By Adam Donnelly

New Mayors look to leave their marks on Ashcroft & Cache Creek

Nov 16, 2018 | 4:01 PM

KAMLOOPS — Some big changes in small communities west of Kamloops — both Ashcroft and Cache Creek elected new Mayors in October’s civic elections. CFJC Today went out to both villages Friday morning to find out more about those new faces, and what their visions are for the futures of the two communities.

It’s the dawn of a new era for the Village of Cache Creek. For the better part of three decades, John Ranta served the village of Cache Creek as Mayor, but that all changed after October’s civic election.

Santo Talarico, a long-time resident of the village defeated Ranta 230 to 204 to win the mayor’s chair away from the longtime incumbent.

“It’s a challenge,” Talarico said of his new role as mayor of Cache Creek. “We have a good base to build on with the councillors we have, and our staff.”

The village of nearly 1,000 residents has faced several difficult years due to flooding and wildfire. Along with working to ensure the safety of residents in the community, Talarico says he’ll bring some new priorities to the council table.

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“Employment, economic development, a number of issues,” Talarico explained. “We’re working extensively to try and prioritize our goals and put a game plan in place to try and address all those issues.”

Just up the highway, Ashcroft has also welcomed a new mayor. Barbara Roden spent the last four years on the village council, and also runs the local newspaper, the Ashcroft-Cache Creek Journal. She says one of the top issues in the community surrounds the availability of housing.

“It’s the lack of… suitable housing for rental, for young families, for seniors,” Roden said. “Especially with the huge developments at the inland port, the Ashcroft Terminal, we’re going to be getting a lot of people wanting to move to this area, and we have to be ready for that.”

This summer the federal government pledged to invest more than $9 million dollars in the Ashcroft Terminal, which is perfectly situated at the nexus of the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National rail lines. Roden is hoping the jobs associated with the Terminal will entice young families to stay in the community.

“A lot of our [community’s] graduating students go on to careers in the trades, and the struggle is to find them the jobs to come back here to,” Roden explained. “I think the inland port is going to go some ways to address that, in giving them a reason to come back here.”

Both Roden and Talarico agree that for the region to grow and remain successful, both communities need to collaborate to ensure the needs of their residents are met.

“Going forward, we need to work together to get the message out,” Roden said. “This is where we can work together as communities. we are open for business.”

“We want to form alliances with the other local governments in our area,” Talarico explained. “To be a bigger, stronger group that we can count on between ourselves, and meet those challenges head-on.”