Newly formed Westview Ratepayers Society held its first meeting online, appointing a slate of officers and identifying issues it wants to follow up on.
On October 8, via Zoom, the organization named Roz Woznow as president, Ariel Turcotte as vice-president, Rick Craig as secretary, Dayna Summerell as treasurer and Susan O’Brien as membership chair.
In terms of issues, the society discussed coordinating a neighbours helping neighbours group dedicated to building support networks, increasing community resilience and social cohesion, and considering neighbourhood safety and effective emergency response throughout Westview.
Another matter was promoting bus shelters, road maintenance and other infrastructure requirements.
A third issue was providing information on city programs that could result in an increased tax rate.
Promoting the Westview area with Powell River’s mayor and council will also be an important consideration.
Woznow said in his experience with ratepayers associations, they are ground-floor organizations.
“We have elected officials in city hall and they deal with a whole bunch of things,” said Woznow. “What we want to do is deal with those things that can have the greatest impact on our community.”
In terms of neighbours helping neighbours, Woznow said there are a variety of ways this can be done. He said isolation of seniors is a significant issue in Powell River. One aspect of neighbours helping neighbours is getting to know who may be an isolated senior.
He said there are programs available, such as neighbourhood watch, and he knows an RCMP officer is trying to restart block watch programs in the community, although COVID-19 has complicated organization of such a program.
Woznow said in terms of road maintenance and other infrastructure needs, there needs to be some investigation to find out the areas of highest priority.
Looking at city programs that could result in increased tax rate, Woznow said the society should invite the appropriate people from the city to meet with the ratepayers and answer questions everyone has been asking, such as what are the priority programs over the next five years and how are they going to be funded.
“What is it going to mean for our tax situation?” asked Woznow.
He suggested inviting the chief financial officer and chief administrative officer to meet with ratepayers to talk about the impact on taxes over the next five years, which was supported by the membership. Members will also consider inviting elected officials, along with senior staff.
To become a member of Westview Ratepayers Society, go to westviewratespayerssociety.com, where an application form can be filled in and submitted. The other option is to call O’Brien at 604.485.5774; she will arrange to get an application form to interested people.
