Municipality of North Cowichan Mayor Candidate

Website: www.wallenerforcowichan.info

Q1. Please tell us a bit about yourself and why you are running.

A: I am running for Mayor of North Cowichan because I want my kids, 10 and 12 years old, to have the option of staying in the Cowichan. This means focusing on the jobs of the next 20 years, a task for which my professional career, both here and abroad, makes me uniquely qualified.

I work with Innovation Island to foster local small business startups, volunteer with Cowichan Search & Rescue, and understand from personal experience the value of all who dedicate their lives to community service. In my private life I am actively recruiting skilled, high paying jobs to our community, and as Mayor I can expand that effort.

Q2. The community survey results placed a high priority on sustainability, in particular on protecting our watersheds, water supply and water quality, as well as on creating a more sustainable local economy. If elected, please describe what your approach would be to those issues.

A: Our population has grown too large for ad hoc water usage. Our needs include:

• Complete inventory of our river, stream, aquifer and snowpack resources across all CVRD watersheds
• Create a long term zero-net-depletion water usage model, with linkage to land use planning
• Water metering in high risk areas to determine usage patterns
• Empower local experts to create a long term plan for maintaining the Cowichan River’s vitality
• Create a mutually acceptable governance model with First Nations so that progress on watershed management and other issues can continue

Sustainable economies are built on a foundation of local businesses. As Mayor I would do everything possible to seed and promote small business creation.

Q3. The survey results indicated citizens want to see more consultation and accountability between elected officials and their constituents. If elected, please describe what your approach would be to those issues.

A: The context words are spoken in carries meaning of its own, so it is imperative elected representatives reach out to the community as much as possible.

On accessibility:

• Regular “Open Door” days at the Mayor’s office, and for Councillors
• Move council meetings to the evening, or hold alternate community meetings in evenings
• Monthly town hall meetings across the community

On accountability:

• Consistent enforcement of bylaws
• Citizen committee to provide line-item level oversight on budgeting, procurement and contracting
• No late agenda items other than genuine emergency items and minimize single-meeting 1st, 2nd, 3rd readings

Q4. What is your position on municipal tax rates and the corresponding level and allocation of services?

A: Focusing on tax rates will not produce the result many are seeking because it allows for accounting that obscures fiscal realities. For example, raiding reserve funds gives the illusion of holding down taxes, but it is akin to breaking open the kids piggy bank to buy beer and pizza and claiming you met the weekly food budget.

The long term solution requires prioritizing spending, which must be done together, as a community. There are also immediate steps we can take:

• Citizen committee to review municipal expenses line item by line item
• No shovels in the ground on regional projects until long term funding is established with all CVRD partners

Q5. What is your vision for this area, and how would getting elected help achieve it?

A: My vision is a community that embraces and cherishes its natural assets, and creates a fertile environment for small business creation. A community that controls its own economic destiny by being a net exporter of goods and services. A community that leverages its future hospital into a centre for medical excellence, and the E&N corridor to provide a next-generation transportation network linking us to the north and the south.

As a private citizen I am already persuasive, but as Mayor, I will carry more influence when advocating for this vision, and conversations will start closer to the decision makers.

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