Kelowna mayor Colin Basran running for re-election

UPDATE: 8:20 p.m.

Kelowna mayor Colin Basran announced he will be running for re-election before hundreds of supporters Thursday evening at Red Bird Brewing.

“We certainly have our challenges as a community, but I’m really excited to continue to keep working on those. Again, I appreciate this is late in the game when I’m making my announcement, but I truly believe that I will run a really strong campaign, and this is day one, so here we go," said Basran.

Basran said an experienced mayor like himself would be best suited to tackle Kelowna’s current problems.

"I’m ready to talk about all the things council has been doing, but some of the things we need to do moving forward. So I’m really excited to get into debates, I think that’s an opportunity where the public is really going to get an opportunity to hear that there are really two very distinct and clear options," explained Basran.

"One option is myself who has served on council and mayor for three terms now, looking for a fourth. And one of those main candidates has never served a day on council, and I think that’s going to be pretty obvious.”

With back-to-back runs as mayor of Kelowna, Basran says he wants to make Kelowna a place his kids can grow up in, raise a family and enjoy a good quality of life. But he knows there are challenges.

“There are some really great things happening in our city. We are building a very vibrant and progressive community that’s attracting people from all over the world. But there are some significant challenges, so let’s not lose sight of the really good things, but we also need to continue to work hard to fix the challenges we are facing like social issues, crime and affordability.”

Local government elections take place across B.C. on Oct. 15.

ORIGINAL

Kelowna mayor Colin Basran is seeking re-election.

Basran is announcing he will be running for a third term at an event Thursday evening at Kelowna’s Red Bird Brewing. He is pulling back the curtain on his campaign at the very last possible second, with the deadline to file nomination papers on Friday afternoon.

He has yet to speak, but the campaign materials plastered around the brewery give away the announcement.

Basran’s website says his full platform is coming “soon,” but he is promising “real action” on crime and safety, affordability and homelessness.

“There is no denying that we face challenges as a growing, record setting city. Such growth and popularity brings with it rising housing price due to supply constraints. Homelessness is experienced by far too many. Crime rates are higher than we all would like them to be. People waste too much time in traffic. And despite a relatively smoke-free summer, we will have to continue to cope with real climate challenges,” Basran’s website says.

“These are complex and tough issues and there are no easy, simple, or immediate solutions. If there were, we would have implemented them long time ago. What we have been doing is taking evidence-based approaches, implementing recognized best practices, and even pioneering new initiatives that haven’t been tried before. In other words, we dare to tackle these challenges, not just point fingers at others and wait for somebody else to solve them for us.”

“We have made some real progress over the last decade and I'm asking for your vote of confidence to continue the important work that is underway,” his website continues.

Basran is being challenged for the second election in the row by Tom Dyas. Other mayor candidates to file papers so far include Glendon Smedley and Silverado Socrates.

More to come…

Photo: Wayne Moore