Gauging candidates' 'vision'

My folks always told me municipal elections can be be more important than provincial or federal elections because they have a direct effect on your day-to-day life in the community.

I’ve lived part time in Kelowna for 11 years and full time since 2016. I've seen some changes—good and bad—but never really got to know who was running things.

Having lived in Toronto, Winnipeg and Montreal, I quickly realized there seems to be more bureaucracy in Kelowna than anywhere else. For a regular taxpaying (resident), getting any action or answers from anyone in the municipality can be a challenge.

I have noticed anything that might bring in a tax dollar gets fast-tracked without much forethought for the future. I've seen this in my own backyard.

I saw an endorsement earlier this week for (incumbent Mayor) Colin Basran from Dragon's Den's Brett Wilson, whose politics are definitely not in line with mine, and then again with a letter to Castanet Friday by Flo Masson that barely mentioned any of Basran's accomplishments after eight years.

There was not a mention of what his vision for the future is either.

No disrespect to Flo Masson, as I'm sure she believes in Basran, but letters like that are similar to the political toxicity that spreads like wildfire on social media.

In this election, I will do a deep dive into all the candidates I am eligible to vote for to see what their vision is, and make my vote count.

William Zavers, Kelowna