Welcome to Your Kamloops!

Campaign Diary - Oct 26th 2014...

 

Today started with my regular Sunday morning run with the Kamloops RunClub. A smaller group of great folks out today as many of our running mates were in Vancouver today running either 10k or a half marathon in the Rock and Roll series races down there.

We have a really great time running together and we joke and chat and support each other. I was getting some ribbing that, if I gave anybody else a hard time today, I would be losing votes!

(Quick digression to note that yesterday, I hosted a community walk / run / campaign fundraiser that went off really well. We had 33 people walk / run either 2.5k or 5k. So many of my RunClub friends helped, especially Lisa Imeson. That's Lisa, Wayne from Runners Sole (such a great help), and me in the photo above)

After going home for a shower and some r&r, I then went to the Sikh temple on Ord Rd. Got there a bit later than I would have liked but still had a great lunch and good conversations with many friends there.)

I went to Home Depot to buy a mallet for sign pounding :)

The rest of the day, campaign wise, was trying to schedule my next couple of weeks so I am bit more organized. And answering the downtown Kamloops candidate survey and a few emails. 

 

Arjun's Campaign Diary - Oct 18th 2014

Today started bright and early at the Kamloops Farmers Market and a traditional marker of the start of the civic election campiagn - the Council of Canadians Candidates forum.

 

I didn't sleep all too great the night before and got a bit spooked by the short time to cover a lot of points. Candidates were asked to answer this question in one minute:

"In view of the fact that the United Nations has declared water to be a human right, how would you address this right in your capacity as Mayor/Councillor vis-a-vis the proposed Ajax mine, public drinking fountains, metered water, pollution through cosmetic pesticide use, or any other capacity?" 

Out of respect to the organizers, I tried to specifically each of the 4 specific issues they raised with regards to water use. I forgot one point in my opening statement. 

I hopefully made up for this by adding the point I missed in my response to the first question I was asked - which was on community wide wifi. I was also asked a question about the wages of city manager and whether I felt they were too high. I support easier access to community wide wifi and I don't think city managers' wages are too high given the service they have provided the community generally and through me as community representative.

I was humbled by many strong supporters helping me at my "listening booth". I got asked about the possibility of opening up the drop and shop at the landfill, the desireability of paving the oak hills dike, and the days for advanced voting in the election.

I had a bit of nap in the afternoon and then responded to some questions for the TRU Omega newspaper ( I hope I got these in under the wire, was a bit later than I hoped because of my nap). Lots of questionnaires to fill out this election. More than before. This is a good thing, I believe, but workload has increased.

Went to the Diwali function put on by the Kamloops Hindu Cultural Assocation this evening. Great event. Wonderful entertainment. Nice to see a lot of people and to sit with Nancy Bepple and MP Cathy McLeod (along with our friends and spouses.

Was approached at the dinner about the possibilty of the city hiring more Indo-Canadian citizens. This come up from time to time.

As I am sure happens to other council incumbents (especially), I got asked again when I will run for Mayor. I would love to run one day but am quite happy with our current Mayor. 

 

Register for See Arjun Run - walk/run on Oct 25th....

Register here....

My 2014 Kamloops city council campaign platform....

Honoured to release this today for community review:

 

Arjun Singh for City Council
Kamloops Civic Elections, Nov 15th 2014


Responsible, Accountable Governance
 - working constructively with my council colleagues and with city hall staff
 - taking a balanced approach: bringing together economic, social, environmental, and cultural considerations
 - thoroughly researching issues, consulting the public before making decisions, and explaining the reasoning behind decisions.
 - committing to take a position on the Ajax mine proposal after the enviro assessment application is submitted and I have had time to review.

A Resilient, Vibrant Business Climate
 - advocating for green, creative and technology based industries, business practices, and jobs
 - continuing to carefully review city spending to keep taxes and fees affordable
 - advocating for continued improvement to downtown parking kiosks.

A Healthy, Socially Responsible Community
- supporting initiatives to end homelessness and to support people with mental health problems / addictions
- encouraging strong and sustainable neighbourhood associations
- exploring a recreation centre for active ageing seniors (eg. pickle ball players)
- helping facilitate the recruitment of more doctors to the community.

A Healthy, Green Community - Towards A Zero Carbon Kamloops
- committing to hosting Idea Festival 2015 on climate action
- advocating for the promotion and enhancement of Kamloops’ outdoor recreation opportunities.
- advocating a comprehensive study of downtown transportation patterns 
- advocating for an acceleration of our stormwater improvement program.


Experience, Education, and Community Involvement
 - Kamloops City Councillor, 2005-2008, 2011-
 - Director, Union of BC Municipalities (served on Environment and Convention committees)
 - Council rep on Arts Commission, Downtown Parking Solutions Group, Kamplan Committee, Tourism Kamloops Board (alternate)
- Property Manager, Sabar Investments (Member, Kamloops Chamber of Commerce)
- MA, Professional Communication
- Certificate in Dialogue, Deliberation, and Public Engagement
- President Elect, Kamloops Rotary Club
- Past Chair, Ending Youth@Risk Fundraising Team, Interior Community Services
- Member, Kamloops Art Gallery

The raw results from my community survey (and some analysis)....

I want to thank the almost 200 Kamloopsians who participated in my community survey to help shape my 2014 campaign platform (which I am releasing tomorrow)....

Here are my notes from my analysis of your responses. Here I tried to pick up themes that emerged.

 

REALLY LIKE ABOUT KAMLOOPS?

- outdoor recreation

- good sized (small town with amenities, bigger city with friendly people and community spirit.)

- friendly, inclusive, easygoing, engaged

- weather / natural setting / location

 

 - TRU

 - culture

 - economic opportunity

 - diversity

 

-------------------------------------------------------

EVEN BETTER ABOUT KAMLOOPS?

- homelessness / mental health and addictions

- alternative transportation / downtown parking

- more job opportunities

 

- downtown / north shore revitalization

- air pollution

- taking vibrancy to the next level

- activities for youth

 

———————————————————————————

PERCEPTIONS OF CITY COUNCIL AND CITY HALL

- some personal agendas

- committed, hard working, different perspectives

- too conservative, complacent, cautious

- slightly more positive than negative overall. Approx 10/% to 15% of comments neutral. 

 

——————————————————————————

TOP ISSUES

- Ajax

- taxes and fees / city spending

- jobs

- alternative transportation / parking / roads

- mental health / addictions / affordable housing

 

- lack of family doctors

- performing arts centre

- air quality

- crime and policing

- infrastructure upgrades

 

 

 

 

 

———————————————————————————

ATTRIBUTES OF AN EXCELLENT CITY COUNCIL / COUNCILLOR

- listen and also make decisions 

- listens to all sides

- willing to not go with majority vote

- explains decisions, communicates well

- visionary, passionate

- kind, honest

- courage, stand up for what you believe

- research issues

- long term thinking

- well rounded

- attends public events

- reaches out to those not often heard

- innovative, bold, risk taker

- practice what you preach

 

 

 And here are the raw responses with people's personally identifying information taken out:

Raw Responses - 2014 Community Survey for Council Platform by Arjun Singh

An Invitation to the first "See Arjun Run" community walk / run.

Register here.....

Seniors (65 and over) free registration (donation welcome)

Last three days to take my community survey....

Please do not hesitate to provide your input to my short community survey, if you haven't done so yet. Responses will help provide direction to my 2014 council campaign platform: 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/arjunsurvey

Survey closes this friday evening.

Raw Campaign Video Diary - Oct 3rd 2014

Find out more about the Kamplan / OCP update. Take the Kamplan survey. Call me at 250 377 1797 or email [email protected]