West Kelowna mayor announces he won’t be seeking re-election

West Kelowna mayor Doug Findlater says he won’t be seeking re-election. He made the announcement via email just before noon on Friday.

Here’s the full press release.

Announcement Doug Findlater Mayor City of West Kelowna

I am announcing today that I will not be seeking re-election as Mayor of West Kelowna in the October 2018 Municipal election. I am happy to say that after two long and successful careers (10 as Mayor and 34 with the Government of Canada) it is time to devote more time to family and personal matters, as well as travel to interesting places.

It has been 16 years that I will have served my West Kelowna city and region — 4 years as volunteer Chair of the Westside Governance Restructure Committee, 6 months as Alternate Electoral Area Director Westside, one year as a City Councillor, 10 years as Mayor, and 11 years as Regional District Director for West Kelowna (including 2 as Vice Chair of RDCO) concurrently.

I decided to enter local elected politics in 2007. My goal then was to make our community and the surrounding areas a better place and to make the municipality of West Kelowna work for our citizens. Every day, since 2007 has been about achieving this goal.

I came into this position of Mayor as the second Mayor in West Kelowna and after a turbulent first year for the city where I realized we needed a steady hand and stability at the helm. I leave the legacy of being the longest serving mayor in West Kelowna and a solid establishment of  West Kelowna as a full service functioning city.

When I reflect on my strengths as a community and regional leader the achievements I am most proud of are:

• Good Governance

In the politically charged environment of the world today I am proud of the collaborative, respectful and cooperative working environment at the West Kelowna Council table. While sometimes we may not agree with the point of view of others, we make good decisions and respect them and move forward from there.

• Ethics and Integrity

I have always acted with integrity. I have justified my own decisions and faithfully represented the position of council even when I was not personally in agreement. I have expected the best performance from our city leadership and management, and expected honesty from those who seek to do business with the city. I have ensured I was clear of conflicts of interest and worked to ensure there was transparency when others were in that position.

• Strong Organizational Leadership

From day one in my role as Mayor, I worked to build a strong organization and engaged leadership. I believe West Kelowna is in a strong fiscal position and our senior staff are responsive to the public and accountable to council. At the same time during my term property tax increases have been 3% or less which helps make life in West Kelowna affordable and sustainable for all.

• Overcoming the Infrastructure Deficit

Our City with a significant population endured rural forms of local government for decades prior to incorporation without the commensurate establishment of physical infrastructure for a city of our size.  While the rural forms of government – the Regional District, the Irrigation Districts and Ministry of Transportation roads, drainage maintenance along with subdivision approval functions did their best, they did not have the importance financial and legislative tools that a city does. I and council colleagues have worked to harness the effectiveness and impact of those tools in addressing roads, sidewalk, drainage, water quality, parks, recreation and so on to begin to overcome that deficit through projects and a 20 year master plans to address that hard infrastructure deficit.

Where there has been success in my career it has been largely due to the wonderful supportive relationship I have with my wife Willie, my family, and the community members who love to build this community as much as I do.

I would like to give a special thank you to the current and past City Council colleagues as well as my current and past CAO’s – Jim Zaffino and Jason Johnson as it has been a pleasure to work with all of them. We created an amazing working environment, one in which we respect each other and honour each other’s skills and opinions.

The staff at the City of West Kelowna are to be commended for their outstanding work ethic, leadership, talent and professional commitment to making a difference and always striving for excellence all the time! They have been passionate about working in a new city and making it a great city.

Finally, I want to say thank you to the residents of West Kelowna who have supported Willie, my family and myself over the last 16 years. We have been blessed to be given this opportunity. I love what we have accomplished in my time as Mayor and believe our city is a great and better place to live.

In the coming weeks I will be considering ways to stay involved and still be supportive of our journey to a great city.