Candidate for Mayor
1. Will you vote to repeal or remove the vacancy tax if elected? Why or why not?
I would do everything possible to get us out of this tax if elected. I voted against a similar tax proposal in 2007 and nothing has changed in my thoughts about it. This is a massive error and gets more complex and costly by the day. It has done a lot of damage on so many levels.
2. What ideas do you have to fund, incentivize or otherwise address housing in Canmore, aside from a vacancy tax?
We need to amend our MDP and LUB to allow for variations in the housing and architecture we are promoting. Less costly designs and requirements allow for a lower cost product. We need to streamline the permitting processes (and costs) to minimize costs. We are cash grabbing at every corner, and these costs are ultimately passed on to the end purchaser/user. We need to involve the province cooperatively in helping to make land available, rather than antagonizing them into dealing with Canmore.
3. How will you bring more accountability and effective governance to the Council and Administration?
Council’s role is to develop policy to be delivered upon by administration. If elected I would work to reinforce that role. Currently our council and administration team seem unwilling or unable to acknowledge that they haven’t done things quite right or need to make changes that work for the residents of Canmore. I am ok with saying, ok, that didn’t work well. Let’s make it better or scrap it. As wells, we need effective and valid communications. I am hearing that residents don’t feel we have it.
4. Do you support Canmore pursuing Resort Municipality Status as a means of raising funds for the operation of the Town? Why or why not?
No! We have wasted so much time and resources on this. This type of initiative is so administratively heavy. We need to get right in the province’s face and remind them that as they continue to invite people to Canmore, they have to pick up costs. A tax deflects the responsibility to parties who may not have any benefit whatsoever (eg. Whitefish, Montana.) If I am inviting someone to an occasion at your premises, at bare minimum I am responsible for making sure everything is in place for the number coming ( food, refreshments, etc.) and to make sure there is room for everyone. They are inviting folks here and expecting us to foot the bill. This issue won’t go away in a hurry, but we need the province to step up to the plate.
5. Do you believe the province is supportive of the vacancy tax initiative?
Categorically, NO!!
6. Why do you think the town spends so much money on external consultants, including lawyers? Is that a worthwhile spend?
They either do not have the expertise to deal with the circumstances they steer themselves into and look for external support for plans that may not be worth the paper they are printed on. We have a very large expensive payroll, and it would be good to think that they could make decisions that both benefit and are supported by the community without the ‘consultant says its good’ mentality. Before we had a town lawyer on staff, we spent a lot on legal fees. I don’t know the current legal expenditures but one would assume that the costs should have gone down. Again, there seems to a void in the operational thinking. Is that a worthwhile spend?