Dever will run for another City council term

NEWS — Coun. Nelly Dever is running for another term.

Dever is the last City councillor to make her bid for re-election, formally or informally. Her announcement today (Tuesday) means there’s one “open” seat for council — the one Coun. Nancy Bepple gave up due to illness — in November’s municipal election.

Of course, there are no guarantees that all eight council incumbents — Mayor Peter Milobar and councillors Dever, Ken Christian, Marg Spina, Pat Wallace, Tina Lange, Arjun Singh and Donovan Cavers — will get their jobs back.

Dever said she had some personal matters to deal with before she could be certain she would run again.

“I will be seeking re-election. I can’t express how pleased I am to continue,” she said.

However, she felt she has made inroads on the issues that were part of her campaign in 2011, such as beautification of the Tranquille and Valleyview gateways.

“I’ve begun a lot of projects and they’re not complete,” she said, adding she wants to see them through to the end.

Her campaign for 2014 will include some announcements as the election date draws nearer. She hinted to a major plank involving building a healthier community by dovetailing what the City does with provincial and federal government services. While Dever wouldn’t give details at this point, she did say it will involve such areas as mental health, addictions, youth homelessness and an overburdened medical system.

In her first term on council, Dever has stood out as a councillor concerned about big-ticket items, such as the downtown parkade and performing arts centre.

She was alone in opposing the City’s $4.8-million purchase of the Kamloops Daily News building as a possible site for the performing arts centre, a parkade or a new city hall.

She would prefer the City to establish more public-private partnerships (P3s).

“I truly believe in P3s,” she said.

Highlights for her during the first term, besides being on the gateway committee, were being involved with the agricultural area plan, which resulted in 72 action items, and sitting on the Venture Kamloops board for two years.

Other council members have either made official announcements about their intentions to run again or they have responded positively when asked.

Other declared candidates include banker Daljit Sadhra and farmer Dieter Dudy, who lost by a hair to Peter Milobar in the mayoralty race last election.