Everybody wants, but what do we need? -Editorial for September 21's Edition

A person can have a lot of wants. A new TV, car, house, boat, clothes, etcetera but one can also have a lot of needs. A roof over their head, food, warm clothes, etcetera. The average person also has a lot of trouble identify a ‘want’ from a ‘need’ and guess what? So does a community.

Right now Williams Lake wants a lot of things, but they also need some things as well. And one of the big ones on top of both those lists is a new pool.

The inevitable truth is that yes, Sam Ketcham pool is old. It is past its prime and needs to be replaced. But does that mean we as a community need to rack up a multi-million dollar bill to be a state of the art recreation complex? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean the community just needs a pool, they need a few other things as well.

In life, wants can add up faster than we know it, and it is important to always remember the want versus a need.

On a bigger scale, the City will have to decide what is a need versus a want when it comes to a new complex.

They will have to decide what the community needs, rather than what everyone wants. There are over 10, 000 people in the community, so how will the City decide what everyone needs as a collective, rather than what certain individuals need or what.

They City will have their work cut out for them, they will not be able to just stick everyone’s wants into a hat and pull out X number and those be the needs of the community.

There will have to be surveys done, and information gathered, and proposals draw up.

It’s not always easy differentiating a want from a need, but it is always the best way to avoid over spending. Even in day-to-day, and especially when it comes to a multi-million dollar complex.