The Mayoral and School Trustee Forum took place on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018 at McKim school, where candidates had the chance to meet with residents and discuss their platforms through a meet and greet before the forum.
Forum questions were submitted by the public to the Kimberley Chamber of Commerce, who hosted the event, and put forth to candidates.
Current Mayor Don McCormick and City Councillor Albert Hoglund are in the running for a four term as Kimberley’s Mayor. The two agreed on many of the topics that were brought up including affordable housing, the sale of the Sun Mine and the flat tax reduction.
Both agree that a lack of affordable housing is an issue in Kimberley, and that new builds with smaller footprints will help to alleviate the shortage of supply.
McCormick says that the number one priority for Kimberley right now is affordability, and the number one challenges include taxes, housing and childcare. He adds that diversifying the tax base is a big goal for the City that will help with all of those challenges.
“Right now you [residents] are carrying the burden of the tax base,” said McCormick. “87 per cent of the tax base is residential while just 11 per cent is business. We need to bring in new taxes through industry and encourage builders and developers to come here and build.
“Affordable housing isn’t subsidized. Supply is the issue, there aren’t enough places to live. We want to continue to build multi-unit residential housing with a smaller footprint and smaller lot to make it more affordable.”
Hoglund agreed saying that bringing in industry to help diversify taxes is a priority and that an affordable housing committee might help with the challenges in the housing market.
“Everyone has a different meaning of affordable,” said Holgund. “I think we should start an affordable housing committee and bring projects through CBT, RDEK and the province. We need to be able to get seniors out of their homes, into affordable housing, so their homes can be freed up for others to purchase.
“We [also] need to meet with Teck and find land suitable for light industry. We will continue with the committee we put together to find land for an industrial park.”
In terms of the Marysville bench lands being a destination for light industry, McCormick says that a CNC (computer numeric control) business would be ideally suited for the area.
“I envision a clean tech company,” he said. “Clean tech is a broad term, but encompasses a process or service that reduces negative environmental impacts…
“Every business that starts up in Kimberley has to go through the permitting process and our staff have very specific guidelines to follow before anyone can set up shop.”
Hoglund disagreed, saying that the bench lands should have been zoned residential from the get-go.
“I voted against the light industrial zoning, and I think that land should be left as residential,” said Hoglund. “That land is more valuable as a residential area than light industrial. I am in favour of the old Cominco site for industry.”
Both Hoglund and McCormick agree that the flat tax reduction should not continue. They say that further reduction of the flat tax will grind construction to a halt and make new builds virtually impossible to afford.
Both candidates were asked about the sale of the Kimberley Sun Mine, which is a referendum question in Saturday’s election.
Both agree that it should be sold, however Hoglund says it should have been a 2 MWh project from the beginning.
“The first Council dragged their feet on the project and lost a $1.65 million grant. If we don’t sell, the taxpayers are on the hook to pay for it,” he said.
McCormick adds that the Sun Mine will always be a valuable asset for Kimberley.
“The Sun Mine is an incredible asset, it has gotten a lot of PR attention and won several awards; selling won’t diminish that,” he said. “The decision to sell is purely financial and we’re barely breaking even. Teck can expand it to 2MWh and beyond, and it’s really a win-win for everyone.”
Other topics discussed included the sidewalk replacement policy, vacant lots and unsightly properties, tourism funding, new and existing businesses and details on past projects. F