Municipal elections are still a month away, but residents in West Kelowna already know who will lead their community.
Two-term councillor Stephen Johnston has been acclaimed as the city’s next mayor after no other candidates came forward for the position.
“I’m just so honoured to have this opportunity to serve as the next mayor of West Kelowna,” Johnston told Global News.
Johnston says he will remain focused on key issues such as homelessness, addiction and wildfire resilience.
However, he says restoring public confidence in the city’s government will also be a top priority.
The incoming mayor is currently a member of the council that faced criticism over what some residents described as a lack of transparency and accountability, particularly around major capital projects and cost overruns.
“It’s no secret that we did have a couple projects that went over budget. It was a difficult and challenging time,” Johnston said.
The new city hall and library project came in more than $6 million over budget while the Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant also faced significant public scrutiny, including questions about how a large portion of the project would be financed and repaid by property owners.
West Kelowna resident Jackie Haynes said the city’s recent record raises questions about whether public confidence can be rebuilt.
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“Not very, based on the recent past,” Haynes said, when asked how optimistic she is about Johnston restoring the public’s confidence.
“The water treatment plant was a big disappointment for everybody.”
Another resident, Cindy Charters, said she’s more optimistic.
“I think he can restore public confidence,” Charters added.
Following the cost overruns and capital project challenges, the city commissioned an independent review that identified improvements that could be made to its capital project delivery model.
While some changes have been made, Johnston says more are needed, including the budgeting process.
“One of the things I advocated for this year, which we’ve already changed, is historically West Kelowna has never shown budgeted versus actual expenses, and so we’ve got actuals in there,” Johnston said.
Johnston said the changes will provide greater accountability and will be important as council oversees major projects.
“Accountability is very important and for council to be able to follow the budget from conception through to completion of projects is really important,” he said. “We’ve been missing that piece for a long time and so big changes are coming.”
Johnston has spent the week at the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention.
He says knowing he will be West Kelowna’s next mayor has already helped him build relationships with provincial politicians and cabinet ministers.
“It’s opened so many doors for me,” Johnston said. “You know, I’ve been bumping into cabinet ministers, MLAs. We’ve been going for coffee, exchanging phone numbers and it’s just been a huge leg up on building those relationships that we’re going to need to compound and grow over the years.”
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