I am running as an independent and financing my own campaign. My wife and I have lived here for 28 years and raised our family here. I served this community as a Conservation Officer for 23 years. I continue to be the chair of Creston Trinity Housing Society and have been in that position for more than 20 years.
We maintain and run the Catalpa Apartments downtown and provide low-cost housing for seniors and handicapped persons. I have been a member of the Board of directors of Valley Community Services for 4 years. Valley Community Services delivers a diversity of programs to this area, everything from Strong Start for young children to TAPS for seniors.
I was on the committee that saved the Creston Education Center. I have worked with the planning committee and dispersed Christmas hampers every December for the past 5 years. I coached baseball as my sons were growing up here. My wife and I were involved in the earlier attempts to get a covered pool here. We have volunteered our time with the Refugee Committee and Spectrum Farms. For the past three years, I have been working to replace the United Church hall after it burned down.
As a Trustee, I have been the liaison between the church congregation and the insurance company, the architect, and the construction company. My Government and community volunteering experience will suit me well as a counselor. I’m running because I care about our community. I hope the borrowing referendum passes. It will establish the maximum borrowing amount, and my goal will be to find savings within that number. I have looked at the old fire hall and it’s just not adequate. In the next term, I would like to see us succeed in getting the heavy traffic out of the downtown core and onto Cook Street.
I will work towards getting more employment opportunities for young people to support their families. I will promote this community as a place people can live and work remotely. I would love to see our council find a way to get rid of the “bunker.” We need more doctors and I will work to ensure that recruited physicians get the most complete information we can provide.
I would like our town to have another affordable housing project started. Council’s role will be to help them find an affordable piece of land. There has been a great deal of discussion on the level of taxes we pay here, and how our money is spent. Looking at different reports gives us a conflicting amount. We are squarely in the middle of the pack in BC, and to verify this, please read the reports provided on the town’s website. Elections have the best results when voters receive the best information.
I am a communicator, collaborator, and a conciliator, and will fit in well with the team that forms on October 20th!