Kelowna elects its first openly-gay city councillor
In a group of incumbents, Kelowna city council gained one new face in Saturday’s election.
Loyal Wooldridge came in eighth place, becoming the only new councillor in Kelowna.
“It was pretty exhilarating,” Wooldridge said Sunday afternoon. “It was a pretty positive campaign, and things were looking good, but until the polls came in, we had no idea what to expect. I’m excited to work with the seasoned incumbents on council.”
Wooldridge officially announced his intention to run for council in May this year.
In preparation, he attended more than 20 council meetings, learning as much as he could about the city.
“I think when you’re going into public service, you need to do the work first to know how council functions,” said Wooldridge. “I really wanted to demonstrate I was committed to understanding the role.”
In all that time, Wooldridge said he learned a lot about the technical side of the city, and the importance of collaboration and communication in the decision-making process.
“When there’s been certain decisions made the community didn’t agree with, it was interesting to reflect upon how we could have improved our communication so the community doesn’t feel like decisions are coming out of left field,” he said.
With the win, he is believed to be the first openly gay person elected to Kelowna City Council.
Wooldridge’s No. 1 goal for his term on council is to see the Journey Home strategy implemented to address homelessness in the community.
“Our homelessness population is very visual,” said Wooldridge. “It’s what everyone has been talking about all year . . . and people really want to start seeing a change. We have to start supporting our vulnerable population with housing and the appropriate wraparound support services for mental health and addictions.”
Wooldridge is hoping to be appointed as the liaison between the Journey Home Society and council.
“What I have heard from the committee is more engagement is needed,” he said. “My hope is by being the liaison I would be in constant communication with the society so I can report back to council.”
Getting homeless people the supports they need through the Journey Home strategy will also address many safety concerns of the community, said Wooldridge.
“There is a big difference between homelessness and crime,” he said. “Once we remove people from the streets and give them supports, we’ll see petty crimes reduced, and we can focus more on . . . high-level crime.”
Wooldridge said he is also looking forward to working on upgrading current infrastructure to improve transportation in Kelowna and on developing the official community plan to creatively house the 50,000 new residents expected between now and 2040.