Interviewed by Vanessa Broadbent.
Since many students will be voting for the first time, what would you describe as the role of municipal politics? What can city councillors actually do?
I think that municipal government is probably in the best position to affect your day-to-day life. Things that we decide at city council and policies that we have at City Hall affect what you do day-to-day. When it comes to the kinds of things that we do, we certainly look at things like what the tax dollars are going to go to, whether it’s maintaining roads and services and things that we provide in the city.
We look at big projects and we save for that over the years so that we can put money into things like the cultural centre and the Sardis library. It’s really important to get level-headed people on municipal government because we do make a lot of decisions that are going to affect you every single day.
Who do you view as your constituents?
I do have a very strong business background, but I’ve also been very involved in social issues as well. I am a Rotarian and I would say that it’s anybody who wants to talk to me. I have always put my cell phone number on my business cards and it’s on my Facebook. I think that I’m pretty much there for anyone that’s interested.
The most difficult thing for us is getting people interested. They want to take part in it, so when someone reaches out and wants to talk to me about something, I’m always thrilled even though they may not always be happy with what we’re doing, at least they care and are willing to give us their opinion.
How will you receive the views of the entire population instead of just those most active around City Hall?
I attend about every event there is in town. I’m very social by nature, so I tend to talk to a lot of people out there that may not have any interest in municipal politics but it’s amazing what they have to say when you approach them or see them at an event.
I also have a very active Facebook page and am active on Twitter. I also now have a website for the election. I think I’m in a very good position because I ran the chamber of commerce in Chilliwack for a long time. I was on the radio and writing articles for the newspaper all of the time so people know my name. They’re not afraid to approach me because a lot of them have met me or run into me at things.
You try to get to as many people as possible. I think the most important thing is just to be open. I love people, I’m very social, so to me that’s a really wonderful part of what I do is being able to talk to people.
One of the things for me that’s really exciting [is] I’ve been a single mom my whole life and I’ve always worked two jobs. Even from the time that I was in my twenties, I always worked two jobs and did all my education at night school so I was sometimes working three jobs to pay for that. I just retired. For the first time in my life I am going to have one job, which means that I can get way more involved in the community and volunteering and more involved in my Rotary club, being more involved in city council, more involved in committees, I won’t have to miss any ribbon cuttings, I can be on every agricultural tour and factory tour and all of those things that make you a much better city councillor. It’s really exciting for me.
Are you doing anything to address the lack of student interest in local politics?
I have my daughter working her own campaign to try to get all of her friends involved. Anytime I send anything out over Facebook she sends it out to all of her friends. I was a single parent so I’m really close to my daughters and their friends. We’ve done a lot of talking about politics over the years and I think they know that they can approach me.
The Twitter party we had last night was great because I think it was an awesome opportunity for younger people who are more comfortable in that world and maybe don’t want to talk on the phone. I think that’s a really good avenue for them to get involved in politics and ask things in a world that they’re comfortable in. I just think that you really have to make sure that you’re making yourself present in all sorts of different ways.
I have Chilliwack Chiefs seasons tickets and I can’t tell you how many people have approached me at hockey games where they would never be comfortable coming to City Hall or discussing things. When you’re standing around at a hockey game, things come up and people ask you stuff. Really being present in the community and making sure that you’re out there.
How did what you were doing at city council change over the three years compared to what your initial goals were during the last campaign?
I’ve been a city councillor for six years and I remember when I first went into it I thought, “Wow, I’m going to change the world and I’m going to make silly rules go away and I’m going to provide this and that.” You realize really early on that it’s baby steps and you have to work towards these things … things happen really slowly and you have to be patient.
I’ve gotten a lot more involved in agriculture because it was one area that I didn’t really know that much about. I have a really strong business background and one in five people working in Chilliwack are involved in agriculture, so to me it was really important to understand that segment. I’ve been on the agriculture commission and the agriculture advisory committee and I have loved that, because I have a much better understanding of some of the challenges that they face in agriculture here in Chilliwack and the pressures that are on them as far as prices and competing with other areas that have a longer growing season. I guess how things have changed, I have a more realistic view of how long it takes for things to happen, and I have a much broader view of what I need to do to make things happen. I’m not spinning my wheels so much; it’s a huge learning curve being a city councillor.
Do you have a specific project you want to prioritize or bylaw you want to change?
My biggest thing is public safety and quality of life. I’m really into the arts, I’m a painter personally, and I have been really involved in the arts. I have played in Player’s Guild and I like to get involved in that kind of thing. I think the quality of life in Chilliwack is super important — that we have something to offer everyone.
But the basic thing is safety. Every time we go to fight for dollars for this type of thing I’m always working for more RCMP, but I’m also looking for better ways of spreading those resources around and for communities to be more aware of what’s going on in their own communities and making it ways for people to report crime and be responded to. Public safety, both policing and fire, are important to me.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
