Two out of three areas vote yes in library referenda
By Nelson Daily Editor
By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily
Two out of three areas voted in favour of entering into service for the Nelson Municipal Library as the referenda came down in the regional district Saturday night.
Both Regional District of Central Kootenay southern Area H and Area F unofficially voted ‘yes’ for the Nelson Library financial contribution, while Area E voted ‘no.’ The official count of the votes won’t be completed until Monday, according to RDCK deputy corporate officer Anitra Winje.
In the Slocan Valley (southern Area H), the vote passed by a count of 489 to 316, with Winlaw leading the vote at 194 yes to 86 no. It was announced beforehand that, if the vote in southern H passed, Winlaw would benefit by receiving a satellite library service outlet.
In Area F the vote narrowly passed with a 445 yes to 385 no count. The no vote was victorious by a margin of 598 no to 390 yes in the electoral area where the greatest resistance to the service has historically come from.
Voter turnout was 34.1 per cent (992 people) in Area E, 28.6 per cent in Area F (832) and 30.6 per cent in southern H (808).
Prior to the vote, Area E director Ramona Faust had released a letter that decried the tactics of those who were pushing for a ‘no’ vote, and explained the referenda was instituted at this point to allow new residents the chance to make a choice on the service — the last two referenda were over 20 years ago.
“The fact that we have offered a democratic choice has offended some people to the extent that there has been information provided via Internet and billboard that is blaming, offensive and borders on the edge of untrue,” she wrote.
“Issues about other taxation have been confused and has caused angst.”
The reason for the vote arose from the repeated questioning of area directors as well as the library staff on why rural Nelson was one of the few areas in the province that did not have open access to library services.
