The announcement that the Creston Valley Health Working Group has succeeded in attracting another physician to the area is good news. It is also an affirmation of what can happen when the town and regional directors can accomplish when they work together (making help from other agencies, like Interior Health, easier to get).
That spirit of co-operation has not been as evident recently, with internal (for the most part) battles taking place over water and fire services, and others, too.
The fire service dispute is complicated. Last fall, representatives of fire departments in Yahk, Canyon-Lister, Wynndel and Creston came up with a plan to create a single service for the Creston Valley, or at least large parts of it. That agreement was the last thing the elected folks expected, always assumed that threatening the autonomy of fire departments would preclude such a plan.
The regional service proposal was promptly doused with cold water by the Regional District of Central Kootenay fire chief, who said that the regional district had no intention of turning fire protection over to the Town of Creston, which would have taken the lead under the proposed plan. Chief Terry Swann made reference to “my people” when he said the RDCK wouldn’t accept the plan.
“My people” sounded suspiciously like a reference to Kettle, who is not only the Area B director, but chair of the RDCK board. Kettle hasn’t pulled any punches in stating his view that Creston Fire Rescue is over-managed by a fire chief and deputy, and that their salaries are too high. I think that if the Town of Creston had proposed to dump one or both of their employees in the creation of a regional fire service, the plan might have continued to move forward.
Again, Kettle has a bigger agenda in play. Since he was first elected a decade ago he has wanted to extended fire protection to portions of Area B that have no coverage, like Arrow Creek, Lakeview and Kitchener. He has, to his credit, succeeded in putting a fire department in Yahk, which used to be covered out of Idaho.
While Kettle has recently agreed to renew an agreement for Creston to provide fire protection to Erickson properties — and that agreement has been a huge source of contention in recent months — he says he is committed to asking Area B, including Erickson residents, if they want to pay to create yet another volunteer-dependent fire department, which would also cover Arrow Creek, Lakeview and Kitchener. The kicker would be that Erickson property owners could end up paying more for the service than they will under the Town of Creston contract, in effect subsidizing the other areas. It’s a risky play — if the issue goes to referendum and is defeated, Erickson would either lose fire protection or a new agreement would eventually have to be negotiated with the town, which by then could increase the current asking price or even be uninterested in providing services beyond its boundaries.
When Creston mayor Ron Toyota and Area C director Larry Binks were elected in 2008, and Kettle was re-elected, they made a commitment to work together for the common good of the Creston Valley. For the first couple years, that co-operation was evident at nearly every turn.
But I have heard it pointed out by both Creston and Area B residents that there has been a shift since Kettle was elected as RDCK chair more than a year ago. As chair, he is obligated to represent the entire district and not just his own neck of the woods. It was a bad sign when a local governance review was quietly abandoned, in part, I think, because other regional directors didn’t like that it was raising the possibility that the Creston Valley might be better served if it joined the Regional District of East Kootenay. Any interest in promoting the Creston Valley to become a district municipality, or a small regional district, has been all but abandoned in the process.
Elected officials have an opportunity to create a legacy that will live long after they have left public office. Kettle, Toyota and Binks have to make a choice — to work separately to create short-term solutions for their own areas or to work together to create long-term solutions for the Creston Valley. It they choose the latter, they are also going to have to understand that there will be small losses along the way, ones that will eventually be forgotten if they keep their eye on the big picture.
Next week: Why valleywide services make sense and what hurdles must be overcome to put them in place.
Lorne Eckersley is the publisher of the Creston Valley Advance.