Five Priorities. One Clear Standard.
My five priorities address different challenges, but they are guided by the same principles.
Every major decision should:
-
begin with a clear public need;
-
use evidence before opinion;
-
consider reasonable options;
-
disclose the full cost and risk;
-
test whether the same result can be achieved for less;
-
protect today’s services without unfairly burdening future taxpayers; and
-
measure results so the City can learn and improve.
The goal is not smaller government or larger government. It is better government, focused on practical results, reasonable costs and lasting public value.
Better Value for Every Tax Dollar
Clear costs. Reasonable spending. Measurable results.
Every dollar the City spends represents the effort of someone who earned it. Council has a duty to treat that money with care.
Kelowna already has a strong financial-planning system. The next step is to make City costs easier to understand and to apply a clear cost-and-results test before major spending is approved.
Kelowna’s adopted 2026 Financial Plan includes about $1.104 billion across City operations, capital projects, the airport and utilities. About $217.6 million comes from municipal property taxes. Those figures show why the headline budget alone does not prove either waste or value. The real test is what each service costs, what result it provides and whether the long-term obligation is reasonable.
1. Make City costs easier to understand
I will propose one annual Community Value Statement that brings key information from existing City reports into a plain-language public summary.
It should show:
-
what major services cost;
-
how they are funded;
-
where municipal taxes broadly go;
-
how taxes, utilities, parcel charges and user fees differ;
-
why major costs changed; and
-
what residents received in return.
The goal is not more reporting. It is clearer and more useful reporting.
2. Apply a Better Value test before major spending
Before approving a major program, service increase or capital project, Council should clearly identify:
-
why it is needed;
-
what options were considered;
-
the five-year financial effect;
-
the full lifecycle cost of long-lived assets;
-
staffing and operating needs;
-
key risks and assumptions;
-
the expected public result; and
-
when Council will review whether it worked.
The City should define the service standard first, then choose the option that delivers it safely and reliably at the lowest reasonable long-term cost.
Lowest reasonable cost does not mean the cheapest choice. It means the best balance of cost, quality, risk and useful life.
3. Control costs before raising revenue
Before asking residents or businesses to pay more for a new initiative, Council should first test:
-
whether existing resources can be used;
-
whether lower-priority spending can be reduced or delayed;
-
whether outdated or repeated work can be removed;
-
whether purchasing or contracts can be improved;
-
whether a project can be phased or redesigned;
-
whether services can be shared with other governments; and
-
whether technology can improve service or reduce cost.
Funding from another order of government may reduce the City’s share, but it does not remove the public cost. There is still one taxpayer.
Some services will need more investment. Others may need a different way of working. The commitment is to avoid spending more than reasonably necessary and to direct limited resources toward the community’s highest needs.
Respect every tax dollar because someone worked hard to earn it. Spend it carefully. Measure the result. Keep improving.
Kelowna’s public-safety challenge cannot be reduced to one crime number or one enforcement policy.
Residents and businesses need safe public spaces. People in serious crisis need access to proper care. Police resources should be used for calls that require police authority, while qualified alternative responders should be used where they can safely provide the better response.
Enforcement should address conduct, not homelessness, disability, mental illness, addiction, housing status or appearance.
1. Review conduct-based standards for public spaces
Within the first 180 days of the Council term, I will propose or support a motion asking staff and municipal legal counsel to review the Parks and Public Spaces Bylaw and related enforcement policies.
The review should consider whether the rules are:
-
clear;
-
lawful;
-
proportionate;
-
applied consistently; and
-
supported by fair review, privacy and property-handling procedures.
Clear guidance is needed for violence, threats, obstruction, unsafe disposal of drug-use equipment and repeated conduct that prevents others from safely using public spaces.
Any new exclusion, seizure or appeal procedure should receive legal review before adoption.
2. Put the right responder on the right call
I will support public release of the City’s policing-model review before major long-term decisions are made.
I will also support a public community-safety scorecard that reports:
-
emergency and priority response times;
-
frontline vacancies, overtime and workload;
-
results from alternative-response programs;
-
repeat-offender and chronic property-crime outcomes; and
-
cost by major service category using consistent definitions.
This is not a plan to weaken frontline policing. It is a plan to protect police capacity for the calls that require it.
3. Build regional treatment and justice capacity
Kelowna cannot resolve severe mental illness, complex addiction or repeat offending through municipal enforcement alone.
I will support a regional coalition of local governments, First Nations, Interior Health, law enforcement and community partners to seek more provincial capacity for:
-
clinically governed treatment;
-
complex care;
-
Crown prosecutors and courts;
-
repeat-offender coordination; and
-
clear implementation schedules for funded commitments.
Any secure treatment setting must be clinically governed, authorized by law and based on proper assessment. Treatment must not be confused with punishment.
Council should report each year on what it requested, what other governments committed to and what was actually delivered.
Public safety requires both lawful accountability and systems capable of producing a better outcome.
Safe Streets. Effective Care.
Clear rules. The right response. Accountable results.
Smart Growth. Attainable Housing.
Build the homes Kelowna needs where the City can support them.
Kelowna’s housing challenge is not only the number of units approved. It is whether new homes match the needs and incomes of the people who live and work here.
The city needs more family-sized apartments, townhomes, co-operative housing, non-market housing and realistic choices for working and middle-income households.
Approval alone does not make a home attainable. Land, construction, financing, City charges, infrastructure and approval risk all affect what gets built and what future residents must pay.
Smart growth should meet three tests:
-
Does it provide housing people need?
-
Can existing or funded infrastructure support it?
-
Do public incentives produce measurable public value?
1. Identify Housing Readiness
I will propose a targeted review of urban centres and transit-supportive corridors to identify locations where additional four- to six-storey housing can be approved more predictably.
Those areas should be identified only after reviewing:
-
water, sewer and drainage capacity;
-
fire access and water supply;
-
roads, transit, loading and curb space;
-
schools, employment and nearby services;
-
neighbourhood transitions;
-
farmland and environmentally sensitive areas; and
-
the cost and timing of required infrastructure.
This is not blanket citywide upzoning. It is a plan to direct more housing to places where it can work and where the rules can be made clear in advance.
2. Tie housing incentives to housing results
Tax exemptions, grants and reduced City charges have a public cost. They may be justified, but the value must be clear.
I will propose a public Housing Incentive Ledger showing:
-
the municipal value of each major incentive;
-
the number and type of homes expected;
-
affordability or tenure conditions;
-
construction and occupancy targets;
-
the infrastructure funding source; and
-
the results delivered.
Incentive programs should have review dates and sunset clauses. They should continue only where the need remains and the results support them.
3. Use suitable City land for lasting affordability
I will propose a policy requiring suitable surplus City properties to be evaluated for co-operative, non-profit and middle-income housing before an unrestricted sale.
Each review should compare:
-
immediate sale proceeds;
-
a long-term ground lease;
-
housing outcomes;
-
affordability;
-
infrastructure needs;
-
risk; and
-
long-term community value.
Not every City property should be leased or used for housing. The point is to compare the long-term options before an asset is sold and cannot be recovered.
Growth should improve people’s lives, protect the place we share and avoid leaving future taxpayers with infrastructure we failed to plan or fund.
Kelowna has major economic strengths: the airport, post-secondary education, health care, technology, agriculture, tourism, construction and thousands of local businesses.
City Council cannot control interest rates, trade policy or the wider economy. It can influence:
-
how quickly and predictably City decisions are made;
-
whether employment land is ready;
-
how infrastructure supports business growth; and
-
whether publicly funded economic-development work produces clear results.
Economic activity is not the same as economic resilience. Kelowna needs an economy that creates jobs, supports local enterprise and can adapt when conditions change.
1. Make economic development accountable from the start
I will support a public four-year Jobs and Investment Strategy with clearly defined services, full costs and annual targets.
The City should report:
-
business-retention and expansion files advanced;
-
investment projects and their stage of completion;
-
commercial and industrial approval times;
-
employment-land availability;
-
business-licence trends;
-
labour-market conditions; and
-
the results of publicly supported tourism and event programs.
Understanding whether city policies caused economic growth or just observed it ensures efficient tax spending and true political accountability.
2. Give businesses one accountable path through City Hall
I will propose a Business and Investment Concierge Team or Program for qualifying commercial, industrial and major employment projects based on employment and investment.
For a complete pre-application submission, the City should aim to provide a written development road map within 15 business days showing:
-
required applications and studies;
-
known fees and charges;
-
City and outside-agency referrals;
-
infrastructure limits;
-
review stages;
-
responsible decision-makers; and
-
target timelines.
This Concierge process coordinates information to minimize delays and will not override planning, engineering, building, fire or environmental standards.
The goal is faster and more predictable decisions, not weaker rules.
3. Prepare employment land and connect it to talent
I will propose a five-year Employment Land Readiness Plan identifying:
-
available commercial and industrial land;
-
zoning;
-
servicing limits;
-
required infrastructure;
-
responsible agencies; and
-
the expected date priority areas can become development-ready.
The plan should pay particular attention to the airport and UBC Okanagan area and established industrial districts.
It should also strengthen links among the airport, UBC Okanagan, Okanagan College, Indigenous partners and private employers through:
-
student work placements;
-
industry-supported training;
-
research commercialization;
-
aerospace, manufacturing, health and technology opportunities; and
-
practical transportation links between homes, education and jobs.
A strong economy creates opportunity, supports public services and gives future generations a reason to build their lives here.
Jobs, Investment & Local Business.
A Kelowna that works for the people who work here.
A Fire-Resilient and Water-Secure Kelowna
Prepare before the emergency. Protect our water. Build resilience into every decision.
Kelowna knows the risks of wildfire and drought. The Okanagan Mountain Park and McDougall Creek fires brought those risks close to home. Fort McMurray, Los Angeles, Europe and wildfires across B.C. provide further lessons about what can happen when extreme fire, drought, development and critical infrastructure collide.
Kelowna already has important wildfire, water, FireSmart and emergency management initiatives underway. I support that work. My priority is to build on it with three clear objectives.
1. Reduce Wildfire Risk Before the Fire Starts
Continue FireSmart programs, strategic fuel and vegetation management, neighbourhood preparedness and protection of critical infrastructure.
Evacuation access, water availability and wildfire risk should also be considered in infrastructure and future development decisions.
The objective: reduce the risk of a wildfire becoming an urban disaster.
2. Protect Kelowna's Water Future
Water is essential infrastructure. It supports our homes, businesses, agriculture, parks and natural environment—and is critical to emergency fire protection.
Build on Kelowna's Water Security Plan by improving conservation, reducing avoidable water loss, strengthening storage and distribution, and planning for greater reliability and redundancy.
The objective: make every litre go further while protecting the water capacity our community needs.
3. Measure Resilience and Report the Results
Create a public Community Resilience Scorecard and Visual Dashboard using information the City already collects.
Track key measures including wildfire mitigation, FireSmart participation, evacuation preparedness, water use and supply, infrastructure resilience, project costs and outside funding.
Residents should be able to answer four questions:
What was the risk? What did we do? What did it cost? Did the risk go down?
Invest Responsibly
Resilience should not automatically mean higher property taxes. Pursue available provincial and federal funding while requiring investments to demonstrate measurable risk reduction and public value.
Not every wildfire, water or emergency issue is controlled by City Hall. Effective leadership means understanding who has the authority to act:
Lead where the City has authority.
Partner where responsibility is shared.
Advocate where another government has jurisdiction.
John Vaillant's Fire Weather reminds us that assumptions based on yesterday's fires may not adequately prepare communities for tomorrow's.
We cannot eliminate wildfire or drought. But we can identify foreseeable risks, prepare critical systems and invest prudently before an emergency occurs.
Good government doesn't promise disasters won't happen. It makes sure we're better prepared when they do.