Kelowna Candidate Questionnaire | Colin Basran for Mayor

Colin Basran - Kelowna Mayoral Candidate

1. What career experience do you have to be Mayor of Kelowna? Please provide a specific example of a decision you made that affected the community.

I have been a reporter with CHBC for 5 years which allowed me to examine and understand the fabric of our community. Covering local events such as the Okanagan Mountain Park fire in 2003 gave me a unique opportunity to connect with our community at its most challenging times. The stories, the lessons, the people will never leave my mind and will forever solidify my bond with the community.

Serving 3 years on city council has been the most incredible experience. Every single day was full of learning, understanding and connecting with our city staff, citizens and various community organizations. I have many examples but the one I am mostly proud of is the new Innovation Centre. This project will help attract the jobs of tomorrow, while providing good paying construction positions today. It will also help with our town centre densification objectives which means small business activity in the area will increase, more demand for downtown living thus diminishing reliance on vehicles. Finally, it will feed the arts and culture scene with new and eager audiences.

My additional to-date accomplishments include:

· Realtor at Royal Lepage Kelowna 2009 - Today

· Former news reporter with CHBC Television – 2002-2007 – Covering events like 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park Fire

· 2006 Okanagan Reporter of the Year awarded by "BC Fruit Growers Association"

· Founding member of the Okanagan Young Professionals

· Kelowna Chamber of Commerce – Young Professionals Task Force - 2011

· Member of United Way’s GenNext

· Member of Okanagan Changemakers

· Annual charity golf tournament – raised close to $50,000 for ALS, KGH Foundation and Canadian Mental Health Association

· 2014 Startup Week Organizing Committee - A technlogy event encouraging innovation and local entrepreneurship

Political & Community Involvement

· A Proud Current Kelowna City Councillor and Regional District Director

· Appointed to the following City of Kelowna and Central Okanagan Regional District Committees:

· YLW Airport Advisory Committee

· Kelowna Joint Water Committee

· Uptown Rutland Business Association

· Parcel Tax Roll Review Panel

· Kelowna Chamber of Commerce - Alternate

· Tourism Kelowna – Alternate

· Downtown Kelowna Association – Alternate

· Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission – Alternate

· Sterile Insect Release Board

2. There are so many buildings sitting empty along Bernard Avenue in downtown Kelowna, what are you going to do to attract businesses to the core and help them survive.

Downtown is the heart of any great city and that is why revitalizing it has been a major focus of this current City Council. Unfortunately our downtown still suffers from lack of desired investment which requires a longer time frame to amend. In the past three years, major improvements have been made to change the image of the area and make it a more vibrant place. The success of small businesses in the area will be greatly improved if we attract more residents to the area. For example, my Council colleagues and I have approved the construction of the new Interior Health Administration building. Once completed, it will bring 800 people with healthy wages, to our downtown. These employees will be frequenting small businesses in the area and spend more of their hard earned dollars to support local shops and restaurants. The Innovation Centre (currently under construction) will produce similar results. Some of these workers will choose to live in the area, and by doing so, further increase the demand for local products. With this renewed economic activity, local businesses will be able to survive post tourism season. Lastly, property tax incentives have been very helpful in attracting these and other new office buildings into the downtown core. With many new projects soon to be completed, we will finally have a strong and vibrant downtown we can all be proud of. I am deeply committed to continuing to work with the Downtown Kelowna Association to identify priorities and keep the great momentum for the next 4 years.

Photo Credit: KelownaNow

3. There’s a lot of emphasis on downtown development, but what about the other town centres. What’s your plan to have business thrive throughout Kelowna?

Kelowna is back on the path to prosperity, both economically and socially. Over the past three years, great strides have been made. Your City Council has put together the building blocks of a healthy community: investment in infrastructure and affordable housing, expansion of transit, lowering crime rates and most importantly the willingness to listen. We have to begin rethinking our city planning across all town centres. If we set the right vision and appropriate development guidelines, those who seek to invest in Kelowna will know exactly what to expect. We are finally starting to look at the densification of our town centres with purposeful development. This form of development will allow more and more people to consider living in closer proximity to their respective town centres. Proximity decreases the reliance on vehicles, encourages more local consumption of arts, food and entertainment. In addition to that, I imagine more investment in the sort of industries that attract intelligent, sustainable, and well paying jobs. Lastly, fiscal discipline will play a major role in maintaining our competitive edge as we currently have one of the lowest business tax rates in the province.

Here are some recent accomplishments resulting from proper management:

· Provincial government Open For Business Award in both 2013 & 2014

· Kelowna named one of the top cities in Canada for entrepreneurs by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business 2013

· 7,937 businesses registered in Kelowna

· Creation of new online services to help set up your business that has reduced delays

· Hiring of a Director of Business Development to help attract and retain commerce in Kelowna and act as a liaison between City Hall and the business community.

· A property tax incentive program in key business areas has created much-needed new building space for the city’s growing number of businesses.

I can’t express how excited I am to continue this progress towards a prosperous, caring, energetic and inviting Kelowna. We have unbelievable potential and I will work tirelessly to see it realized.

4. What do you think about Kelowna’s current road system and what needs to be improved in the short term?

Increased traffic and delays are a major source of frustration for Kelowna motorists. Improving transit and active transportation corridors will help ease the congestion. So will the densification of our town centres, where people can enjoy living closer to work and their favourite amenities. My Council colleagues and I are working to fast-track the completion of John Hindle Drive to connect the Glenmore Valley to UBCO. This will reduce traffic volumes on the north end of Highway 97. Connecting the upper Mission and Crawford neighbourhoods with the expansion of South Perimeter Way will introduce additional benefits; including another entrance and exit to these neighbourhoods, enhanced transit routes and access to a new shopping area at the Ponds residential development.

5. What improvements, if any, do you feel need to be made to Highway 97?

My colleagues and I were recently successful in lobbying the Provincial government to install the much needed advance left-turn lights at key intersections along Harvey Avenue. These advance left-turns will make intersections along Highway 97 much safer and make travel along the highway much more efficient. I am also pleased to see the Provincial government initiate work on the planning of a second crossing for Okanagan Lake. The new study will determine where the new bridge will be located along with the new vehicular routes leading to it. Some Kelowna residents continue to voice displeasure with the HOV lanes along Highway 97. I would like to suggest they be re-named ‘Transit Lanes’ as the major reason for their existence is to facilitate the ‘Bus Rapid Transit’ line from West Kelowna to UBCO. The BRT is the most heavily used transit line in our community and ensuring the buses make their scheduled stops on time is absolutely essential. This is the reason they were located on the right and not the left side of the highway.

6. How will you engage the youth vote in Kelowna?

The young voices in our community deserve respect and attention; they want to be heard, included and cared for. I want to engage our youth with improved, more relevant communication. Some of my current efforts are in the form of lectures, community events and social media. I enjoy attending speaking forums around the city and deliver our city’s message to the younger population. When it comes to engaging our young residents on the policy level, I want to include at least one young individual on each City Council committee so that their views are incorporated into the decision making process. I believe that the efforts of today will pave the path of future economic, social and political development in our city.

7. How can you make Kelowna more financially viable for young adults and families?

Raising a young family myself, I believe we need to continue our emphasis on attracting new innovative industries to our city. We have started addressing this goal with the introduction of the Innovation Centre. Well paying, sustainable jobs will help generate an economic momentum that will further amplify opportunities in our construction, tourism and various service industries. With world class educational institutions like OC college and the University of British Columbia we possess the tools to educate and train local talent. A community that is open for business and is viewed as a leader in innovation will benefit from tremendous future investment. Another vital component of our economy is small business. Over 50% of all businesses in Kelowna are small, self employed operations. I would love to see these hard working owners hire one additional employee in the next 4 years - the economic potential for them and their families is self evident.

8. What are you going to do to encourage more affordable housing and less luxury living in Kelowna?

In the immediate future, I hope to continue our hard work with organizations like the Society of Hope. A recent project, “Pleasantvale” has been approved and is currently under construction. It will offer 70 reasonably priced homes for low-income seniors and families. I also want to develop the long term vision for our city. This is where I come back to the previously mentioned topic of densification. If we create an environment where people chose to live in smaller, more efficient spaces and benefit from a vibrant lifestyle, we will be able to house more people in more affordable town centres. The cost of land, taxes and transportation are all factors affecting affordable living - I want to make sure our community has enough great housing variety to address those concerns.

Colin Basran - Kelowna Mayoral Candidate

9. Where are our alternative modes of transportation going in the future years to come?

Transportation is about efficiency, accessibility and health. Having one of the highest vehicle ownership rates in Canada does not help with our environmental, parking and traffic concerns. We must focus on decreasing our dependence on automobiles while increasing access to functional public transit.

Currently, we are working diligently on improving what is already in place - our bus system. The transit expansion efforts are working as half of Kelowna residents now live within 400-metres of a transit stop. If you drive along highway 97 and other major routes (such as Gordon Drive) you will notice new modern bus stations. While this is great progress, we must continue the expansion and allow more people access to this cleaner, more efficient and reliable mode of transportation.

Recent initiatives in green transportation include:

· New transit exchanges at Okanagan College, the H2O Centre, Rutland and a major expansion to the downtown transit terminal on Queensway Avenue

· Support of OGO, the city’s first ever car share program and the addition of two City-owned vehicles to the program along with free parking for the cars on City’s parking lots

· Creation of the Sustainable Transportation Partnership of the Central Okanagan to coordinate transportation decisions and infrastructure planning on a regional level

· The Rails with Trails expansion and protection of the CN corridor.

These projects are designed to increase access to various parts of our city through cycling, walking and possible future light rail. I imagine a healthier, happier community that takes advantage of our unique climate and embraces these new transportation initiatives.

10. What would be your number one priority for the next four years as Mayor of Kelowna?

My priority will always be to keep our community connected. Every decision that I have made to date, and the ones I will make in the future will be with your full interest at heart. I might not be able to satisfy everyone but I can assure you that my century old connection to this land is greater than any one specific project or idea. I believe we are on the right path and I hope to keep this forward momentum going. We will continue growing, improving and connecting as a community if we build on the last 3 years of hard, efficient and decisive work. Lets keep building consensus and get things done. This is our future and I hope you will voice your opinion on November the 15th. Thank you very much!

The civic election is Saturday November 15th, 2014.

For the most up to date and current information, visit our 2014 Civic Election Page.

For current information on candidates running in your community, visit the following sites:

Kelowna Votes, West Kelowna Votes, Lake Country Votes, or Peachland Votes.