
Kelowna

Kelowna guilty of trespassing
May 28, 2008 - Kiss FM

Kelowna councillors say the province should pay the legal bills resulting from a court ruling that found the Okanagan city guilty of trespassing.

Councillors have voted unanimously to demand the province pay the cash due to two local land owners following a settlement of the decade-old Mission Greenway dispute.

Kelowna and the Regional District are facing a 250-thousand dollar bill after the courts ruled private land was illegally expropriated and occupied.

But Councillor Barry Clark says the city did nothing wrong and the province gave the city a permit to use the disputed land. (CKOV)

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