Ahead of the Oct. 17 municipal election, CFJC Today asked candidates for Kamloops City Council to complete a questionnaire, offering voters the chance to evaluate their candidacies.
QUESTIONNAIRE:
Describe yourself, your professional background, and why you’re running for public office in Kamloops?
My work-life background is in large industry, bringing groups together and monitoring projects are done in accordance with proper construction and environmental guidelines. I have been fortunate enough to have worked all over the world and have always told my colleagues Kamloops is the place to be. We have world class recreation at our doorstep.
What do you think is the biggest issue facing the City of Kamloops and how would you use your elected position to address it?
Crime, street disorder, runaway taxes are just a few of the issues facing Kamloops but the greatest impediment to taking a real look at any issue facing Kamloops has been disfunction at city hall.
The constant infighting and inability to run an effective meeting has led to gridlock. Meeting that should take two hours if everyone would set their own egos aside and work for the betterment of the city end up taking five, this is completely unacceptable.
Following a term highlighted by infighting and tension at city hall that impacted Kamloops’ public image, how would you ensure civil discourse and good governance would take place between yourself, fellow elected officials and city staff?
My whole motivation to join Pivot Kamloops was to show people with incredibly diverse political backgrounds can function when putting egos aside and doing what is best for the city, not our own agenda.
Considering recent years of large municipal tax increases in Kamloops, how would you address the city’s tax rate going forward?
We must do a complete review of spending at city hall. This must include management levels and their renumeration. We must also focus on core services first, (fire, RCMP, water, roads, etc.)
Small changes such as removing the free lunches at council meetings are a relatively small dollar figure, but sets a tone for the organization as a whole.
As major infrastructure projects are on the horizon in Kamloops, how would you prefer the city go about gaining the electorate’s approval – via referendum or the alternative approval process (AAP)? Why?
AAP was only ever intended for core services, not luxury items. Large community facilities should go through a referendum as this gives all stakeholders a much better ability to be heard, and the projects will then reflect the needs of the community on a more substantive way.
What are your thoughts on communication between the City of Kamloops and its residents? Are there areas of improvement you’d like to see?
Most residents feel that community communication is terrible.
A great example was the recent water shut down in Dallas, most people didn’t know for 24 to 48 hours. The street notifications were slow to be rolled out. This must be done much more timely.
We need to bring back an opportunity for residents to have a say in council meetings as well as more general “open houses” in our communities, scheduled after business hours so as many people as possible can attend, bringing engagement to the people.
