Incumbent Kamloops councillor Hall announces re-election bid

“My hope is we don’t get a whole bunch more because that presents a bit of a problem to community and we saw that last term,” Hall said, adding he is not endorsing any of those candidates. “There’s no secret we had a person in that chair who wasn’t qualified, who didn’t know how to collaborate and work with other individuals and it painted the council – as well as the mayor’s position – in a bad light.”

“We need strong leadership and a strong person in that chair who understands good governance and who can lead Kamloops.”

Hall says his time in the private sector gives him the experience that is needed to help grow the community by advancing initiatives like Build Kamloops. He also says he’ll advocate for increased supports from higher levels of government to combat crime and public safety concerns.

“Safety and security of the community is front and centre,” Hall added. “We have got to work with the provincial government and the federal government, advocating on behalf of the residents to say, ‘What we have been doing in the last four years and the four years before that is not necessarily working in a lot of communities, not just Kamloops.”

“We have to look at new strategies moving forward.”

Hall brought up the long-talked about sobering centre as an example, saying it is an example of a project that city council needs to keep advocating for.

“We’ve talked to the ministry about community courts,” he added. “We put together a hub for all the agencies to work together with the situation table. That is working really well, but we need to look at other opportunities to make the community safer for all of Kamloops.”

Hall said he also plans to advocate for responsible economic growth in Kamloops and more housing, adding it’s another area for Kamloops city council to “push hard on” so it gets its fair share of funding from higher levels of government.

“Kamloops continues to grow and will continue to grow,” Hall said. “Moving forward, to have the right leaders and the right people at the table to advocate on behalf of the residents of the community is critically important. We’ve got some catching up to do as a community as a result of the last four years.”

“There’s funding opportunities that come federally and provincially that we need and when you have a balanced and effective council working, it makes it easier to access those funds.

Hall’s announcement means Katie Neustaeter is the only incumbent councillor who has not yet publicly announced plans ahead of the October 17 civic election.

by Victor Kaisar

Incumbent Kamloops councillor Hall announces re-election bid

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