The following article is a personal opinion not necessarily endorsed by the Cortes Radio Society, its board, DJs, or general membership.
By Roy L Hales
I found Director Brenda Leigh’s attack on the Klahoose Nation’s application for a Grant In Aid, at the April 25 Strathcona Regional District Board Meeting, disturbing. She actually said the Klahoose should be barred because their Chief contributed to the GoFundMe campaign launched after Bernie Anderson’s cabin burned down in January 2018. Leigh claims that last year, ” A lot of Grants in Aid … went out to people who contributed to the GoFundMe campaign.” Despite its almost total absence of supporting evidence, Ms Leigh appears to endorse the Legal Petition which fourteen Cortes residents launched in hope of removing Director Noba Anderson (Bernie’s daughter and legal guardian) from office. As the same arguments are likely to reappear in the next round of Cortes Island’s Grant in Aid applications, it is time to review the Legal Petition’s factual errors.
There were two key Cortes items at the Strathcona Regional District Board’s April 25 meeting. Chair Michele Babchuk said the SRD hopes to hold a final consultation meeting, regarding funding for first responders funding and the island’s two community halls, in early June. We may be looking at a referendum next Fall. Also, the Klahoose Nation’s Grant-in-Aid application was approved.
The Southern Cortes Community Association presentation was next. Though we have exchanged emails, Julian Ayers and I have never met and I didn’t think to have someone point him out to me. Nor I did not tell him that the little black device on the lectern, that looks virtually identical to a remote, was actually my recorder. Consequently, you will hear a lot of paper shuffling throughout this presentation.
The Boardroom was not large enough to contain us. We spilled out into the hallway. The final count was 36 Cortes residents, all but six of whom are known to support a hall tax to supply core funding for the island’s two community halls. The trip to Campbell River consumed the better part of our days. Collectively speaking, we spent about $1,000 in gas and ferry charges to get there. It was worth it. We came to hear two Cortes delegations address the Strathcona Regional District Board on Feb 28, 2019.
