NEWS PENTICTON WESTERN
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Penticton Indian Band fish hatchery a streaming success story
VOL. 48 ISSUE 76
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NEWS A GRAPE SEASON FOR WINERIES — Shana Miller of the Upper Bench Estate Winery looks over some of the bountiful crop of grapes at the Upper Bench Road vineyard this week. Excellent growing conditions over the course of the season and especially in the later stages are expected to produce excellent wines in the coming years. For story and photo see Page 23.
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Businessman Andrew Jakubeit called it one of the worst kept secrets in Penticton as he made his decision to run for mayor public this week. “The easy decision would have been to stay as councillor, but I think now is the time for some bold thinking,” he said. “Somehow, I feel council has sort of lost its way. We seem to be dealing more with controversy than moving our community forward.” Currently, Jakubeit and fellow councillor John Vassilaki are the only two candidates for mayor. Incumbent Mayor Garry Litke has hinted that he is considering not running again, but said he won’t announce his decision until after the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference, which runs to Sept. 26 in Whistler. Jakubeit is himself involved in the meetings at the UBCM, so he chose to make his announcement via a press release and a video, available on his new campaign website, andrew2014.ca. Jakubeit is positioning himself to take on both social and economic issues, highlighting both his business career and his involvement in community-oriented projects. “My platform and vision for Penticton will centre on community pride, economic diversity and vibrancy, fostering a better relationship with the Penticton Indian Band, and ensuring city hall is accountable, accessible, reasonable, and transparent. I will create three mayor select working groups to tackle affordable housing, economic innovations, and tourism,” writes Jakubeit in his release. Over the last three years, city council has been questioned about its openness and transparency, though that was part of the platform for many candidates in 2011.
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Jakubeit said council needs to do a better job of informing the community how decisions were arrived at, as well as making more opportunity for citizens to engage council. “Another big thing is ensuring that more of council is getting that day to day information, not just senior staff and mayor. The Elvena Slump letter was a classic example. All of council wasn’t aware of that taking place,” he said, referring to a recent incident where a prolific critic of council was threatened with defamation charges. Jakubeit said his three working groups, on housing, tourism and the economy, won’t just be for show. “I picked those three because in the last two election cycles, they have all been talked about and not really exploited or actioned. We are making progress but it is very small steps,” he said, explaining the concept of the working groups is based on the success of the downtown charrette and the waterfront charrette. It’s more intensive process, he said, than a committee meeting once a month. “Let’s focus on three core things and chip away at them,” said Jakubeit. “I think we need some sort of vision and something to be not just proud of, but to work towards collectively improving our community.” Jakubeit also lists his involvement with minor hockey, the Young Stars Classic, Axel Merckx Gran Fondo and other active lifestyle event, including his pet project to have the South Okanagan declared a provincial cycling precinct. “I will push hard for sports tourism and outdoor adventure. I think there is an opportunity to brand us as a festival and event capital,” said Jakubeit. “We have the infrastructure, we have the volunteers. There is a lot of tourism opportunities here that we are nowhere near in terms of potential.”
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