Letters sent to Editor of Vancouver Sun
August 20
Dear Chris Nuttall-Smith and Jim Beatty:
Thanks for the article on the Wells school issue in Monday's
paper. It is much appreciated. However, as a business person in Wells
and a friend of Claire Kujundzic I have some concerns about your stories.
It should be made clear that the hunger strike that has gained so much attention was the inspiration of, and was begun by artist Claire Kujundzic who after 13 days had to be rushed to emergency. Mayor Dave, bless his heart, came on after that to take up the torch as it were. Many people around the province have fasted for days to offer support.
As a business owner I am concerned that you say Wells
"has one gas station and one all-purpose general store," leaving
the impression that that is all we have. For the record we also have:
A destination casino
A mine office
a hotel
two motels
several B& B's
3 restaurants
two galleries
one pottery shop
one gift shop and camel stable
a trail ride operation
two adventure travel guides
one photo gallery
one old-time photo gallery
a Legion
several performance venues
many home-based businesses
and more I have missed.
And, we are the gateway to BC's largest heritage site--Barkerville-- which
receives 100,000 visitors a year.
Rural BC is struggling at this time and tourism is one of our major and sometimes only revenue sources. To dismiss Wells as one gas station and one general store is similar to those who say, "it's only 15 children in the school" or "oh well, he was 75 years old when he died anyway."
The good news is your articles have helped the school cause, and we thank you for that. While it is imperative for the economic and social well-being of our town that the school remain open the struggle begun by Claire has done more to pull our town together than anything else in recent history.
Richard Wright
Wright & Wellner's Camel Crossing
Wells, BC
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August 20
Beatty Missed the Point!
The August 19 sun article by Jim Beatty (School closure endangers Well's future) covered the wrong issue. Who cares about hunger physiology? The question is, Why do it?
The mayor is not defending a withering town with "one
gas station and one all-purpose general store" as the article infers.
Wells/Barkerville has 4 hotel/motels, 6 bed and breakfasts, 5 commercial
art galleries and a variety of gift stores and support services. Wells
is also the service community for Barkerville
Historic Town, the largest heritage attraction in western North America,
with over 150 staff in the summer season. Wells and Barkerville host up
to 4,000 school children per year who come to experience BC's history
as part of their classroom curriculum each spring and play host to 10's
of thousands of other visitors each year.
Wells is a designated "Gateway Community" to Bowron Lakes, Barkerville,
and the Cariboo Mountains, and at the pinnacle of the Gold Rush Trail
Tourism Route. We are home to the internationally recognized Island
Mountain School of the Arts, which alone was shown to generate nearly
$200,000 in spending in the Quesnel/Wells region. At least 4 new businesses
have come to Wells in the past year; including the 1930's style destination
casino, Jack O' Clubs Casino &
Music Hall, with 50 new jobs.
Wells experienced a critical housing shortage this spring and summer and is presently involved with the Federal Government's Industrial Adjustment Service to improve our ability to adjust to our present rapid economic growth.
The Quesnel School District wants to dismantle the very infrastructure that supports our new prosperity and drive families and businesses away from a Cariboo town actually experiencing growth! They are doing so because of a provincial grant structure which actually rewards school districts which close "rural" schools. The provincial government, by its silence, says this is okay.
From a government which claims to be pro-business the position is just plain wrong. Rational economic appeal and sound accounting, combined with innovative proposals put forward by the community, continue to fall on deaf ears both in Quesnel and Victoria. There has been no decentralization of power as far as Wells in concrned. Our fate is being controlled by a school board in another municpality and the province has both absolved itself of responsibility for tax-payer dollars and taken away our right to appeal. The school board will balance its budget, but the entire north Cariboo region will pay the price in far greater economic losses. That's the real story.
Dave Jorgenson
President
Wells and District Chamber of Commerce
------------------------------------
August 19
I have been writing the press releases for the Wells Save Our School Committee and saw your story on-line. If you do a follow-up, here's something to throw into the mix.
The Quesnel School Board is divided on the issue, and the vote was four-three. It's worth noting that Board Vice-Chair Karen Andrews is strongly opposed to the closure. This past week, she called the closure "immoral" and "a travesty." If you're interested in contacting her, her phone number is 250 747 0103 e-mail andrewsk@sd28.bc.ca Voice Mail: 250 992 0444 (755).
Also, it's a myth that the School District will save $100,000 by closing the Wells School. Louise Scott keeps repeating it, and keeps getting away with it. The School District has not taken into account that parents won't send their kids on the bus, but will home school or leave, resulting in lost revenues of more than $70,000. Also, the school board hasn't taken into account the costs of maintaining the building even if it's closed (heat, snow shovelling, etc). Our figures showed that the savings of closing the school would be minimal (about $400). The School District also completely ignored an offer by the District of Wells municipality to take over the school and lease back the space required for classes. (It's a similar proposal which kept three rural schools open in Prince George).
By the way, in addition to a gas station and store, Wells has several art galleries and gift shops, a hotel, two motels, and a new casino. There's also an annual school of the arts (run by Island Mountain Arts) which has operated in the Wells School since 1977, primarily in the summer, but also utilizing unused school space for fall, winter and spring workshops.
While our population has dwindled from the mining heydays, it's one of the few communities in the Cariboo (or probably in rural BC) where the economy is growing.
Thanks for your interest in this story.
Dorothea Funk
Media Liaison
Wells Save Our School Committee
