In 1979, my wife Teresa and I chose the Creston Valley as the place where we wanted to raise our family. We have three children and four grandchildren.
I was a partner in a successful insurance brokerage for over 30 years in Creston. I sold that business and retired in 2010. I served on the boards of four national and multi-national insurance companies, as well as a director of the Insurance Brokers Association.
Over the last 43 years, I have a long history of service to my community and I believe in giving back. In 1997, I was honoured to be chosen as Citizen of the Year. I served 21 years as a volunteer firefighter and 10 years as an RCMP Auxiliary Constable. I also served on the boards of Minor Hockey, Creston Golf Club, and Creston Valley Thunder Cats.
Creston has similar issues to all municipalities, and there is no single issue that is important to our community. Some noteworthy issues include the cost of taxes, affordable housing, medical and emergency services. Council has been working on those issues by creating a new Affordable Housing Committee and encouraging the Creston Valley Health Working Group in their work to successfully recruit 18 doctors. There is more work to be done but we are slowly making progress.
I am very proud of the successes of Creston’s town council in the past eight years. We have received over 20 million dollars in grants and have been successful in partnering with local groups to complete many projects. I am proud to have had a hand in downtown public washrooms, completion of the Arrow Creek water pipeline, timber flagpole, new pavilion and washrooms at Centennial Park, expansion of the trails network, Creston Emergency Services Building, acquisition of Creston Education Centre, and Kinsmen Park. During my time with council, we also opened the dog park, bike park, Dwight and Rosamond Moore Wetland, and the Public Art Connection (my favourite is “Bad Hair Day”).
I believe my previous business experience, combined with my ability to work co-operatively with various boards, makes me a good candidate for town council. I would be honoured to continue this work for another term.