Welcome to Your Kamloops!

I'm Running for Mayor of Kamloops...

Last Friday, I announced publicly that I will be running for Mayor of Kamloops in this year's Oct 15th civic election. I am excited, really looking forward to this, and a bit nervous. For more information, here is my campaign website.

Here also is  a full video of my announcement from Castanet Kamloops:

On calls for the TNRD chair to resign...

I was in the room yesterday when a very valued TNRD board colleague made a heartfelt request for the board chair to resign. Another board member agreed. Add these two to the one board colleague who said, in the past weeks, the Chair should resign.

 

Throughout this part of the meeting, and in fact throughout the whole meeting, the Chair diligently and respectfully recognized board members who wanted to so speak. And kept calm and collected.

 

There are 26 TNRD board members and I don't see broad support for the Chair to resign. I personally don't want the Chair to resign reasons I outline below.

 

First, a bit of context:

 

If you live in Kamloops or in the TNRD, you have very likely seen and/or heard about the spending issues, the departure of the former CAO, and the forensic audit, in amongst other related stories.

 

As a board, we have collectively taken responsibility for a previous lack of checks and balances, and we have tried hard to fix the most glaring issues. We have a long list of audit recommendations we have committed to implement.

 

I continue to believe sharing meals together, occasionally, builds relationships among this large board and assists us in making good collaborative decisions on behalf of our constituents. Does every meal have to be at a luxury restaurant. No. And do we need to eat together every meeting. No.

 

The TNRD, like any local government, puts great trust in the CAO. I don't think any director knew, at the time, the extent of the issues outlined in various media reports.

 

In October this year, the electorate will judge our performance trying to rectify these issues, and perhaps on many other issues.

 

We put our names forward to serve our communities in good times and in bad times. We know that and we expect to be criticised and held accountable.

 

There is though, in my view, a very real human side to this. Many of the board members under enormous stress. Not only with the spending issue, as one example, but also with devastation from extreme weather and managing through the pandemic. I've not even touched on any stresses in board members' personal life.

 

Sometimes it seems we go around and around. We need to get to the healing and fixing part of this whole conversation.

 

We've made mistakes collectively and individually but we are in a place today, with a new CAO and a series of recommendations, where we can successfully move forward and address citizen concerns. I think we acted in good faith and worked extremely hard to build back trust.

 

Here is why I support the current chair:

 

Through this two year span, if there is pressure and stress for board members, the stress and pressure on the board chair has been much greater.

 

I think the Chair has navigated the issues in question as best he could. I have heard the Chair explain his thought processes and actions and I base my view on listening to him carefully and, from time to time, providing feedback.

 

With a board of 26, we all have strong views about what should and should not be done. The Chair has also had to navigate all these different views. He was just recently re-elected to another year term as Chair.

 

I truly respect that others may not feel the same way. I don't want to see any board member penalized by the board for work done in the past couple of years. The voters can soon take care of what they feel needs keeping or fixing.

 

It's always been a bit of a miracle to me that the TNRD board, again with 26 different members, had historically functioned so well. We need to get on with lots of important work we have not been able to give due focus to the past while. I hope we come together to finish this term as strongly and as effectively as we can.

 

 

One thing I want to share about 2021...

The one thing I want share about 2021 is this was a year where I really had to make conscious choices.

 

There was great challenge and adversity both personally and in the community as a whole. There was also opportunities for tremendous learning, growth, and for building resilience.

 

I’ve never seen the level of community anxiety and concern that I saw this year. The question I ask myself about this is “what do we do with this?”.

There is generally speaking, for me, a path of light and a path of darkness.

 

Many wise people, for thousands of years, have been thinking on this question and there is a full, robust, and very effective and helpful body of human knowledge that helps us take a path of light. Unfortunately, it is not the path that gets the most attention.

 

For today, I wanted to share with you a quote from the great Parker Palmer. I’ve thought a lot about these words this year.

“Suffering breaks our hearts, but the heart can break in two different ways. There's the brittle heart that breaks into shards, shattering the one who suffers as it explodes, and sometimes taking others down when it's thrown like a grenade at the ostensible source of its pain.
Then there's the supple heart, the one that breaks open, not apart, the one that can grow into greater capacity for the many forms of love. Only the supple heart can hold suffering in a way that opens to new life.”

― Parker J. Palmer, On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old”

 

I try hard to continue to cultivate an open heart. This year, sometimes, that has been as hard as it has ever been. And this difficulty thankfully has caused in me the desire to redouble my efforts, knowing I will sometimes fail. It feels so wonderfully amazing to live in open heartedness.

 

Much love everyone! Wishes for a happy and healthy 2022!

Remembrance Day 2021...

Today is a day to remember.

 

Remembering those who fought, suffered, and died for our freedoms.

 

Remembering the horrors of war and the importance of pursuing peace.

 

Remembering elders overcome with emotion decades and decades after their experiences, if they could even talk about them.

 

Remembering the incredible resilience, capacity, and sacrifice of past generations and reminding ourselves that this generation is capable of the same.

 

Lest we forget.

 

10 Tips for Successful Council Campaigns and Successful Council Terms....

Less than one year to go before the next civic election!

Are you considering running for council? I've got some tips :)

Less than one year from now, on Oct 15 2022, BC will have the opportunity to elect their local government representatives. Those fortunate to be elected to a council or a regional board will have an amazing opportunity to help shape the post pandemic future and also to work on a great diversity of opportunities and challenges. 

Local governments manage roads, walking and cycle paths, drinking water, sewage,recycling and solid waste,  parks and recreation, residential and commercial development, and so many other critical and important services. It is important to vote for the candidates you think are best to help create and shape policy and represent the community as a whole.

Have you considered putting your name forward to serve on a council and regional board? 

I’ve run in 5 civic elections, been elected 4 times to Kamloops city council, and have also had the opportunity to help train local government elected folks across BC. I plan to run again next year. Here are 10 tips that I have found helpful in being a successful council candidate and a successful councillor.

Having been a Thompson Nicola Regional District Director since 2014, these tips apply to regional board elections as well.

1. Be a community builder, not a community buster: it’s easy to criticize, to assign blame, and to go negative. Much more rewarding and challenging is to work to find solutions to complex problems, to generally believe in others, to take a positive can-do approach, and to engage the widest diversity of people to build up communities together. 

 

1. Take time to learn about what councils and regional boards actually do: local governments, provincial governments, federal government, and indigenous governments all have sets of roles and responsibilities. These can be distinct, such as the federal government's responsibility for the criminal code,  and they sometimes overlap,  as with all orders of governments having different and complementary roles in the provision / enabling of housing. There can be misunderstandings of what local governments are generally responsible for. Some of the best ways to learn what specific local governments do are to read local government annual reports for the past 4 years and to view past or current council / board meetings, agendas, and/or minutes.
   
   
2. Embrace tough issues and bold opportunities: Even while adopting a community builder approach, we have to acknowledge there are very tough challenges local governments have not addressed as well as we need to. Tough issues today often seem to be much tougher than tough issues in the past. A community builder approach sees bold opportunities in addressing these challenges well. Doing this requires collaboration with a whole range of community members, city council and staff colleagues, and other orders of government. Governments of all types and stripes often move too slowly in working on pressing community issues  

 

1. Develop strong relationships: One of the initial mistakes I made when first elected to city council was thinking that I didn’t need to or couldn’t cultivate good relationships with my council colleagues. I have since learnt that good relationships are so incredibly important. You don’t need to agree with your colleagues and you definitely should not have a blind loyalty. It helps enormously if you do genuinely think of them as good people who are trying to do their best. And to have good personal rapport. I have some of my greatest successes as an elected official when I have helped others and supported their interests. And this goes far beyond council colleagues. It is important to work towards strong relationships with as many people in the community as possible.
   
   
2. Working as a team : This is probably the most critical aspect of being on a council or regional board. You can’t really get anything done as an individual. You can’t promise implementation of any specific policies during an election. You can only commit to advocate. A majority of the council or board, and hopefully much more than that, needs to approve anything. You are bound to lose votes and, in the vast majority of instances, you can’t hold on to lost votes and get angry or upset. Both agreeing well and disagreeing well are very important features of successful local governments. If you really believe in something and are unsuccessful in getting majority support, bide your time a bit and keep on trying to advocate to your colleagues.
   
   
3. Be accessible, transparent, and forthright: People trust governments less and less. I think there are some really good reasons for this. I also think some of this mistrust is not justified. Regardless, it is so important that elected officials and candidates for elected office build / rebuild trust. On hard issues especially, but on everything really, it's important to be forthright in your views, transparent about your decision making process, and accessible to engage, listen, and explain.
    
4. Get yourself known in election campaign: If you are not already well known, it can be hard to get attention during an election campaign. If you are already well known, it’s also important you just don’t try to coast through a campaign without a lot of work.  The tips below relate to some of that hard work. Key foundational items in my view include developing a policy platform, dedicating substantial time to the campaign, and raising enough money to fund campaign printed and online materials, signs, advertising, and events.
   
   
5. Door knocking during campaign:  I find door knocking to be an essential part of a campaign - the “on the ground” component. Yes, it is important to be respectful of those who don’t want to talk but I have found the vast majority of people are happy to see you and happy for a quick chat. It is one way to engage with people and/or provide some material about your campaign. It really gives candidates a good sense of individual neighbourhoods and areas in the community or area.
   
   
6. Campaign signs and media advertising : As door knocking is the on the ground component of a campaign, so campaign signs and advertising are like the "air" component of the campaign. Campaign signs help develop name recognition and/or let people know you are running as a candidate. Advertising helps develop high level awareness of what you are promoting or talking about in the campaign. Showcasing endorsements from various community members also work well in advertising.
    
7. Participating in campaign election forums: In many local government elections, there will be a lot of people running. Often, forum organizers are not able to offer a lot of time for opening statements, responses to questions, and closing statements. So, it is a good idea to practice being concise and to the point. And let people know where they might be able to find more information about your candidacy. You should also try to get comfortable with responding thoughtfully and briefly to questions. You won’t have any advance warning for a lot of questions. It’s good to develop a broad understanding of the major opportunities and issues in the community and also to practice thinking on your feet. 

Apologies for horrible word choice at Kamloops council this Tuesday....

I need to make an apology for a term I used at city council this Tuesday.

 

When searching for the right word to describe our community attempts to get a car sharing going, I used a term "stillbirths".

 

This is one comment, that a friend was kind enough to share privately, I received.

 

"I had never seen this used that way before and hope I never do again. A “still birth” is devastating to a family - immediate, extended and friends of the family."

 

I am so sorry that I used this term and undoubtedly caused pain. Somehow, every once in a while, a word comes out of my mouth at council that I wish I could take back. I definitely need to reflect on this with a view to always choosing my words carefully.

Thoughts: How to be Successful Working on Social Issues...

It's always a challenge to work to improve social issues in community - homelessness, mental health challenges, substance use disorder. There are not easy fixes here. These issues also sometimes cause social disorder and criminal activity. Often our most vulnerable citizens are preyed upon and become victims of crime.

Over the past years, Kamloops council and city hall management have increased our capacity to work on social issues. We haven't seen ourselves as a primary funder and have worked hard to facilitate and coordinate effective work. We have had a lot of successes relatively recently helping secure more social housing in the community.

Unfortunately, the challenges for our most vulnerable citizens have increased. This was the trend before Covid and Covid has made it much more challenging. Social disorder has increased. And there seems to be less accountability for really bad behaviour and criminal activity.

Since the beginning of the year, the discussions at Kamloops council on helping our most vulnerable and decreasing social disorder have really ramped up. In conjunction with our provincial partners at BC Housing, we've funded more security patrols, we are looking to help fund more outreach workers, build more public bathrooms, and we're advocating to the provincial government for  a whole range of services to again help our most vulnerable citizens. Housing we know is only a first step. We also think it's important that the criminal justice system work as well at it can to decrease criminal activity. 

We have both an empathetic approach and an accountability approach. A well rounded approach I hope. 

I applaud my council and city staff colleagues for their willingness to engage in tough conversations that we really haven't had in the same way before. Working with the RCMP, Interior Health, valued social agencies, and business association, we have historically done well in assisting people and decreasing negative impacts. Now, like many other communities, we are being challenged in a big way to continue being successful. I think it's going to be hard and I believe we will succeed. 

I am sure we have made missteps and mistakes. I think we are open to thoughtful feedback. I am struck by the passion in my council colleagues to try to be of service in the best ways we can. 

I know many of us are seeing more negative activity in the community than we have seen before. It was always there but it was more hidden. Now we perhaps have the awareness which will lead to greater motivation for lasting solutions. Vigilantism isn't a solution. Moving people along endlessly isn't a solution. Business storefronts with piles of garbage, discarded needles, and human feces isn't a solution. Maybe the storm we are going through now is an opportunity to really think together about the best and most lasting solutions that honours the most citizens possible.

People rightly look to city council for representation, leadership, and assistance. I'd love to hear what you think about the issues and opportunities outlined above. This, however, is something in which all of us have to engage. Take the best care you can of yourselves, your family, and your possessions. And also think about what are the best solutions for the most people. If we are committed to getting though this time together, I believe there are much better times ahead with regards to our social issues. 

Late evening musings on one of Kamloops' Council's critical responsibilities...

 

 

One of the key roles of a city council goes largely unnoticed by most citizens.

 

Maybe that’s less true than it used to be but this role does still, in my view, does not get the attention of potholes, snow removal, arts and recreation, community safety, and the yearly tax hike.

 

Most of the items on a council agenda concern land use and the design of various buildings.

 

The role council plays on behalf of the community making decisions on land use and building design have huge impact on housing affordability, community and neighbourhood attractiveness, and greenhouse gas reductions / increases.

 

At the last council meeting, for example, we talked quite a bit about single family housing. Every 10 years or so, we revise our official community plan (also known as Kamplan) and this past year, we were greatly under our planning goal for the creation of more single family homes. It’s still a bit unclear to me why we were under the goal. It might be the people are starting to prefer living more in multi family housing, it might be the lack of available land for single family homes, it might be the city is making it harder for single family homes to be built, and it might be a combination of some or all these factors, or something different.

 

I do think the city has started to, for good reason, show a preference for multi family housing - apartments, townhouse and condos, carriage suites, duplexes, and the like. It typically costs the community less as a whole to provide services to multifamily housing. More people living on a smaller land area (more density) allows for more neighbourhood vibrancy (more parks, schools, stores close by), and allows people to travel in a more friendly way to our climate (less greenhouse gas emissions.

 

But there is still an important and very fair demand for single family housing. And, as much as I am a promoter and a believer of the beauty of multi family housing, I totally respect and understand this. It’s a historical and cultural value for many people. And we have designated neighbourhoods in Kamplan for more single family homes.

 

The best neighbourhoods, in my view, offer a range of housing options. This offers a diverse group of neighbours the opportunity to get to know each other, offers an individual an opportunity to live their whole lives in a certain neighbourhood in different types of housing depending on where they are in their lives, and again offers the possibility of great vibrancy and energy.

 

The past year, we have seen a very large increase in the prices of homes all over Canada. And, while this is good for sellers of homes and real estate speculators, it offers real challenges for people trying to enter the housing market or who are looking for a home to rent. Council is monitoring this closely and Council’s Development and Sustainability committee will be discussing this in more detail and I think will bring solid recommendations to the full council for consideration and implementation. We should do whatever we are able to help ensure housing is affordable. We finally allowed secondary suites in most areas of the city a few years ago.

 

This post is a bit of a brain dump about issues that I have been thinking about lately. There is a lot more to say on all of this and a lot more to learn.

 

The protocol is the, after staff recommends to council certain policy and plans, based on fulsome public engagement, and council approves policies and plans, then the items that appear on the council agenda, which typically concern one proposal or another for a single building or lot, follow those policies and plans.

Give contacting a council a chance :)

 

 

Before I served on city council, I thought it might be difficult to contact council members to share ideas and concerns.

 

The fact, I found, is that your Mayor and Councillors are very easy to contact and, what's more, your chances of a reply and/or interaction are very good.

Now I've been known to miss replying to an email or message from time to time. But my goal and my commitment is to reply to all messages sent directly to me. Council has recently asked the deputy mayor (a role we rotate through every month) to take the lead on replying to emails sent to all of council.

Please feel free to follow up if you don't get a reply within a few days. We are all human and sometimes things can slip.

 

This brings me to tone. Somewhat randomly, I'll come across social media posts or messages that strongly call out council. And I've never seen an email or message from the person who is aggrieved before, even when I double check.

 

I start to wonder. Is this just about getting something off ones chest? Does this person desire real interaction and change?

 

I know community issues can be very frustrating. But shouldn't people try to actually determine we are completely useless before just assuming we are. We may actually surprise you by showing some level of competence and caring.

 

I'd prefer people try to work with us rather than immediately working against us. What really is there to lose in trying?

 

We do care, council does to a person, deeply about this community.

 

The thing is we are in the middle of a difficult time which came in the middle of an era of huge change in the work we do on your behalf.

We can rise to these challenges and this becomes much easier when we respect and care for each other and put ourselves in each other's shoes.

 

We are all going to have different approaches and views. This is absolutely normal and healthy. It's no reason to become hard hearted towards each other right off the bat.

 

This does not mean we will find complete agreement or that it will be easy. But it does mean our community will be better off now in the future.

 

I know that bureaucracy and government is often hard to work with. That we are actually sometimes the hard hearted ones. I get it. I've made these mistakes myself. I ask for your thoughts and ideas as to how we can all be more open to each other.

Advancing active transportation path construction in Kamloops....

I initially framed this motion with a cycling focus. Actually, our active transportation paths in Kamloops should also accommodate walkers and people with different mobility challenges. 

I am excited that this will come up for discussion at council at our first meeting in 2021, on Jan 12th.

 

-----------

 

Presented by Councillor Singh

 

Notice of Motion for January 12, 2021

 

2021 Year of the Cyclist

 

WHEREAS Council set a goal to reduce community greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80% by 2050;

 

AND WHEREAS Kamloops’ community transportation accounts for 66% of the City’s GHG emissions;

 

AND WHEREAS the high and medium priorities in the City’s Transportation Master Plan will take 20 years to complete based on current Active Transportation budget allotment;

 

AND WHEREAS cycling reduces GHG emissions, is more cost effective, and has enormous benefits in providing social determinants to health;

 

AND WHEREAS the introduction and availability of electric bicycles have impacted active transportation in terms of offering a viable commuting option;

 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Council:

 

1. declare 2021 as the ‘Year of the Cyclist’;

 

1. direct Administration to present budget options, as well as address operational costs, to accomplish the high and medium priorities in the City’s Transportation Master Plan in five years;

 

1. consider initiating a community fundraising campaign for active transportation infrastructure similar to the River’s Trail project;

 

1. where grant programs include active transportation infrastructure projects, direct Administration to prioritize applications for these funding sources; and

 

1. direct Administration to prepare a report to Council on incentivizing the use of electric bicycles and creating a campaign to educate the community on safe transportation etiquette.

Some reflections on our amazing Kamloops business community, Covid 19, and how citizens can help businesses through the pandemic

 

Kamloopsians can be justifiably proud of our local business community. Full of bright and innovative entrepreneurs, Kamloops businesspeople continue to provide a diverse and attractive range of goods and services to residents.

 

Covid 19 has brought unprecedented challenges to community businesses, particularly to certain businesses types. Anybody involved in tourism or relying on groups gathering together has been hit hard. A lot of newer businesses and/or businesses who were just making it work pre Covid have had quite a tough time.

 

Throughout the pandemic, we have also seen innovation and resilience. Restaurants really increasing their take out and delivery capacity, retailers working to create space and barriers to keep staff and customers safe, businesses pivoting (had to add this word) to ecommerce.

Businesses such as sign shops, website designers, grocery stores, and delivery services have hopefully done very well. Venture Kamloops, our local economic development agency, reports a strong interest in outside business investment in the community. The support programs from both the provincial and federal governments have been instrumental in keeping many businesses going.

 

Locally, our business support agencies and organizations have shined - Venture Kamloops, Tourism Kamloops, our business improvement associations, the Chamber of Commerce, Community Futures agencies. They have branded their Covid related resilience initiative as YKASTRONG.

 

Mayor Christian has also made a great contribution to our recovery efforts through his task force on economic recovery.

 

And of course Kamloops citizens have stood up, as they are able, to support local business. There are many of us whose incomes have not been impacted and we are spending less. We should continue to support local businesses. If we are uncomfortable visiting a business in person right now, a gift card might be an option. Many local businesses are offering more robust online shopping options. It's a good idea to contact your favourite local businesses and see what kind of offerings they have in the fall. I've thought of joining together with a group of friends to support local businesses with attractive offerings who might be having a tougher time during the pandemic.

Thoughts on inclusion, diversity, and anti racism in Kamloops....

Whenever I think about diversity and inclusion in Kamloops, my mind first goes to our amazing history of embracing diversity. I think about community leaders like John Fremont Smith, Len Marchand, and Peter Wing. I think about my Dad driving us to elementary school and little Arjun (I was once) almost always noting there was street we passed called “Singh Street”. I think about this community largely very much embraced my immigrant parents and their children. 

 

I know, however, my thinking needs to try to engage with the whole picture. And there is definitely racism and discrimination in our community. There is systemic racism in some of our most powerful institutions. I’ve lived these experiences somewhat but I know many many people who have experienced racism and discrimination much more that I. The recent global spotlight on racism, after the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, has brought a lot of strong important emotions to the centre of public conversations - anger and joy, fear and hope, desires to fight and desires to collaborate. 

 

In times like these, I seek to converse with good people who are involved, concerned, and who can seek positive outcomes. As a community representative, I feel a responsibility to try to be of service to a more inclusive community. I also think we need to move thoughtfully and empathetically as we decide how we move forward. There are very dark bitter places one can inhabit with these conversations and we need to instead find places of empowerment, hope, and community. Finding the most positive spaces can take time and a lot of energy. And there will be stumbles along the way.

 

Here are some the things I suggest we, as a community, explore doing: 

 

1. Engage and educate each other: I don’t see a lot of success in the call out culture on an individual level. Yes, we must let people know when we feel they are being racist and / or discriminatory. This may stop the behaviour. But I am not sure it changes the views. This take fostering understanding and relations between different people with different backgrounds. This takes being empathetic to each other. If I say to someone “you are an awful racist”, I am not sure they will immediately agree and change. Their response seems more likely to be “no I am definitely not” and then the walls get built higher against any progress. Can we be empathetic to those who hold racist or discriminatory views? Where would we draw the line here? To me, these are important and interesting questions. I would potentially propose here facilitating public and private conversations between people of different backgrounds to build goodwill and understanding.
    
2. City council, city staff, the RCMP, and the Fire service should learn more about diversity, inclusion, and racism:  City council has taken Indigenous Awareness training and regularly meets with T’kemlups Te Secwepemc colleagues and friends. I think it would be good to broaden this training to better understand the further diversity of the citizens we serve. This is more for me about being more aware of unconscious racism and discrimination and of systemic bias in practices and processes. And also, it makes it much less hospitable for any overt and conscious discrimination to occur.  This training should be mandatory. 
    
3. City hall should continue to build a diverse and inclusive workforce:  From time to time, I field concerns that the city workforce does not represent the diversity of Kamloops. I am confident that there is no overt discrimination in city hiring practices and have worked with many people from diverse backgrounds all over city operations. The city does not have hiring quotas and I support an open hiring practice. I’d like to know more about efforts the city can make to outreach to communities that might have some barriers in easily accessing job opportunities. I think we need to ensure all citizens understand how city hiring practices are conducted. And I’d like to know how we are looking at unconscious bias and systemic racism and what we will do to eliminate these if they exist. And we need to be open to good faith feedback on how we can be more inclusive in hiring. 
    
4. Remain open to ways to do better: This is tough and it will take time. But it has potential to be transformational. I think its so important to stay open minded to changes and not to get complacent with the first or second thing we undertake. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts on the BC Govt's Covid 19 Restart plan phased strategies...

Makes a lot of sense. We are still living with quite a bit of uncertainty. Much ability to make personal decisions. Helping people get the right info and trying to assess where there are gaps and people who need further support.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/…/covid-19-provincia…/bc-restart-plan

 

 

 

Reflections on week 6 of the Covid 19 pandemic measures....

A little video about Week 6 of the Covid 19 pandemic measures....

- completely unexpected times
- settling into this uncertainty
- lots of resources and support available
- the whole word united, perhaps ceasefires?
- what lessons are we learning? How are we doing?
- offer of support

 

Thoughts on the Covid19 pandemic....

This Covid19 virus is the most serious public health emergency I've ever seen.

I also understand there is a lot we can do to avoid the worst outcomes and come out of this in the best possible situation.

I've spent the morning watching updates from the federal and provincial governments and BC and Canada's health officers.

The best advice right now is to wash your hands with soap regularly for 20 seconds, don't touch your face with unwashed hands, cough into the crook of your elbow, stay home much more, and maintain physical distance from others while out and about.

This will slow down the spread of Covid19 and keep our health care resources more able to serve people who get very sick.

The Prime Minister advises to stay home unless completely necessary, the BC government has banned gatherings of more than 50 people, and the US federal government is advising against gathering in groups more than 10 people.

The City of Kamloops opened up the emergency operations centre today. This is how we coordinate, sometimes minute by minute, city hall's response going forward.

You can read more here - https://www.kamloops.ca/safety-…/emergency-programs/covid-19

There will be frequent updates going forward from city hall, I am confident. I would advise a bit of patience as we get this first day or two under our belt.

We have an incredible and experienced emergency response staff, who I have worked with closely. I have great confidence in their advice and abilities. We have a great Mayor and Council and I know we will work together to do all we can to assist citizens in this time.

Reflections on the dispute on Wet'suwet'en territory...

When Prime Minister Trudeau shared that no relationship was more important to him than the federal government's relationship with indigenous peoples, I don't think he assumed it was going to be easy to prioritize this relationship.

When the BC government, under the leadership of Premier John Horgan, became the first jurisdiction in Canada to enshrine the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into legislation, I also don't think he thought giving life to these principles in practice would always be easy.

The current RCMP enforcement of court injunctions to halt a blockade that impedes the construction of the Coastal Gas Link natural gas pipeline on Wet'suwet'en territory has led to a number of protests and blockades across Canada.

First, historically, I feel very lucky to live in a time in which governments are trying to work through these issues as opposed to simply enforcing a colonial system of governance. The RCMP enforcement in 1960 or 1970 or 1990 would have been, in my view, a lot more violent than it has been in 2020. In fact, in 2020, the RCMP and policing agencies across the country have been very careful (so far, successfully) in trying to avoid violence.

So many protests have unfolded unhindered, Cabinet ministers and high government officials have been active in trying to find solutions. Reconciliation in practice can be very challenging but it is alive and well.

Wet'suwet'en Hereditary chiefs challenge to the present routing of the Coastal Gas Link pipeline is especially difficult. The Hereditary chiefs have been recognized by the courts as having authority and standing in issues regarding Wet'suwet'en territory but the courts also did not decide specifically the extent and limits of this authority.

Almost all the Wet'suwet'en elected councils support the pipeline as so most of the other indigenous communities along the pipeline route. Many are hopeful for the job and economic development opportunities.

So, there's a division of opinion between indigenous communities involved. And this is a division that people within those communities are obviously best to solve.

Those of us non-indigenous folks protesting or supporting the construction of Coastal gas link should be thoughtful and restrained, given the division in opinion among indigenous peoples and the spectre that this conflict could get worse and have even greater negative impacts.

Of course, this current conflict could lead onto a pathway towards greater consensus and cooperation. Crises can often lead to greater opportunities.

Different experts and pundits express different opinions on the validity of different points here. It can be very complex and confusing. At a very human level, though, people are in conflict. And the only way this can be solved is by working with each other.

And, in order this to work, we need to see this not as a winners and losers situations but as an "all of society" conversation where we need to really listen to each other, respect each other, and commit to being in community together. I don't how seeing people with opposing views as enemies will practically get us anywhere productive. We will keep fighting and each "side" has enough power and weight to prevent any "winner" to emerge.

Let's instead seize an opportunity of this moment. To get off the metaphorical battlefields and sit in talking circles and meeting rooms. To do the hard work of reconciliation in action.

A few 2020 thoughts for Kamloops....

It is always a challenge to distill thoughts for a whole year into something easily digestible.

It is important though to try. Not only to do intentional thinking myself but also very importantly to solicit input and ideas from whoever would like to offer them.

I begin this year with hope and a can do attitude. In a time where there is a lot of anxiety, divisive, and negativity, I will anchor my service in all the experiences I have had in my life which showcased confidence, collaboration, and positivity.

And there have been so many in my life and significantly in my service on Kamloops city council. I see local government culture as a tremendous force for good. We are taught to agree well and disagree well. We work so closely with citizens.

We have amazing people in Kamloops. The recent news that we are the most giving community in Canada on the Gofundme website confirms what so many of us see every day. The people in Kamloops, as a group, are sensible, thoughtful, caring, and open minded.

I think where this is a gap in experience and understanding between citizens and those they elect, among them, to represent the community it is primarily the responsibility of the elected representatives to bridge that gap. That is why I will always try to engage respectfully and thoughtfully with those we represent. Ultimately, obviously, the community as a whole is in the drivers seat through their choices at election time.

There are a lot of hopeful (and challenging:) )projects and issues city council will be working on in 2020.

1) Arts Centre Referendum: In a referendum this coming April, City council will be asking the community to consider borrowing money to help fund the building of a new arts centre in Kamloops. There is a lot of demonstrated support for this project - a foundational donor in the Fawcett family, support from all the major arts organizations in the city, and unanimous city council support. There are also concerns with city spending, lack of parking, and a centre that will only serve a subset of the population. I look forward to outlining why I think the arts centre is a very good project and to engaging with concerns raised.

2) Economic Development: Economic development, from a city council perspective, is tricky. Entrepreneurs are in the driver seat here. We have many foundational, high paying industries in transition in our natural resources sector. I love one of the strategies of the Kamloops Innovation Centre to help natural resource businesses create more value and be more efficient through the appropriate use of technology. The City of Kamloops funds an arms length economic development agency that does great work in my view but it's hard to really come up with great metrics, often due to the confidentiality economic development clients want to maintain. We are fortunate to have a very diverse economic base not dependent one on big business or one key sector. Within the city's development services and business permitting departments, we hopefully will be taking an intentional look in 2020 at any unnecessary or unnecessarily unfriendly practices and regulations. As local government consultant Tracey Lee Lorenson has shared, probably the best thing city council can do to be business friendly is to govern well, fairly, and consistently.

3) Community Climate Action Plan: This is a plan, on a strategic level, that I have been quite involved with shaping and formulating. As we are seeing again with the huge wildfires in Australia, the consequences of not reducing greenhouse gases are immense. I say this not as an activist but as someone whose public service job it is to look at evidence, evaluate it fairly and comprehensively, and help make decisions on behalf of this community. My learnings on climate action work also lead me to a strong belief we have to be as inclusive as possible and not polarizing or alienating. This work is huge and requires to be considerate of everyone as we undertake it. It also requires heartfelt and honest conversations of where we are, where we need to get to, and how together we can get to where we need to go. The engagement on the Kamloops community climate action plan will start fully in 2020. The work to prepare for community engagement has been robust and there have also been some bumps in the road. Council has set a strategic goal of 80% emissions reductions by 2050 and have directed city staff to provide options within this climate action plan to achieve that goal.

4) Homelessness, mental health, addictions: When the provincial government launched their latest housing initiatives in 2017, Kamloops council and senior staff worked very hard to align ourselves with those initiatives to build more social housing locally. I am proud of our work which helped secure more than 100 more homes. However, I am also heartbroken that the magnitude and complexity of the issues that lead to homelessness outpaced our work on housing. More and more, I worry about our citizens who are without a home, who as my friend Cynthia Travers says are home free. I see housing more people, keeping more people safe even when outside, will require more non traditional approaches. This even more tricky as social services are seen as primarily a provincial government responsibility. I want to learn a lot more this year about what we might be able to do as a community to really end functional homelessness. I want to keep in better touch with the amazing people who work day to day serving our most vulnerable.

These are just four broad topics and some initiatives within them. Most of these are very large and complex. They contain as many opportunities as they do challenges. I have sketched some broad outlines and will be writing in more detail about these and many other opportunities, ideas, challenges, and issues this year.

Why we need to think twice about adding more downtown parking...

 

I know a lot of people in Kamloops think downtown parking is a problem.

I've even characterized it as a problem from time to time. I've called it a good problem, a sign of a healthy downtown, but a problem nonetheless. 

So why do I think we need to think very carefully about adding new parking downtown?

My answer to this question centres around two concerns really. One is climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The most impactful measures we can take to reduce our personal greenhouse gas emissions is to drive less. Yes, electric cars are more and more viable and available. But, I believe we also need to think carefully about where we can find good alternatives to driving for transportation. It is so culturally ingrained in us to get in our cars. It important we think twice about this. It can be really helpful for our environment and our climate.

The second is that there is actually right now a surplus of parking spots downtown, even at the busiest times. This was confirmed by parking spot counts conducted recently in downtown Kamloops. Yes, these spots involve some walking sometimes. I wonder if people would really mind walking if they knew this was saving community money (to build more spots), helping downtown vibrancy (parking spots could be converted into pedestrian plazas, for example), and improving their own health.

I fully realize this is a difficult conversation potentially but it's an important one. I look forward to developing my own thoughts further and with engaging with lots of people on parking and transportation.  

 

Downtown transportation choices plan vote seemingly goes sideways, perhaps actually provides important learning....

After many months and a hundred thousand dollars, at this week's council "committee of the whole" meeting, city staff presented what most would have thought would be the final draft of the downtown Kamloops transportation choices plan.

Almost always, final drafts of plans are approved as there has already been a lot of discussion, debate, and decision points.

Reading through the final draft before the meeting, I had strong concerns the plan wasn't ambitious enough in enabling citizens to choose to shift from driving cars as a single occupant to other methods of transportation.

But I thought mistakenly that I would be one of the few council members with concerns.

At the meeting, many other concerns came out. Chief among them, in my view, were that the plan unfairly targeted drivers, that engagement on the plan was not adequate, and that the plan contained statements that were not in keeping with modern values and the local economy.

I've rarely seen a discussion like this. It was sometimes pretty pointed and emotional. Many council members were quite critical of the plan as it was written and presented. The vote to approve the plan was defeated 5-4.

This left us all, and probably more so city staff, a little beat up and at a loss. Did things just go big time sideways?

After this investment in time and money, what would happen to the work done to this point.

This was very much on my mind as council unanimously decided to refer further discussion on downtown transportation planning to the council development and sustainability committee. Hopefully, those of us who are on this committee can discuss and recommend downtown transportation initiatives that will get council approval.

The council discussion this week was actually immensely helpful. Every council member shared a bit more about their considered views and values. As we move forward to try to get overall council approval, we can hopefully craft a better and more durable set of actions and policies based on the robust, frank, and deeper dive discussion we had this week. I think we learnt a lot about how this council currently feels and thinks and thats very important learning.

Business Case Released for New Kamloops Performing Arts Centre Proposal....

 

Kamloops has an amazing community of arts supporters! And today the Kamloops Centre for the Arts Society released the business case (pdf file) for the new performing arts centre proposal.

I am hoping this building can be as energy efficient as possible and that the public subsidy is kept as low as possible.

Can this building actually have no net operating subsidy? A very ambitious goal for a public facility.

The forecast now is that there would be no net tax increase to fund the public share of constructing the building. The "mortgage" we have been paying for the Tournament Capital facilities is coming off and can be rolled over into a performing arts centre project.

That leaves operating costs. Right now, the business case calls for $703 000 taxpayer contribution in year one, decreasing to $383 000 taxpayer contribution in year five. 

There is a lot of amazing plans for this proposed venue.

The Kamloops Centre of the Arts Society's website is full of great information. The key aspect, it seems to me, is whether there is general support for the capital and operating contributions (which are listed as maximums in the business case) among Kamloops citizens. 

Kamloops Councillors Talk Civility - Episode 3

We made another one! Kathy Sinclair and I spent about 11 minutes talking about:

• civility / incivility in the federal election
• partisan politics, why we would not run for MLA or MP
• Obama as a guest?

The white arrow in the orange button below will play this podcast...

 

Kamloops Councillors Talk Civility - Episode 2

It took me some time to post this. At the end of May, Kathy Sinclair and I were joined by Dale Bass and Mike O'Reilly to on the second episode of our podcast "Kamloops Councillors talk about Civility". This one runs 20 minutes. Here is a rough outline of the conversation:

• social media incivility and civility
• how to really engage with people who are upset or who have very strong views
• alternatives to getting arrested for making a death threat against an elected official.

https://soundcloud.com/arjun-singh-25/kamloops-councillors-talk-civility-episode-2

 

Raw note from Green Party Leader Elizabeth May's speech at FCM 2019

(not comprehensive)

a passionate call to action on climate action

- in 2015, green party platform adhered most to FCM goals
- long term stable infrastructure funding
- not just money, seat at a table
- council of Canadian governments, 4 orders of governments
- must not let politicians divide us
- one country, one family
- all hands on deck
- shoutout to climate caucus
- climate issue is emergency, a security issue
- holding global average temp rise is 1.5 can't be missed. Can't negotiate with planet
- Greta Thunberg the real leader , mobilizing millions of young children
- there are hard choices ahead
- BC now has a smoke season
- extreme weather
- non partisan issue
- may 1940, wwII, Winston Churchill. Only parallel time

Raw notes from NDP leader Jagmeet Singh's speech at FCM 2019

 

 

 

 

(Not comprehensive)

- live in an incredible country

- municipal leaders are fabric of country 

- deserve a federal partner who will work with you on big challlenges 

- 2 challenges : climate change and growing inequality

- outdated funding system for municipalities

- need true federal partner who will stand up with you and give you tools you need 

- good jobs, secure futures while moving to sustainability. More opportunity not less

- respecting indigenous rights 

- a Canada where all family's can live well now and into future generations

- kids worried desperately about future 

- lots of incredibly negative impacts of climate change

- green innovation

- municipalities influence half the emissions in Canada. 

- ndp environmental plan released, also to reduce inequality and create good jobs. Public transit a big part. 

- permanent allocation based funding for transit in all communities across Canada. Took the idea from FCM advocacy 

- zero emission buses and low carbon trains 

- expand bus services between rural communities

- low cost retrofit financing for public buildings

- massive concerns around inequality. People working hard but still falling behind. Growing insecurity. Leads to intolerance and fear. 

- ppl need healthcare, good job, housing, clean air and water 

- Ford govt slashing money to local governments. Most vulnerable citizens are the ones hurt 

- believe passionately in public service

- pharmacare for all

- build half a million new affordable homes in 10 years 

- access to post secondary

- infrastructure, stable funding

- affordable internet and wireless all over Canada 

Raw notes from Canada's leader of the opposition Andrew Scheer at FCM 2919

(Not necessarily comprehensive)

.- helping Cdns get ahead, not just get by 

- FCM very important

- less than 13% of infrastructure funds have gone out under Liberals

- infrastructure program not well managed

- unplanned and unmanaged deficits . Conservatives will get this fixed 

- will work with provinces AND municipalities

- invest in programs that actually are infrastructure

- will release soon the most comprehensive climate action / environment plan ever by an opposition party 

- conservatives will scrap carbon tax, which does not work, is autocratic and unjust, and costs more 

- stress test impacting affordability of housing 

- need more homes at lower prices

- reduce regulations on builders 

- opoid crisis must be addressed in two manifestations, health and public safety

- Canada must stop fentanyl imports from China

- crack down on gangs, gun laws that don't target law abiding people. Will also focus on those with mental health issues.

- won't put more laws on those who follow the laws 

- municipal lens will be taken into account into decisions

- decentralized decision making, not Ottawa knows best 

- will secure rural broadband .

- pm engaging in fear campaign 

- govt living within its means 

- runaway deficits not good for future decision-making

- many conservative candidates come from local govt

- local govt are vital partners to achieve Federal objectives

 

Raw notes from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's speech at FCM 2019

- middle class 

- family 

- retirement secure 

- communities are strength and force of our country

- Federal government as partner to local govt

- we've seen promises broken by some provinces 

- infrastructure funding priority for this mandate , moved quickly early 

- clean water a right 

- homelessness and affordability changes

- national housing strategy 

- Hamilton housing homeless successes

- true partner 

- climate action - 1 billion to FCM green municipal fund 

- extreme weather 

- 5000 projects approved versus 793 in last conservative mandate 

- dig at Premier Ford 

- double gas tax this year 

- conservative cuts, warning. Cautionary tale 

- don't go back to austerity

A New Podcast - Kamloops Councillors Talk about Civility....

Fun to co-host this podcast with Councillor Kathy Sinclair!

First meeting of the new Development and Sustainability Committee...

Huge thanks to Mayor Ken Christian for asking me to chair this incredible council committee. We've realigned council committees to provide more policy guidance to the different departments at city hall. I'm joined by great councillors, Dieter Dudy and Sadie Hunter, and great staff, led by Development, Engineering, and Sustainability Director Marvin Kwiatkowski. Here is our first meeting agenda:

 

 

Uniting behind a plan for a multiuse park on Mac Island...

Some thoughts I recorded this morning....

 

LGLA app link

App link

Heading to Parliament Hill...

It’s an honour to join Mayor Hamm and 100+ locally elected representatives from across Canada as we meet with our Federal colleagues. Travelling to Ottawa today...

http://email.fcm.ca/m/1/47806714/02-b18320-1454b67e2342451d95f43be5ae353087/2/287/ab91b3db-1d2a-4fac-8d1c-26cfe095c37d

Upcoming Civic Election Forums...

South Kamloops Secondary School Students Forum

Oct 10th,  School Library

1105am to 1210pm

 

Homebuilders Forum

Oct 10th, Colombo Lodge

5:30 – 6:30 : Registration

7:00- Dinner

7:30 – Forum begins after Dinner

(centred around residential construction issues. May need to pay to get in)

Boys and Girls Club Youth Forum

Oct 11th, John Todd Centre Youth Room

4pm to 6pm

My name is Rory McKerchar and I run the youth program at the Kamloops Boys and Girls Club. With the municipal election coming up I am planning a forum for our youth, with the goal of getting them engaged in decision making in their communities. To make this a reality I am contacting you and others running for city council/mayor to attend this forum in order to share your vision for Kamloops and respond to questions from the youth.

Kamloops This Week Community Forum

Oct 15th, TRU Grand Hall

6:30pm to 9pm

will also be livestreaming the forum through Facebook Live for those who cannot attend in person - the stream will be available through KTW’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/kamloopsthisweek)

One of the challenges that has been identified in trying to host a forum with so many candidates is that candidates get relatively less time to address questions. To address this, our proposed format will be to conduct five "mini-forums" of 25 minutes each. The first forum will be for the mayoral candidates, and the other four will be for councillor candidates, with candidates being sorted into groups by random draw. The mayoral candidates will have opening and closing remarks of 2 minutes each with questions from the audience in between. The councillor candidate groups will have 1-minute opening and closing remarks for each candidate with questions from the audience in between. Draws of the councillor candidate groups and the order in which they appear will be conducted five minutes before the start of the forum.

Norkam Secondary Conversations with Councillors

October 17th, School Library

12:35pm to 1:25pm

We would like to set the library up in a roundtable discussion where our students will be able to ask questions to a variety of Councillors.  Our students will participate in a school-wide vote the following day. We would love to have as many Councillors here as possible but understand many of you may already have previous commitments.  Our goal is to bring awareness to the electoral process and to inspire our students to be active citizens when they leave high school. In fact, some of our students are eligible to vote during this upcoming election.  

Heffley Creek All Candidates Forum

Oct 17th, Heffley Creek Hall

6:30pm to 8:30pm

Midday Show

CFJC TV 7, 6 minute segment sometime between 12pm and 1230pm

With Alison Klie and Nicholas Adams

We are looking to book all candidates on the show for a chance to speak on some of the issues.

The segment would LIVE, the three of you will appear together and will weigh in on the same issues.

North Shore Business Improvement Association Forum

Oct 18th, First Memorial (Dignity) Hall, corner of Royal and Tranquille

6pm to 9pm

Forum style:

The forum will start with each candidate having two minutes to overview

their agenda and platform. We will starting with Mayoral then move through

Council candidates. All speaker orders will be random drawn.

At the conclusion of this session we will move to a speed dating format.

Candidates will move to an engagement station (2 per station), with the two

mayoral candidates at one also. Again, station positions will be randomly

drawn ahead of the session. Each set of constituent interactions

interactions will be capped at 15 minutes, and then groups will rotate (not

candidates)

Here is our proposed agenda:

1.      Open statements by moderator (Jeremy/Bryce from the NSBIA) 5:55 to

6:00

2.      Opening comments 6:00 to 6:45 pm
3.      Round 1 6:45 - 7:00
4.      Round 2 7:00 - 7:15
5.      Round 3 7:15 - 7:30
6.      Round 4 7:30 - 7:45
7.      Round 5 7:45 - 8:00
8.      Free interaction time - 8:00 - 8:20 (time for voters to freely

wander and engage with candidate of choice)

9.      8:30 - 9:00ish pm open questions (panel style)
10.     Conclusion 9:00 - 9:05 ish

Some topics of interest that we have heard regarding the North Shore

include:

1.      YKA highway connection / development of airport lands (hotels, city

entry zone, etc)

2.      Westsyde river crossing (through traffic bringing greater

development and services)

3.      Park space improvements (security, enforcement)
4.      Social Issues (housing, services, integration of services, community

impacts, policing)

5.      Improving developer processes for building and improving land and

property

6.      Rejuvenation of the Tranquille Corridor
7.      Adding Pathway style Sidewalks to Tranquille to connect Rivers trail

across the city in a safe manner

8.      Replacement and updating of planters and treescapes along Tranquille

corridor

Please RSVP by using the voting button above, as soon as possible to confirm

your attendance.

Thank you in advance for considering this opportunity to connect with the

City's North Shore communities.

PARKING

Please note parking is free on the shore, always!

There are two options for the best parking, Option one is in the church

parking lot immediately beside the Wilson House. This lot is open and has

lots of capacity, then walk the 1 block to the meeting venue.

Option two is the First Memorial lot, space is quite limited here, however

street parking is also available surrounding the venue.

44 questions Kamloops Council Candidates have been asked so far....

My intense answering questions face :)

 

Lots of questions coming in so far - mostly from the media. Also one set from the Thompson Rivers University Students Union. Great to participate in all of these. Also time consuming and always a bit nerve wracking :). All requests below verbatim:

 

CJFC

 

Hello Kamloops election candidates,

I'm contacting you today about CFJC's coverage of the upcoming municipal election.

 

A large portion of our coverage this year will consist of two main components:

1. CFJCToday.com: Candidate Questionnaires

Candidates will receive a questionnaire from CFJC Today later today via email. Further instructions on how to fill out and return the questionnaire will accompany it.

2. CFJC TV: Video Profiles

Each candidate will be asked to come to the station, 460 Pemberton Terrace, next Monday, September 24. You will be given a 30-minute window in which to be here. Note the schedule below.

 

If you can't make your scheduled time, you can a) make arrangements to trade time slots with another candidate, or b) come in during the final time slot, at 1:00 p.m. Depending on the weather on Monday, we're hoping to shoot these profiles outdoors. Please dress accordingly.

 

We would like to get all of these profiles recorded in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, that means we can't be particularly flexible with our schedule, as there are just too many candidates. If your schedule is completely inflexible and you can't make it Monday, please contact me via email. There will be at most one more opportunity to record your profiles.

 

During your scheduled time, you will be given 60 seconds to talk about your priorities on camera. Please be prepared. We will be on a tight schedule. If you are having a hard time filling 60 seconds in preparing for this task, ask yourself questions such as, “Why did I decide to run for office? What frustrates me about Kamloops that I think I can help improve? Why should people vote for me?”

 

Once each 60-second segment is complete, it will air on our newscasts, dispersed throughout the following weeks. The segment will also be posted online, and shared through our social media platforms. Feel free to share your segments on your own social media feeds once they are posted.

---

 

Hi 2018 Kamloops council candidates,

 

As per my earlier email, one of the main components of our election coverage this year is your responses to a questionnaire. I have attached the questionnaire and also copied it below.

 

Please respond with your answers via email. Make your answers as detailed as you like, but remember: readers appreciate concise and easy-to-understand explanations.

 

The deadline to return this questionnaire is the end of business on Tuesday, September 25.

Once the deadline has passed, we will publish your responses on CFJCToday.com. The responses will be combined with video from your 60-second profile shoot (see earlier email) onto one page. Once that page is live, we will share it via our social media feeds and you are welcome to share it through your own social media channels as well.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

James Peters CFJC

Questionnaire:

1. What do you love about Kamloops? What frustrates you about the city?
2. The City of Kamloops has budgeted for a 2.08 per cent tax increase this year. Do you believe that is reasonable?
3. Has the City of Kamloops done enough to attract business and investment?
4. Does the city’s snow removal budget need a boost in funding? Why or why not.
5. How would you propose city council deal with housing affordability concerns in Kamloops?
6. Has the City of Kamloops done enough to address homelessness?
7. Should the city budget for more police officers in the city? Why or why not.
8. Interior Health’s supervised consumption sites have been operating in Kamloops for over a year now. Are you in favour of the sites and how would you propose dealing with the issue of discarded needles?
9. Are you in favour of a Performing Arts Centre in Kamloops? Why or why not. If so, what would you change from the initial proposal?
10. Should city councillors be paid higher salaries?

 

---

Hi Arjun,

 

Thank you for taking the time to chat with me for a profile story in advance of the upcoming municipal election. As the campaign progresses, we would now like to run issues-based spreads in the paper. As such, we are asking each mayoral and council candidate to answer the following four questions, which will run weekly until the election. While I know it might be challenging, answers must be limited to 150 works max in order to include everyone’s answers. The first question will run on Wednesday, Sept. 26. I need all of the answers emailed back to me at jessica@kamloopsthisweek.com by Monday, Sept. 24. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.

 

Here are the questions:

 

1) Considering what the city has done thus far to address the linked issues of addiction and homelessness, what should be the next step taken by city council?

 

2) The residential property-tax increase in Kamloops has been about 2% per year for the past decade. Are you comfortable with that annual hike? If not, what can be done to reduce it?

 

3) There have been many ideas about enhancing the vibrancy of the city, including the proposed performing-arts centre, the proposed outdoor ice rink, the pedestrian plaza pilot project, the Peterson Creek Park pathway and the yet-to-be decided fate of the former golf course on McArthur Island. What would you like to see to enhance the vibrancy of Kamloops?

 

4) Voter turnout in civic elections in Kamloops is usually about 30%. What would you suggest can be done to increase that percentage?

 

---

 

Please fill out and return by noon on Tuesday, Sept. 4 to tverenca@kamloopsmatters.com. Please also attach a high-res headshot/photo of yourself. Thank you!

 

Basic Stats:

 

Name:

Age:

Number of years lived in Kamloops:

Current Neighbourhood:

Occupation:

Reason community would recognize your name:

 

Questions:

 

What is the most important issue facing Kamloops, and how do you propose to deal with it?

How should Kamloops be addressing the issue of crime in the city?

What is your specific reason for running?

Where can the city spend less?

Where should the city be investing more?

What new business or feature would you like to see open up in Kamloops?

Next time you’re walking in the woods you come face to face with a sasquatch; what do you do?

If the next city council does something film-worthy, who would play you in the film?

 

Complete the sentence:

 

When I’m not at home or at work, you can find me:

The most random, yet interesting fact about me is:

My favourite beverage is:

For Christmas/Hanukkah/the gift-giving season, I would like:

The best park in/near to Kamloops is:

If Kamloops didn’t exist, I’d be living in:

When I need some pump up music, I listen to:

 

 

---

Candidate,

 

On behalf of the residents of Kamloops, we want to thank you and congratulate you for stepping up to represent the city.

 

As part of our coverage of the municipal election, iNFOnews.ca invites you to complete the following questionnaire, which will be published in a section of answers with other candidates. Our goal is to help voters get to know you better and where you stand on important community issues.

 

Please complete the following questions. Be as brief as possible. Submissions over 300 words may not be accepted. Off-topic or offensive answers may also be rejected. We reserve the right to edit submissions for style and language.

 

Please complete the questions before Friday, Sept. 28. We will not accept late submissions.

 

Return completed questionnaires to news@infonews.ca.

 

Good luck in your campaigns and if you have any questions or concerns, contact editor Marshall Jones at mjones@infonews.ca or call me at 250-718-2724.

 

Thank you,

 

Marshall Jones

Editor

iNFOnews.ca

 

 

1. Who are you and why should voters choose you?
2. Drug and street issues have become a major issue in the past few years. Does the City of Kamloops share any responsibility for this development? If so, what should have been done differently?
3. Do you consider these issues primarily an enforcement problem or a social problem and how would you address these issues?
4. How would you help increase the affordability and availability of home rentals in Kamloops?
5. Is the City of Kamloops doing enough to cooperate with its neighbours, particularly the Tk’emlups Indian Band?
6. Kamloops has struggled for years with a doctor shortage. How can council improve this situation, if at all?
7. Kamloops has also had more than its share of major crimes, including gangs. If the RCMP can’t find more police officers, how should the city find more options for enforcement?

 

One more question, please.

 

8. What neighbourhood do you live in?

 

 

---

 

Hi Arjun,

 

With the 2018 Municipal Election quickly approaching I am starting to reach out to candidates to invite them to participate in a short video interview with the TRU Students’ Union. As we did for the by-election last year, we will be building a non-partisan election website with information on candidates as well as voting information for students and the broader community to access. Your video interview will be posted there as well as promoted through social media.

 

I’ve attached all of the questions that we will be asking below. Each candidate will be asked the same questions. We will once again be conducting all of the video interviews in the Students’ Union building on campus to ensure that the interviews are consistent.

 

Can I schedule a time with you within the next couple of weeks for the video interview? My schedule is fairly open at this point so if you let me know a time that works for you I should be able to accommodate.

 

Thanks!

Leif

 

 

1. Please introduce yourself by saying your name and under 30 seconds about your

background

2. What is your vision for Kamloops?

3. Students and young professionals make up a significant and growing part of the city of

Kamloops. What will you do to attract and retain this demographic?

4. Kamloopsians have many options for getting around the city including by car, transit, bicycle,

or walking. What do you believe is Kamloops most urgent transportation need?

5. Rental housing in the City of Kamloops is increasingly expensive and challenging to find. If

elected, what will you do to address this problem?

6. What do you see as the biggest challenge and opportunity for the City of Kamloops over the

next twenty years?

7. What is one of your proudest professional achievements?

Good work by Infotel Kamloops...

I've noted a series of articles by Karen Edwards at Infotel Kamloops with an almost City Council 101. The one I will note today specifically is entitled "What a city councillor actually does". I can't easily find the other article I saw.

I've been really impressed by this effort and really this kind of content can really keep local media valuable to citizens and ultimately profitable. It's important information presented in an easy to digest format. 

I also really like the video and text. Gives people a choice if they want and also the two formats complement each other well. 

Peter Milobar is a great choice as a subject matter expert with his many years of local government experience, both as councillor and Mayor.

What do you think? Here is the link to the article again. 

 

 

Next Civic Election - Oct 20th 2018

 

A little over 13 years ago, I announced a candidacy for city council that set me on an incredibly journey. I used to blog a lot back then. Before there was a facebook or a twitter, an instagram or a snapchat. Here is my first ever post here announcing my candidacy for the 2005-2008 city council. 

I have neglected this blog for quite some time and I am hoping to post more regularly as we enter into this home stretch of this civic election campaign. More long form writing will probably the most suitable thing to do on these pages.

I also wanted to warmly invite you to visit my campaign website for the election, and my facebook candidacy page. 

To find general voting information, city hall has the info.  And here the officially nominated candidates thus far (list will grow until Sept 14th nomination deadline)

Snow Plowing Budget Increase Proposals....

To make a bit of a long story quite short, in the last couple of years, we have had a few very challenging snow plowing years in Kamloops. Mother Nature has given us a lot, with more intensity, and with less reprieves between major snowfalls. Our city crews have been awesome but it's been very hard to keep up. 

This has generated more community concern. 

City staff have researched the issues and opportunities and have presented council with a proposal to increase the annual snow removal budget from 1.6 million dollars a year to 2 million dollars a year. This would be to add three new staff, 2 new trucks, and a bit of new technology and training. More details in the photos below. 

This would help city staff keep up with the existing service levels of snow plowing, mainly making sure local roads are plowed by established times.

Significantly, this would not change any city service levels with regards to windrows or snow piles that accumulate on curbs in the city. We received important complaints about these this past winter. I would like to better understand the cost of not having such large windrows accumulate in sensitive areas of the city and I will be asking council to support a report from city staff to research windrow removal practices and costs. 

We will be making a final decision on these proposals in a future council meeting. 

 

 

Rainy Days and Unexpected Opportunities at City Hall...

Letter to the Citizens of Kamloops - Launching my 2018 Reelection Campaign...

 

Dear Kamloops Citizens,

 I hope to earn your support as I seek re-election to council this fall. The civic election is on Oct 20th.  

 Serving on Kamloops city council for almost 10 years has been the honour of my life. I love this community with all my heart and I am incredibly thankful that the community has provided me with this amazing opportunity to serve.

 In my time on council, I’ve worked on a great diversity of issues. I feel very well versed in community opportunities, concerns, and issues in Kamloops.

 Specifically, in this term of council, highlights include:

• helping connect the local technology industry more closely with city hall
• helping secure over 100 units of supportive social housing
• assisting the formation of council’s Sustainability Advisory Committee
• supporting the plans for a Performing Arts Centre,
• working to successfully establish a junior city council.

 My accountability statement on my 2014 council platform (please click on image for larger view):

In May of 2017, when Mayor Milobar was elected to the provincial legislature, I was honoured by my council colleague’s unanimous support to become the Acting Mayor until Mayor Christian was sworn in early October. This was an incredible experience for me and I learned even more about city hall operations. I helped lead the community through our wildfire response and the final steps of our decisionmaking on the Ajax mine proposal.

 On a provincial level, I am currently the First VP of the Union of BC Municipalities and President of BC’s Local Government Leadership Academy. I try to bring as much of my provincial learnings and relationships as I can to my work in Kamloops.

 I strive to take a very positive and constructive approach to my council work. We definitely have challenges but the way to address these challenges is to focus on our strengths and opportunities.    

I strive to be a councillor everyone can feel comfortable with and to be a councillor who brings our wonderfully diverse community together over issues and initiatives.

I aim to thoroughly research and engage the community on issues. And, once I’ve made decisions, I commit to clearly explaining the reasoning behind my decisions.

I hope you will consider actively supporting the campaign. I am hoping this will be our campaign, not just my campaign.

Thank you so much for being part of what Kamloops an awesome place. Please be in touch anytime.

 Very best

Arjun Singh

Cell: 250 377 1797 | Email: arjun@fullworld.com

Community update - Facebook Live

Just posted on Facebook: 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10160285497825247&id=773295246

My 2014 platform accountability....

Election platforms should mean something. In each of my 4 previous city council campaigns, I have produced some type of platform document. I always keep my 2014 platform one pager handy and it's always been readily accessible from the top menu bar on this website.  And below is an image of the platform in its entirety. I feel pretty good about keep this commitments over the past three and and half years of this term. And there is at least one commitment that I feel I haven't worked on enough yet. Under the "Healthy, Socially Responsible Community", I haven't really worked too much on exploring a recreation centre for active aging seniors. I don't feel good about this.

I do feel good about the work I have contributed to on the rest of my platform commitments. I would certainly want to hear from folks who might think I didn't do enough work. I'll spend time over the next months detailing here the work done on each of the commitments. 

As I work to earn community support for reelection again, I would love your feedback on what might be included in my 2018 platform.

(click on image for bigger view)

An invitation to attend the 2018 Kamloops Idea Festival....

I warmly invite you to participate in the 2018 Kamloops Idea Festival on Saturday March 17th.

Register here.

About 125 Kamloops citizens participated in the first Kamloops Idea Festival in 2013. We came together to learn about and engage in dialogue over a broad range of community initiatives and issues. Feedback was quite positive.

 

I committed to hold another Idea Festival in my civic election platform in 2014. The focus here will be on climate action. I view this as a critical conversation and believe strongly that a diverse range of citizens and community organizations need to be involved in this conversation.

 

The goal of the 2018 Idea Festival is to help to start crafting community consensus on climate action activities in Kamloops.

 

The festival will go for three hours and will consist of:

 

• Short “lightning” talks about climate action from a variety of very interesting perspectives. We will strive to nclude perspectives not often heard in discussions on climate action.
  
  
• Small group dialogues on various facets of climate action. We will be asking event registrants for suggestions for small group topics.
  
  
• Short artistic performances between different event activities.

 

We hope to offer another opportunity for a diverse range of citizens to get to know each other and to have fun thinking more deeply about our community.

 

Tha 2018 Kamloops Idea Festival will be held from 9am to 12pm at the Rex Hall, 417 Seymour Street, downtown Kamloops. A light mid morning breakfast will be provided.

 

Registration is required. Register here.

Why I voted against authorizing $100 000 (max) for a downtown parking study....

As a member of the downtown parking solutions working group and someone who has long advocated for evidence based parking strategies in Kamloops, I know many might be wondering why I voted against the downtown parking study proposed by city staff at the Nov 7th 2017 council meeting. I know my friend and Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association (KCBIA) President Mike O’Reilly, for one, was extremely disappointed.

 

I owe Mike and many others an explanation for my vote.

 

First, in my experience on council, while we definitely talk about alternative transportation and have invested greatly in transit, parking issues  seem to get more priority. I feel this needs to change. I think parking is very important but it has to be seen in the larger context of all the different modes of transportation downtown. We need to minimize, to the greatest extent possible, the amount of people driving to, from, or within downtown in a single occupancy vehicle. This has many benefits - environmental, health, and economic. This also is really a challenging cultural shift to make. 

 

We need to have evidence based information on parking but we also, critically, have to work to engage people in the conversation of alternatives to driving or driving alone. I didn’t see that reflected enough in the parking study proposal presented. 

 

Second, the $100 000 ceiling for the parking study seemed really high to me. The “on the ground” work here is relatively basic. The larger expenditure seemed to be related to the coordination of the work. I understand the money for the study does not come from tax dollars but comes from parking fees collected. I still think we could do this study for less money. I want to state that I might be missing something. Maybe I needed to see more detail as to the workplan and tasks involved in a $100 000 parking study. 

 

So, where does this leave the quest for an evidence based downtown parking study. I think we need to ensure we take a more coordinated approach and that we communicate that to the community. I also feel we should look at lesser cost options for the study. I really need to understand the reasons behind the costs. I think this exercise would get me to a place where funding the study would gain my support.  

This Summer with Your Council…

 I had a awesome summer job this year. I was your Mayor. Actually, I will serve as acting Mayor until mid October when the new Mayor and Councillors, elected in the Sept 30^th by-election, are sworn in.

 

I’m humbled my council colleagues asked me to take on this caretaker role and very thankful for their support and the support of city staff. It’s been a very interesting summer.

 

I was in Ottawa at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference on June 1^st, my first day as the full time acting Mayor. One interesting takeaway was the Prime Minister’s announcement of Smart Cities challenge.

 

Full details are still to come but I am hoping Kamloops will compete for a $10 million dollar prize that will showcase our amazing local innovation, technology and ideas.

 

June was also a month of significant anniversaries. The weekly Pit Stop community dinner for people experiencing the effects of poverty celebrated 20 years of service. Our local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion celebrated an incredible 90 years.

 

In July, after more than six years of review, City Council took a position opposing the Ajax Mine proposal. The vote was 5-1. It would have been 6-1 if former Councillor Ken Christian had not resigned before the vote to run for Mayor.

 

The vote, in my view, reflects council’s overall assessment that this specific mine proposal presents a substantial risk of negative impact to the health and economic wellbring of Kamloops citizens.

 

Council supports economic development in many different ways. I hope those who support and those who oppose Ajax might be able to unite behind other big projects in the community. Ajax is decidely not the only egg in our basket.

 

July was also the start of a very bad wildfire season. On July 8^th, we had the most fire starts on one day in recorded history. Starting with Cache Creek, Kamloops hosted people from many communities who were evacuated from their homes.

 

I have never been more proud to represent Kamloops than during our time as an evacuation centre. Kamloopsians stepped up in so many different ways. Our already incredible formal emergency support services staff and volunteers were supplemented with so many new volunteers.

 

In fact, one of the biggest challenges during the peak of the wildfires was trying to coordinate all the offers of support and assistance. I was very proud to talk of the generosity of Kamloopsians in local, provincial, and national media interviews.

 

In late July and into August, we got hit with smoke from the Elephant Hill fire to our northwest and our air quality was compromised. Going on the BC Air Quality Health Index website and seeing Kamloops having the worst air quality in the province was not fun.

 

Later in August, we have been working to bring down a spike in negative impacts from street drug use. There have, for example, been a large increase in the number of discarded needles left in public spaces.

 

We need to do better in supporting people living with serious addictions. And we also need to reduce the negative impacts of their behaviours on others.

 

Thus, in the past ten years, the city has encouraged a coordinated, holistic approach to these social issues. This spike in impacts can sometimes strain our coordinated work, as different stakeholders start getting pressure to just do something. The coordinated approach, however, is the key to lasting success.

 

 

 

 

Stating my Position on the Ajax Mine Proposal...

Today, at city council, we made the decision to oppose the Ajax mine proposal. Here is my statement as to why I came to a difficult decision to oppose. :

With the wildfires around us, I’ve spent some time in our evacuee reception centres over the past week. Everybody is coming together at these centres. The Ajax polarization of opinion largely disappears. This, to me, is Kamloops at its best. Kamloopsians coming together from all walks of life to help our neighbours.

On Ajax, the sides have become very entrenched and I think we need to remember that the vast majority of people on both sides of the proposal are good people with good intentions and legitimate ideas and concerns.  I urge people to see the good and the legitimate in those with a different view. We need to retain our ability to come together. I truly believe there is much more that unites us than divides us.

I have found my dealings with key proponents and opponents of the proposal to be generally respectful and thoughtful.

This not about a generally alway supporting industry or generally always opposing industry. We need to assess each proposal case by case.

From very early on, I have been guided by a few key principles in my assessment of the Ajax proposal:

 

1. I should base my assessment on the best available information is available about the proposal, both in terms of the final environmental application by the mining company and expert reviews of this application.
2. I should assess the net impact of the mine taking into consideration the proposed benefits and the anticipated challenges. I set a very high bar for my support.

 

I have talked about these principles often in my discussions and my public statements on Ajax.

In my experience, KGHM has been a great company to deal with. I know the staff at KGHM have been incredibly committed to proposing a safe, profitable operation. I also thank KGHM for its significant charitable contributions to the community.

I also know many Kamloops citizens strongly support Ajax for the economic and employment benefits it could bring. Some citizens have shared with me their feeling that Kamloops has a hard time “getting to yes” on major projects they feel would move the community forward.

My research and assessment leads me, however, to a difficult decision today not to support the Ajax proposal. There are five main reasons for my decision.

1. SSN decision : I think the SSN process of assessing the mine proposal was incredibly comprehensive and democratic. While I might differ with SSN’s stances from issue to issue, on an economic and land use decision as large as the Ajax, I think the lack of SSN support is a deal breaker. In the spirit of reconciliation, I stand with SSN on their position on the Ajax proposal.
   
   
2. Health impacts - Virtually every professional peer review of the Ajax proposal I have read has expressed significant uncertainty with Ajax plan to mitigate 90% of the fugitive dust from the site. As Ralph Adams, BC Ministry of Environment Air Quality Meteorologist states in a March 17th 2017 letter, “neither I nor my colleagues at Environment Canada agree that the study supplies adequate evidence that 90% dust mitigation can be maintained in the conditions expected at the proposed Ajax mine”
   
   Even with 90% mitigation, the Ajax application outlines some increases in particulate matter for areas of upper Aberdeen. With the uncertainty around reaching 90%, the increases in particulate matter may be greater than forecast in the application. At the Ajax town hall in June 2017, Dr Kamran Golmohammadi stated “my professional opinion is that there will be episodes of significant increase in particulate matter”
   
   These will have negative health impacts on some residents. SLR’s Dr Muttray confirmed that even short term exposure to PM 2.5 for people with already compromised respiratory systems (eg. those with Asthma) can have negative health impacts.
   
   Dr Golmohammadi also stated that it is very difficult to assess the mental health impacts of anxiety among those very concerned about the mine. The uncertainty around mental health impacts is also a big concern for me.
   
   Ajax would undoubtedly bring many jobs and a lot of economic activity to Kamloops and region. However, with our strong and diverse economy, in my view, these positives are outweighed by the negative health impacts. Kamloops economic success no longer rests on one project or one industry.
   
   
   In saying this, we as a council need to continue to encourage good paying natural resource based jobs in Kamloops. And I commit to helping in any way I can with that effort. 
   
   
3. Monitoring challenges: In his March 17th letter, Ralph Adams notes that a monitoring and migation “strategy carries risk. The strategy is based on the assumption that any issues that arise during the life of the mine could be resolved with additional mitigation meaures; however, there may be issues where no practical or economically feasible solution can be found.” He goes to state that “if the mine goes ahead the development of the monitoring and mitigation plans will be critical and are likely to require the most comprehensive, complex, and expensive monitoring systems that have been attempted for any mine in BC.”
   
   With our local experience with provincial government challenges in monitoring the Owl Road landfill, i am skeptical that we can always rely on comprehensive, complex, and expensive monitoring systems to prevent or mitigate negative impact.
   
   The ownership structure of KGHM may also impact the long term stability of the company’s monitoring plans. KGHM largest shareholder is the Government of Poland. And when governments change in Poland, as happened in the past couple of years, there can be a change of philosophy that may result in less robust monitoring on the ground.
   
   
   
4. Potential loss of doctors: I don’t think all physicians in Kamloops oppose the Ajax proposal. Enough have, however, to cause me a significant concern about a loss of doctors in the community if the proposal is approved. At different Ajax townhalls, we have had neurologists, general practitioners, rehabilitation specialists, and pediatricians express their opposition.
   
   
   
5. Potential loss of community diversity and cohesion: The Ajax proposal has attracted a lot of significant support in the community. It also unfortunately has split the community in terms of support and opposition. If the proposal is approved, I fear that Kamloops will lose some of the diversity I treasure. I think major economic projects should bring the community together. KGHM, despite a significant effort, has not been able to achieve this.

 

Working with Wildfire Situation....

These are personal experiences and observations about the recent incredible wildfire activity in BC. For current updates and info, please visit the TNRD website and the BC Government wildfire website. 

On Friday, events moved incredibly rapidly. In a couple of hours, wildfires were starting to threaten communities across our region. The incredible first responder and  emergency support services network started responding quickly and the folks involved were heroic in their efforts to assist evacuees and to battle the wildfires. 

Another really amazing thing happened and it turned out to be a bit of a challenge. So many people started to offer help. Volunteers, donations - it was really amazing. It also was initially a bit overwhelming to the emergency support services. The first job is to register evacuees and set them up with housing and food. And the added task of coordinating the amazing generosity was challenging.

The coordination issues are now getting addressed. And we wait to see what the weather brings us over the next days.

 

Full time at City Hall for Four Months....

 

May 30th City Council meeting...

Today, I start full time working as the deputy Mayor.  I just want to thank council again for their unanimous support in appointing me. This is a an incredibly humbling honour. I am looking forward to serving the community in this role for the next four months. A by-election to elect a new Mayor and at least two councillors will be held by the end of September. And, then, I will be happy to return to my seat as a city councillor. 

We will very much miss Mayor, now MLA, Peter Milobar and are hearts all go out to our dear colleague Councillor Marg Spina, who is resigning at the end of June to focus on her battle with cancer and to focus on her family. We will miss her dearly at city hall but support her in her decision 1000%.

I approach this job as a caretaker, to work with council, city staff, and the community to continue to forward council’s strategic plan, and to have as seamless as possible transition for the duties of the Mayor’s office. I have not been elected by citizens as Mayor and I will not be going in directions outside of our strategic plan, the normal duties that Peter had undertaken as Mayor, or independent of the approval of council as a whole. I ask you all to hold me accountable to these commitments I make to the community. 

So, its really steady as she goes and maintaining the already existing momentum. 

If there is anything I can do to serve you, please never hesitate to shoot me an email (asingh@kamloops.ca) or call my cell (250-320-6532). 

 

 

CBC Kamloops Interview on Decision to Demolish Old Daily News Building...

 

There has been quite a robust debate over the past days on council's decision to start the process of demolishing the old Kamloops Daily News building to create some interim parking spaces downtown. I was on CBC Kamloops yesterday talking about this. There also some good clips of Councillor Denis Walsh, who opposes demolition. Thanks to Shelly Joyce for interviewing me and to Tara Copeland for setting the interview up. Here is the audio.

Why I Voted Against the City Budget This Year...

I work with amazing people at city hall. We don’t always agree on issues, both big and small. A big issue on which I voted differently than the majority of my city council colleagues was the 2017 city budget.

I did not support the city budget this year. The majority of council did support it.

I have a great deal of respect for my colleagues and for the processes of council. After we vote on a matter, the general practice is to not criticize the decision after a vote.

I think it is appropriate, however, to explain why I voted against the budget. I will do this, while also trying to acknowledge and honour the views of my colleagues. I hope I’m successful.

The average annual tax increase, over the past decade in Kamloops, has been just under 2%. I’ve been comfortable using in and around 2% as a bit of a top end benchmark of where I feel comfortable supporting the budget.

We were coming in at 2.67% increase this year. And it’s forecast that the coming years may even be more financially challenging. This is out of my regular comfort zone.

One thing we may forget is the added utility costs (water, sewer, garbage / recycling). With our taxes and utility costs combine, the increase, this year, is around 2.2%. So, overall, less of an increase.

And, as we were crunching numbers and reviewing funding requests, a number of people contacted me to express their concerns about tax increases - even 2% tax increases. These citizens were mainly seniors on pensions who are concerned about the rising prices of most of their necessary expenditures and who don’t want to be forced to downsize before they are ready.

I did get a very nice email from a citizen advocating for a 4% increase to fund a lot of services and projects that enhance our quality of life in Kamloops. I totally get the pride and joy many people have in the quality of life in Kamloops. Council offers a lot of support for quality of life projects and services.

So, budget making in a community as diverse as Kamloops is a pretty delicate balancing act.

We did have the potential option of using some unallocated reserve funds to bring down the tax increase this year but council, as a whole, wanted to retain our flexibility to fund projects that come up between our annual budget approvals.

City staff has done great work with finding efficiencies in operations. I’d like to thoughtfully work to bring down the tax increases / utility costs proposed in future years.

I was thankful, at the last budget meeting, that we had quite a robust discussion on how we could productively engage in examining the 2018 city budget and look at possible options to offer some tax / utility fee relief to residents.

 

 

 

How was the Year at the North Shore Business Improvement Association?

At city hall on tuesday, the Executive Director of the North Shore Business Improvement Association (NSBIA), Steven Puhallo, stated that 2016 was a great year for the association. There has been a lot of recent and significant road and bridge upgrades / repairs that made it more difficult for some to access North Kamloops commercial areas. In 2016, all that work had been completed. The new, expanded North Shore Policing Office has also been welcomed by the BIA.  A new sign replaced the tired old one by the Tranquille Rd overpass over the Overlanders Bridge. Slides from Mr Puhallo's presentation to council are available in the council agenda package for this week. 

Business Improvement Associations (BIAs) are funded by an additional levy put on commercial properties in a geographically defined neighbourhood. These levies are collected by city hall and, after a council vote, the funds are released to a BIA for its activities. The BIA promotes and supports businesses within their neighbourhood. Kamloops has two BIAs at the moment - the NSBIA and the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association. Both these associations have turned into critical hubs of business activity and of community events. 

Why It's Sometimes Important for People to Attend a Council Meeting...

We heard an application at today's council meeting for a resident to keep 3 dogs on their property. The limit is 2 but residents can apply to council for a variance to keep 3. Typically for these applications, the resident wanting the variance comes to council to verbally present their arguments as to why approval should be granted and to answer any questions council may have. This did not happen today. We did turn down the application. I am not saying we would have approved it if the applicant had appeared but, at least, it might have given the applicant more of a chance. I did a short Facebook live video on this soon after the council meeting:

https://www.facebook.com/bettercitizen/videos/10158035619560247/?l=6715786865035595522