Wheeler believes he can make community better

As a former cab driver and now a security guard, mayoral candidate Dominic Wheeler has pretty well seen it all.

“I’ve driven everybody from high court judges to people fighting addiction — or not fighting addiction — in my cab,” he said.

And it was while behind the wheel that he decided he could make a more profound contribution to the community by seeking office.

“Three years ago after the debacle at Skaha Lake, I was talking to people and three different people in two weeks while I was driving said I should run for mayor,” Wheeler recalled.

“And I realized there’s nothing I can change sitting in a taxi.”

The 42-year-old married father of four sees the intertwined issues of homelessness, addiction and crime — “they all go hand in hand” — as the single biggest issue facing Penticton.

Wheeler, who lives in the city, supports the housing-first philosophy that’s in place now, but believes much more social housing is required than what’s currently underway, and it will require keeping tabs on how it develops.

“There is a lot more work to do and it’s going to take time, and one term may or may not be enough to see things happen,” he said.

Besides running for office because he genuinely believes he can make the community a better place, Wheeler also wants to offer people an option for change. Contenders like Andrew Jakubeit and John Vassilaki are part of the status quo, he said.

“It’s obvious people want change,” Wheeler continued, pointing to the six mayoral candidates and 24 for council. “The question is what kind of change: Someone who’s going to work for the corporation or someone who’s going to work for the people?”

He also singled out Jakubeit as being deaf to people’s concerns.

“I certainly wouldn’t be signing contracts while people are out protesting,” said Wheeler, referencing the incumbent inking a deal with Trio Marine Group in 2016 as hundreds of opponents rallied outside city hall.

The other mayoral contenders are James Blake, Jason Cox, Jakubeit, Jukka Laurio and Vassilaki.

Special to the Herald Dominic Wheeler has decided he can make a bigger contribution to the community by running for office rather than simply complaining about what ails the city.