Salmon Arm has grown tremendously over the last 14 years. The assessments have been done (2018), public consultation has been done (2019), and $300K of funding for schematics has been sitting in reserve since 2021 — yet nothing has been decided about how we're going to address the Recreation Facility. The community deserves answers, and some finality on what is going to take place, this term.

We also need to look at whether we're using our current facilities, like the Rogers Rink, to the best of their ability. That may be in the hands of the Recreation Society, but taxpayers are currently on the hook for all deficits. Action needs to be taken to give residents as many opportunities as possible with the infrastructure we already have.

Our downtown has changed in ways that leave many people not feeling safe or comfortable, and many business operators have raised concerns about the security of their shops. Yet the RCMP's public quarterly reports show property crime down 16% and persons/violent crime down 11% — every quarter of 2025 lower than 2024, with the one exception of Q4 violent crime, up 1%.

The data suggests Salmon Arm is safer and more secure — but I don't believe residents accept that reality. I want to understand why, and help make Salmon Arm a more secure, comfortable place to live and recreate.

Parking is a similar story. Previous councillors are on the record saying "I think we're creating a problem that doesn't actually exist." Parking to do business in Salmon Arm may be a bigger issue than previously thought. I intend to listen to local businesses, shoppers and tourists and bring their reality to council. There is a bylaw on the books and a commission — but it appears to have stopped meeting after 2024.

Salmon Arm is going to build the single largest infrastructure project in the city's history — the wastewater facility — and make a decision on the future of our recreation facility after multiple assessments over a 14-year period. That too will be larger than any other project the city has built.

These projects need to be brought to fruition with care for taxpayer funds, attention to finance, and built to a scale that responsibly matches what residents deem necessary.

In 2026 we increased property tax by 3.88%, plus an additional 1.1% from new construction — and that was still less than needed to bridge the gap between revenue and expenses. It only worked because we essentially emptied the parkade fund of $1.7 million, reduced this year's contribution to reserves (Wharf and parking-lot reserves), and relied on a $2.028 million carry-forward from the prior year.

Where does that leave us going forward, without a future surplus to rely on or reserves to draw from to pay current expenditures? That gap is more than the city's entire line-item expense on sewer services for the year. It's unsustainable — especially with what needs to be done on infrastructure in a growing community.