Gordon Kennedy is seeking election in Area A of the Comox Valley Regional District. Here is his platform.
• Communication: Once a month a meeting should be set aside for citizens to come in and have five minutes to address council. There is a lack of communication here in the district.
• Conduct: Municipal employees must follow the law. Any employee knowingly disregarding the law will be terminated.
• Fairness: All contracts given out by the CVRD should be done based on all resident professionals in the district (for example an alphabetic list of lawyers and the district goes through the list in order when issuing contracts. Secondly, all permits and licences issued by the municipality should be listed and accessible on the CVRD website.
• Transparency: Each time a municipal enforcement officer does an official inspection a receipt showing what was done and the result must be issued on site.
• Equal access: Alternatives to BC Ferries need to be looked at to improve access for Island residents.
• Taxation: No resident shall be forced to pay into and join the new sewage line that should be paid for by the developer in Union Bay.
• Environment: All areas should either get yard waste pick-up or there should be a drop-off area in the recycling dumping location. Secondly, water is always an issue and we need to know if any water is used in a wasteful manner. Also watersheds, we have polluted enough of our water so they must be protected.
• Avoidance: Any person destroying a building to avoid tax shall be taxed as if the building is still in place.
• Efficiency: Minimize the building inspection department (save money and minimize liability) by making developers use professionals on their projects. Building codes were brought into effect in the early 1900s to protect the insurance industry. Why are we paying to protect that industry when it can be done by engineers and architects?
• Timeliness: Service standards to be introduced in the CVRD. Published timeframes as to when the public can receive service. For example, a building development permit for a single-family house will be completed and issued or rejected within two months.
Make sure you vote on Oct. 15
Gordon Kennedy can be reached at comoxdista@gmail.com