If re-elected, my focus will be on three priorities
Strong community services, a safer and better-prepared Revelstoke, and responsible financial management.
These priorities reflect the work I have pursued during my first term and the areas where I believe practical, sustained leadership can make a meaningful difference.
Priority 01
Strong community services
Reliable infrastructure. Recreation and public spaces people can use. Child care planned as essential community infrastructure. Support for the arts, culture and community organizations that help make Revelstoke home. A resilient local economy that can adapt to change and create opportunity.
01 · Infrastructure
Put infrastructure plans into action
Revelstoke has done a great job developing master plans. The next step is disciplined implementation—prioritizing projects, securing funding and ensuring infrastructure keeps pace with growth.
02 · Recreation
Make recreation, trails and public spaces more accessible
Work to expand pool hours and swim-lesson capacity within responsible staffing and operating budgets. Maintain and improve the recreation facilities, parks, public spaces and boat ramps residents already rely on, while protecting public trail access.
Strong community partnerships are central to that work. This includes working with organizations supporting cycling, skiing, hiking and other outdoor recreation to coordinate trail maintenance and stewardship, improve trail networks and public access, and pursue outside funding.
Advance Revelstoke’s backcountry recreation access planning with First Nations, the Province, the CSRD, recreation organizations, commercial operators and conservation interests. The goal should be responsible and reliable public access, coordinated trail stewardship and funding, fewer conflicts between users, and respect for environmental and cultural values.
Major projects should proceed only where there is a clearly demonstrated community need, a full understanding of operating and lifecycle costs, a funding strategy and a responsible implementation plan.
03 · Child care
Make child care part of community planning
Revelstoke’s child-care shortage affects children, working families, employers and the wider community.
Council has already removed the citywide zoning barrier, allowing day care in every zone. That was an important step, but zoning alone will not create the spaces families need.
If re-elected, I will bring forward a motion asking Council to build on that work by strengthening child-care policies in the Official Community Plan and developing a municipal child-care action plan based on the 2026 Needs Assessment.
The plan would focus on:
- Helping child-care providers secure appropriate spaces and navigate approval requirements.
- Expanding infant, toddler and shift-worker options.
- Supporting the recruitment and retention of early childhood educators.
- Pursuing partnerships and senior-government funding.
The goal is to turn the progress already made into a practical and measurable plan.
04 · Arts and culture
Support a vibrant local arts and culture sector
Recognize the important role that arts, culture and live events play in Revelstoke’s community life and local economy. Continue working with Arts Revelstoke and other local organizations to support successful programs such as REVY.Live Outside, LUNA, public art, performances and community arts programming.
Provide clear and predictable municipal support where appropriate, make effective use of available tourism and grant funding, and ensure City facilities and public spaces continue to provide opportunities for local artists, performers and community organizations.
05 · Economic resilience
Build a more resilient local economy
Work with local businesses and community partners to build an economy that can adapt to change and create opportunity across a range of sectors. Use local business-retention findings, workforce information and direct engagement to identify barriers and inform municipal decisions.
Focus the City on the work it is responsible for: clear and timely processes, infrastructure and land-use planning that considers business needs, careful attention to the cumulative effects of municipal taxes, fees and regulation, and coordinated advocacy for senior-government support.
Priority 02
A safer, better-prepared Revelstoke
Supporting strong emergency services, improving community preparedness and making Revelstoke safer in our neighbourhoods, on local streets and along the highways that connect us.
Strengthen emergency services
Support strong local fire protection and advocate for improved ambulance, pre-hospital and hospital care. Revelstoke’s distance from larger medical centres makes reliable local emergency and health-care capacity especially important.
Support backcountry search and rescue
Revelstoke Search and Rescue is one of British Columbia’s largest and most active volunteer search-and-rescue teams. As backcountry recreation and visitation grow, emergency-response capacity must grow with them. Work with REVSAR and regional and provincial partners to support the training, equipment, facilities and sustainable funding its volunteers need to respond safely and effectively.
Continue strengthening wildfire readiness
Build on FireSmart initiatives, Wildfire Week, neighbourhood preparedness and fuel-reduction work. Wildfire readiness requires sustained cooperation among residents, the City, emergency services, community partners and other levels of government.
Advance Bear Smart practices
Strengthen local measures that reduce human–bear conflict, work toward meeting the Province’s established Bear Smart Community standards, and advocate for the Province to reopen the designation program so Revelstoke is ready to apply.
Advance secondary access and emergency routes
Continue advancing the Oak Drive–Townley Street Connector and move the Transportation Master Plan’s proposed eastern Illecillewaet River multi-use and emergency crossing from a long-term concept toward route confirmation, feasibility work, refined costing and funding partnerships.
Better secondary access would improve emergency response and provide greater resilience when existing routes are disrupted.
Advocate for safer highways and stronger policing
Continue advocating to the Province for safety improvements on the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 23, including reliable maintenance, stronger enforcement and increased BC Highway Patrol capacity in the Revelstoke area.
Support adequate local RCMP staffing so officers can respond effectively to community needs, traffic concerns and public-safety pressures.
Priority 03
Responsible financial management
Keeping taxes and fees as predictable as possible by making trade-offs clear, putting Revelstoke’s existing long-term financial plan to work and strengthening oversight of major projects.
Show the total impact on taxpayers
Before adopting the budget, clearly show how proposed changes to property taxes, utility rates and major municipal fees combine to affect representative households and businesses.
Council should consider the total municipal cost—not each increase in isolation.
Put the long-term financial plan to work
Use the City’s existing 15-year financial plan to sequence infrastructure work, capital projects, reserve contributions and borrowing within realistic tax and utility-rate assumptions.
When a new priority is added, clearly identify what must be delayed, reduced or funded differently.
Establish clear checkpoints for major projects
Require major projects to return to Council at defined stages as they move from concept and design to tender and construction.
At each stage, Council and the public should receive updated information about scope, cost estimates, funding, operating impacts, timelines and risks before the next commitment is authorized.
Make financial performance easier to follow
Bring existing financial reports together in a concise public summary showing budget-to-actual results, major-project progress, reserve and debt trends, and significant changes in cost, scope or schedule.
Residents should be able to see whether the City is on plan, where problems have emerged and what corrective action is being taken.