NEUSTAETER – City council isn’t about entertainment, it’s about work

By KATIE NEUSTAETER
Councillor, City of Kamloops

FIRST, LET’S ADDRESS the elephant in the room.

If you’re hoping for a column from me as deputy mayor that spotlights the dizzying circus that rolled into Kamloops City Hall in the fall of 2022, I’m sorry to disappoint.

For clarity on that, please read municipal advisor Henry Braun’s report, and then let’s hop off the ferris wheel for just a moment and pay attention to the real show.

At the beginning of this term, council unanimously adopted a strategic plan, informed by your voices, and then we went to work.

A year and a half into our term, the results of our collective vision are beginning to come to fruition. Now is a good moment to stop and acknowledge that while the plan we committed to might not be as “entertaining” as the sideshow because it’s both real and proving effective, it will remain long after the circus tent comes down.

To demonstrate, let’s look at two priority points from our strategic plan.

The first one is advocacy, safety and security.

“We proactively create opportunities to increase the inventory of diverse housing supply so that residents can access and move through the housing continuum,” the plan says.

This week, our work culminated in what’s arguably the most significant housing commitment to ever be made in our community by the province. With Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, we announced more than 500 living spaces for people in desperate need in Kamloops — the “missing middle.”

Precariously housed seniors and families, folks with disabilities, women and children escaping domestic violence, people dreaming of a home instead of a shelter bed and folks wishing for a shelter bed instead of a riverbank can now begin to move toward secure housing.

That, in turn, will generate feelings of hope and possibility where once there was discouragement and desperation. It also will lead to improved safety in the broader community.

Add those homes to the Confluence, the units that will be added when the B.C. Builds project is made possible on the second adjacent lot, plus the approval of hundreds of units through the regular city planning process (to the credit of our development sector), and you can begin to see housing solutions forming in meaningful ways in Kamloops.

The second priority point is livability and sustainability.

“We prioritize the development of amenities to cultivate diverse and equitable opportunities for recreation, arts, and culture,” says the plan.

What’s it worth for kids in our city to have access to basic life skills like swimming lessons? What’s a reasonable cost to ensure everyone has access to ice time so we don’t miss out on the next (NHL hockey player) Logan Stankoven? What will we do if the Sagebrush Theatre, currently booked years in advance, is out of commission again and dance recitals, the WCT, the symphony, concerts etc. have nowhere to go?

What’s the plan for revenue generation and the economic spin-offs we depend on if we lose our status as the “Tournament Capital of Canada” because we don’t build the facilities we need? The list of reasons goes on.

This week the next vital steps for the Build Kamloops initiative were brought forward. The plan lays out how the critical pieces of arts and recreational infrastructure that Kamloops is so sorely lacking can become a reality, including the financial plan for how it will be accomplished.

It’s more affordable than most expected, and although we understand the strain of these economic times, we’re in an excellent position corporately to take on this exciting initiative and we can’t wait any longer. Nothing’s getting cheaper.

Kamloops is growing, whether we like it or not, and these facilities won’t build themselves. We’ve recognized our need, cast the vision and laid out the plan. The ball is in your court now, Kamloops.

These accomplishments might not be as “entertaining” as a ticket to the big top, but I hope you’re beginning to see how Kamloops is being driven to health and prosperity, not through illusions or distractions but through the strategic plan of this council, supported by city staff and the partners we rely on to make our vision a reality.

This isn’t entertainment. This is work. Like all other councils and high wire acts before and after us, we will come and go in time, but I trust whether you were drawn in by the circus or understood the work, you’ll be able to say that this time in Kamloops was anything but boring.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Several weeks ago I attended a City council meeting and proposed that council members write rotating columns and make them available to all local media. Last month, the first such column was produced; I’ve requested that ArmchairMayor.ca be added to the mailout list and, in the meantime, I borrow the above column by Katie Neustaeter, deputy mayor for the month of June,  published today (June 26, 2024) by Castanet.