Hello everyone, thank you for taking the time to stay informed during this election. I was asked to answer the following question, “What are the most important issues for voters in Keremeos?”, and I would like to start with my reply.
Many of the folks I have spoken with are very concerned about the crisis in our health-care system, the affordable housing situation (which our local area has had some recent projects of note), and rapidly rising living expenses. I can confirm after spending a week at UBCM that those concerns echoed across the province at nearly every table discussion during those sessions.
What can help immensely for issues like health care, housing and the cost of living is collaboration, with the RDOS, with the various members of SILGA and with a strong united voice at the UBCM.
But may I also take some time to bring attention to the work needed at a local level to address the ongoing flood mitigation issues. We have also done a lot of work to reduce our risk during fire season, but there is more to do, throughout various parts of the community. Speaking of town, we do need to continue to enhance and fill our downtown core in a way to pique the interest of the many tourists who pass through our lovely village each year and get them to stop and add our community to an unplanned itinerary.
Building stronger relational bridges between our community and the local Indian bands (especially through regional projects), making significant progress on our local road improvements, adding greater variety and cultural significance to our Memorial Park points of interest, and finding creative ways of improving the staffing levels and resources offered at the local library are all items on the top of my list to work on the next four years.
Now a little about myself. I was born and raised in rural B.C., from the far north, Vancouver Island, Central Interior and now the South Okanagan.
My wife and I (24 years married this past May) and our four children have lived in Keremeos for 13 years, so my children have spent most of their memorable years growing up here.
I have served as a RCMP Chaplain (a few years ago), Legion Chaplain, minister at the local medical facility, director and volunteer with the K-CSA (local sportsman association), pastor at Elim Tabernacle, facilitator for our community fireworks display Halloween night, and more recently I have had the privilege of serving as vice-president on the board of directors for SOICS in Penticton.
I love the abundant supply of fresh fruits and vegetables available in our area for most of the year, and I also enjoy hunting, hiking and fishing in mountain ranges throughout our gorgeous region.
I am Jason Wiebe, councillor of Keremeos for eight years, volunteer for many more, and I am running for mayor to continue to serve our residents to the best of my ability. Thank you.
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