Leadership looms large for candidates
Summerland — Leadership, affordable housing and availability of workers dominated the discussion at the all-candidates forum Tuesday night sponsored by the Summerland Chamber of Commerce.
The tax base and infrastructure were also thoroughly discussed, as was the need for cohesion in the community and on council.
“Summerland needs a mayor who will unite the community. Little can be accomplished if we don’t get along,” said Doug Holmes, one of the two mayoral candidates.
The community needs to respect the council and mayor, and in turn elected officials need to respect the community, he explained.
Holmes has a background in journalism and business and is finishing his second term as councillor.
His competitor, former businessman Chuck Pinnell, agreed with Holmes about the need for someone to take charge, but doesn’t think Holmes is the one to do it.
“Summerland needs leadership. It’s been a crazy couple of years which brings me out of retirement,” said Pinnell, who doesn’t believe in “throwing people under the bus” and promised to be open and helpful.
When asked about the three priorities he wants the next council to focus on, Holmes spoke of the interrelatedness of all issues.
“Quality of life issues and economic factors are all connected,” said Holmes.
Responding to the same question, Pinnell said that mayor and council need to be open, get together as a team and decide how they are going to handle things.
Finding workers is the biggest problem for his roofing business and that is related to not being able to find affordable places to live, said Nick Redding, one of the 13 candidates vying for six positions as councillor.
Fellow candidate Brad Besler, who owns Big Dog Fencing, agreed it’s tough finding workers.
Mark Smed, an IT specialist running for council, promised to address affordable housing and availability of workers if elected.
While acknowledging the magnitude of the problems, Adrienne Betts said she and her husband, who operate the bakery at Granny’s Fruit Stand, found that connecting to youth helped them find staff.
Seeking her third term on council, Erin Trainer suggested providing part-time work for stay-athome parents and seniors could be another way to find employees.
Janet Peake, who served one term on council before being defeated as mayor in the last election, mentioned the need to rezone municipal owned land for use as residential properties.
“We need a land inventory,” added Marty Van Alphen, a farmer and former business owner running for re-election.
Toni Boot, the current mayor who is running for a seat on council, noted approximately 300 housing units are being built this year in Summerland.
Also on the agenda Tuesday night was the challenge of 50% of the district’s developable land being in the Agriculture Land Reserve, while contributing only about 5% to the tax base.
In general, the candidates agreed on value of the ALR and that it is a provincial initiative, which requires the B.C. government to work with the district.
“We can’t get rid of the ALR, so the province should be pressured to help correct this imbalance,” said candidate Doug Loepp, who works for Jim Pattison Broadcast Group and promises to control taxes through sustainable growth.
Boot said the times she has raised the issue of taxation unbalance caused by the ALR with provincial bodies the response has been: “raise taxes.”
Looking for a seat on council and with expertise in business, Blair Parker explained that owners of land in the ALR can have a secondary residence rented to anyone, not just farm workers, and the secondary residence is fully taxable.
Holmes said the ALR is a provincial priority that has been put on the municipality’s shoulders. He suggested that Summerland, as the only district municipality in the area, should connect with other district municipalities throughout B.C. to influence the province.
When asked what he would do to accommodate visitors to Summerland in view of there being only one hotel and three motels in the district, Richard Barkwill, a chartered accountant seeking his third term on council, asked if Summerland even needs more hotels.
“I believe in the free market—supply and demand. One motel has turned one half of its unit into (permanent) residences because it couldn’t make it as only a motel,” he explained.
“Is there a demand? This is an excellent question for the chamber,” said Peter Bognar, a retiree with extensive service on school boards and community service groups before moving to Summerland.
Bognar also raised eyebrows at one point with an off-hand remark about taking a gun somewhere, possibly government offices, to demand action. He was chided by Betts and a woman in the audience who said: “That is not the way we do things.”
In his final comments, Pinnell said, “I have not encountered the kind of questions asked here tonight. My questions include how do we reduce taxes? We need smaller, less government.”
“We didn’t touch on so many important issues this evening—protection of watershed, childcare, reconciliation, climate change, wildfires,” agreed Holmes.
“Summerland needs a mayor who can grasp it all. It starts with leadership.”