COUNCIL ON THE RIGHT TRACK

It's refreshing to see when a good idea catches on with municipal
councils in the North Okanagan.

This week in Enderby council gave three readings to a property
remediation bylaw that would allow the RCMP and bylaw officers to
close a house if it's been used for selling drugs, a grow-op or the
making of illegal drugs.

It's a similar bylaw that has been put to good use in Vernon and is
now available to be used in Spallumcheen and Lumby.

In Vernon it has been used to good effect in shutting down 'crack
shacks' that have terrorized neighbourhoods and threatened the
overall safety of the community.

The bylaw gives the police the means to attack these problems and
shows that politicians and law enforcement can work together to
overcome the obstacles that created so much frustration for residents
in these neighbourhoods.

Where before people felt powerless and that authorities were doing
nothing about the drug problem, this bylaw is actually getting real
results that benefit peoples' lives on a daily basis.

And that's generally all we demand of our police and city
officials.

We also applaud that other communities are paying attention to what's
happening in neighbouring jurisdictions and utilizing good ideas in
the ongoing battle against drug abuse.

Too many times we've chastised politicians for not looking at the big
picture or being incessantly worried about turf protecting, so it's
with pleasure we praise all concerned.

Just as it took police and politicians working together to get the
initial bylaw in place, it's also good old teamwork at play making
the valley a safer place to live.