Forum panel plays hardball with city council candidates
Tempers flare as council hopefuls face prickly questions
The Okanagan Weekend
The evening was advertised as having “no softball question.”
At Thursday’s Penticton Herald all-candidates forum for city council hopefuls, the hardballs came flying quicker than at a batting cage.
Max Picton, one of three incumbents challenging for six spots, was stumped when asked about the South Okanagan shared services agreement implemented by the city. He specifically referenced this committee in his introduction, but then was unable to give an example when asked.
“There’s quite a few initiatives that we’re looking at as the city . . . there’s an opportunity to improve communication between the school district, the city and others . . .” he began, but trailed off. The panel repeated the question to offer Picton an opportunity to answer, but, after a moment’s silence, he responded, “I’ve happened to draw a blank on this one. I apologize.”
The tone of the evening was set early when Kevin Proteau, well known for selling his “Locals Supporting Locals” calendars, was asked why he uses an American print company instead of one in the Okanagan.
“I tried to print it locally but unfortunately the sunshine tax is too high and I’d been going with a place in Ontario,” he said.
When that deal fell through, he began printing with a company in California.
When asked to clarify then that the calendar isn’t printed locally, Proteau became visibly heated and quipped that all the labour for the calendar is done himself. Visibly shaken, he followed panellist Joe Fries out of the lobby at the conclusion of the meeting.
Former mayor Jake Kimberley gave the audience a preview of his short fuse, remarking that questions posed concerning the substantial cost overrun of the South Okanagan Events Centre were “dumb,” and that price of materials couldn’t be budgeted for. He was reminded he had work experience in construction, but remained firm that it was the cost of materials, which, he stated, couldn’t be planned or budgeted for. That accounted for the enormous bill, Kimberley said.
Kimberley drew applause from some audience members for his hard-nosed response to the questions.
On the topic of housing, incumbent Judy Sentes was given the opportunity to “clear the air” about carriage homes, and whether or not she supports their development in Penticton. The question was specifically aimed at her own neighbourhood, as she owns a property with a carriage home.
“I am supportive of that strategy . . . but it has to be compliant,” she said, after mentioning that her carriage home was built within Penticton’s regulations and was to house a family member.
Katie Robinson declared her support for the youth of Penticton in response to a question about her infamous 2014 comment about “head-banging druggies.”
She said she regrets the remark and quoted her resume of volunteer service.
“We encouraged (in the past) more entertainment for youth and everyone else, and I guess you’ll have to stay tuned for the rest,” she said.
The Skaha Lake Park waterslide controversy was addressed by each of the incumbents during their opening remarks.
“I don’t want to dwell on the past but feel that it is important to address the Skaha Park issue. I have said openly that a mistake was made. I am the only councillor to ask for, and vote for . . . (its) reconsideration,” incumbent Campbell Watt said.
Karen Brownlee’s focus was bringing back the voices of the citizens.
“The city took them away,” she said without hesitation. “It’s your city. There’s more of us than them, so we’re going to go out and we’re going to take back our voice. Skyscrapers? Are you kidding me?”
Doug Maxwell used his oneminute response time to attack the media when asked about his opinion on how tourism funds are being spent, stating the media’s constant stories about smoke from forest fires kept tourists away and locals indoors.
Despite it being one of the province’s worst summers in years for forest fires, Maxwell remarked that the smoke really wasn’t that bad and shouldn’t have received the attention it did because the fires weren’t in the city.
His viewpoint was shared by fellow candidate Christopher Millin.
Affordability and homelessness were often mentioned during the two-hour, 45-minute forum.
Julius Bloomfield referenced “the Medicine Hat initiative” and how other cities such as Regina are now moving forward to make changes.
“To house somebody in safe housing costs in the region of $25,000 to $30,000 a year. For that person to be in the homeless state and in constant trouble . . . the cost of keeping that person in that cycle is between $80,000 to $100,00 a year. Housing first works,” Bloomfield said.
Connie Sahlmark openly discussed her arrest on March 24 in Burnaby, while protesting the Trans Mountain pipeline. All charges were eventually dropped.
“I believe in my values,” she said. “I act on my values. With this town, we’re focusing so much on crime right now that we aren’t listening to the integrated approach that we need to take,” she said.
She added that there are partnerships awaiting response that deal not only with housing, but with transportation as well.
Christopher Evasin used his opportunities to speak of his young age, experience and time spent in the air cadets.
“I’m 20 years old,” he said, bringing a loud round of applause from the 400 people in attendance.
“Everybody has to start somewhere,” he said. “How is anybody without any experience supposed to gain experience?”
David Perry, one of three former mayors in attendance, said the number of candidates made it challenging for organizers, but felt it was one of the “best-balanced” forums he’s attended.
“The questions were researched and everyone was kept on their toes,” he said. “There were some tough questions — that’s a fact of life. If you can’t stand up to those, you really have no business putting your name up for election. I felt it was very fair.”
To read a longer version of this story, visit www.pentictonherald.ca.