1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
2. What is the part of the Williams Lake’s Official Community Plan that you care about most, and want to see action on?
3. What solutions or ways forward do you see to address concerns around crime and homelessness in our community?
4 What do you think needs to be done to attract and retain professionals such as health care providers in our community?
5. Can you name a few fun facts people might not know about you?
1. I’ve lived and paid taxes in the city for 33 years; raised a family here. I’m retired, having worked for private industry and government. I’m willing to ‘stand up and be counted’- researching issues concerning the community, and communicating with both city hall and the province.
2. In the Official Community Plan, Principles of Livable Community Design is important as indicated by a lively downtown; affordable housing and livable neighbourhoods. I believe it’s important for future development to meet these objectives.
3. Homelessness is endemic in all cities. One solution locally demonstrates efforts to house and improve the lives of the “hard to house” population and those prone to substance abuse.
These two groups of people are not necessarily identical. A comprehensive report by Silvia Dubray, community safety coordinator on June 21, 2022, provides a detailed description of the efforts of agencies – B.C. Housing, Canadian Mental Health Association - to address the issue of homelessness.
It contains some reports of satisfactory outcomes of individuals finding housing and starting to achieve a new start in life after utilizing the transitional shelter program. Crime prevention can be improved by focusing police attention on problem areas, and sufficient funding of the Community Policing Committee.
4. One way to attract and retain professionals is to ensure our city is a healthy place to live. This group is more likely to read the data on air quality publicly available online – “State of the Air Report” by B.C. Lung Association. Council has been remiss in unanimously endorsing permit amendments granting greatly increased emissions. Air quality is vital in a valley city of 12,000 people. Another factor to attract professionals is a fair property tax rate.
5. I scored a breakaway goal on Chief Sellars at a pickup hockey game. I saw the Three Stooges live (1962, CNE, Toronto).
READ MORE: John Pickford will give up first year renumeration if elected for city council
monica.lamb-yorski@wltribune.com
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