Upcoming Municipal Elections – A Golden Opportunity

The upcoming October 15 municipal elections are presenting Rosslanders with a golden opportunity to reassess the future of their community. New leadership is critical to ensure that forward-thinking and sound decisions will be taken to keep our city vibrant in the years to come.

The current Rossland City Council, which has been in place for the past four years, has made many changes - some good and others that should have been better.

For example, Council has raised property taxes and municipal Water, Sewer, and Garbage (WSG) taxes for many of the years Mayor Kathy Moore has been in office - even during COVID.  During the pandemic, other area councils took empathic initiatives to either freeze or reduce taxation while here people and businesses struggled. Increased taxation on seniors and lower-income households in Rossland rendered many homes unaffordable forcing many residents to leave the city.

After repeated promises to address the Trail Residents Program (TRP) issue, Council has still not resolved the situation.  The City of Trail has been asking surrounding communities (like Rossland) that use the Trail Aquatic Centre to contribute to its maintenance.  As Council has not provided compensation to date, Rosslanders are still charged twice as much for the use of the facility.

Perhaps the most contentious issue currently pertains to the construction of the Affordable Accommodation/City Hall project.  The building, newly named “Rossland Yards”, was designed to house the new city hall on ground level and provide 37 units of affordable rental accommodation above. The project is on its second contractor, well behind schedule, and costs have ballooned beyond affordability.

The Rossland Ratepayers Association put forward a petition asking for a referendum to lower cost alternatives instead of the new city hall project.  The Association wanted the City to explore other avenues to meet the needs of growing municipal government departments and the city as a whole.  Other avenues included using insurance funds from the collapsed original building to repair the structure and/or to buy the current temporary city hall to expand its office space.

A significant cost overrun was created when the council decided to leave contaminated soil beneath the proposed building.  The affordability of the project was predicated on not incurring soil removal costs.  Reversing the decision to excavate added substantially to the escalating cost per square foot which the citizens of Rossland now must shoulder on a building still not complete.

With change comes opportunity.  Here is a chance to shape a future with honesty, integrity, and vision for our city.

The City of Rossland needs you, so please get an election package from city hall and run for council. If you can’t run, encourage your friends and neighbors to run and VOTE!

Casting your ballot is paramount to the future of Rossland.  We need a fresh start - new blood.  We need councilors that will listen closely to the needs of citizens, bring creative ideas and solutions to the table, and lead with vision and good judgment.  It’s up to us and the time for action is now.

Your City. Your Taxes. Your Future.