Dear Editor:

Re: $100,000 for Re-branding Merritt

I’ve been giving the above topic a great deal of thought. I don’t understand why the City is spending $100,000 of Merritt taxpayers' money to re-brand Merritt, especially when the City is keeping the current brand of Country Music Capital of Canada. There no longer is a Merritt Mountain Music Festival. Where is all the country music?? Why would you spend $100,000 on something that is no longer happening? Would it not be better to either:

1) Wait and see if a country music festival can be revived – not necessarily the MMMF, but smaller festivals perhaps, before re-branding Merritt the Country Music Capital of Canada.

2) Re-brand Merritt as the Recreation Capital of BC or some such title. What draws and continues to draw the majority of people to Merritt and the Nicola Valley has nothing to do with country music. It’s our breath taking beauty and recreation. There are recreation opportunities available all year long, unlike a music festival that’s only a few days once a year.

Merritt has incredible fishing with so many places to choose from to fish. Remember Merritt’s slogan…"A Lake A Day As Long As You Stay”? That is so true. There is hiking, camping, mountain biking, bird watching, boating – both motor and sail, water skiing, cross country skiing, snowmobiling, and superb fishing, including ice fishing. Merritt is also a great place to walk or bike around. People come here for softball tournaments and hockey tournaments. Again, I don’t see anything about country music in the above.

I reiterate there is no country music festival or anything of that nature happening in Merritt at this time. Until it is a sure thing it doesn’t make logical or financial sense to re-brand Merritt as the Country Music Capital of Canada. I don’t care if as a City, we own the brand – it does not apply at this time.

If you have $100,000 to waste, how about spending it where it will do the most good? Perhaps re-doing the sidewalk on Voght Street that runs from Walters all the way down to the new Voght Street Bridge? Have any of the present council or Mayor walked down that sidewalk in the past few years? It’s a disgrace. It’s only made of asphalt and is literally falling apart. I’m surprised people haven’t been injured walking down it because of all the holes and gouges in it. Considering Voght Street is a major entrance to the City of Merritt, I think it merits sprucing up and not just by patching holes up. Merritt is a city of walkers. The residents who are taxpayers deserve to have a decent sidewalk to walk on. If not the Voght Street sidewalk, there are plenty of other sidewalks and streets that need looking after a lot more than Merritt needs re-branding as the Country Music Capital of Canada.

No more taxpayer dollars being spent on trying to push the Country Music Capital of Canada brand on the residents of Merritt.

Rachelle Vogt
Merritt