Kevin on Kelowna Musings from a political mind

AM1150 sent out the following questionnaire to all candidates. Here are my responses:

1. How are you going to revitalize the downtown?
If re-elected, I will make the implementation of the Downtown Plan a top priority. The first step in this process has already taken place, with Council endorsing a construction schedule for Bernard Avenue infrastructure renewal which will minimize the impact on downtown merchants during summer and the Christmas shopping period. I feel that this can act as a catalyst for redevelopment in our downtown, and intend to advocate for action on the other recommendations which came out of this summer’s charette. In addition, Council has improved its Revitalization Tax Exemption program, which provides incentives for property owners to redevelop or renovate their land in the Downtown or Rutland urban centres, and I believe we will start seeing results when property owners begin taking advantage of this opportunity. Furthermore, I am in support of a convention centre for downtown as well as simplifying our application processes to attract more entertainment and events into the downtown core.

2. How would you tackle the problem of organized crime?
Keeping our streets safe will require a collaborative approach between the City, the province, RCMP, and businesses. From the local government perspective, I believe we should be raising awareness of the presence of organized crime groups by publishing a list of gang-affiliated businesses so residents can choose to stop supporting them. If re-elected, I will continue to lobby our provincial representatives to secure long-term stable funding of the RCMP Anti-Gang task force. Finally, I would encourage the business community to become a partner in tackling organized crime by instituting ‘no gang colours’ policies in their establishments. Collectively, we can address this issue and make Kelowna a safer place to live.

3. How would you improve transit?
In the last 6 years, service hours on our transit system have increased 55%. Ridership has grown to the point where some of our routes experienced overcrowding and pass-ups this fall. Needless to say, we’ve taken great steps forward and I’m committed to continuing that progress. I believe in strategic, balanced increases to transit funding through the annual budget, and frequent reviews of routes to ensure efficiency. Some changes I support are having a bus go to the Capital News Centre, establishing a transit exchange in the Rutland Town Centre, and creating a route which includes Quail Ridge and the airport. As someone who relies on the transit system for my commute to university, I recognize there is much progress to be made, but I have confidence we can continue to improve the system and the number of people choosing to take the bus.

4. What would you do to increase the supply of affordable housing?
As a Council representative on the City’s Housing Committee, I am supportive of many of the ideas proposed in the draft Housing Strategy. The most effective tool at the City’s disposal has been land. We have seen three successful partnerships where the City has provided land, and the provincial government and a non-profit agency signed on as partners to create affordable housing units on the site. I favour a continuation of this approach. In addition, I believe we can increase the variety in our housing stock by changing the zoning bylaw to allow courtyard housing – which provides developers an opportunity to make more efficient use of their site thereby lowering land costs – and by allowing fee simple townhouses. Finally, I believe it is important to look at lowering the costs of creating housing, particularly rental units. This can be done through incremental increases in the City’s Housing Opportunities Reserve Fund budget allocation and by waiving the requirements for certain projects to go through the Advisory Planning Commission.

5. What are your plans to make Kelowna a more attractive place to work, live and play?
First, it is important to acknowledge that Kelowna already is a very attractive place to call home. My family fell in love with this community and chose to relocate here from Ireland. That said, there is always room for improvement and I feel there are some key issues we can address to make our City an even better place. The first challenge is a lack of high-paying jobs. Kelowna needs to focus on industries with significant potential, such as the high-tech and health-related sectors, and collaborate with partners such as the Economic Development Commission, the Chamber of Commerce, Accelerate Okanagan and our post-secondary institutions to attract high-paying jobs in those fields to Kelowna. I also believe in increasing the quality of life in our community by encouraging densification of our town centres so people can work within walking distance of their homes, and I support achieving this vision by adhering to the goals in our Official Community Plan. The issues of affordable housing and public safety, which I have discussed earlier, also need to be addressed to ensure Kelowna becomes an even more desirable place to live, work, and play. Finally, these goals will only be achieved by a Mayor and Council who are collaborative, focused, and committed to engaging the community. In my two years on Council, I have been an effective team member, and hope to serve the community through another Council term.