One Foot Off Center: Kelowna’s crossroads of safety, jobs and growth

What holds Kelowna back?

Castanet presents One Foot Off Center, a podcast tackling the big issues facing the Okanagan.

Rick Maddison, Ron Mattiussi, Scott Lanigan and Cassidy deVeer meet every month to discuss how these issues impact everyday Canadians.

Maddison is a well-known entrepreneur in Kelowna and owner of Tempest Media. Mattiussi is the former chief administrator of the City of Kelowna and has worked in local government across the province.

Lanigan is the lead pastor of Trinity Church, one of Kelowna’s largest churches, who has served with various community groups like Journey Home.

Cassidy deVeer, the newest member of the panel, is the executive officer of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association of Central Okanagan. She is known for asking the uncomfortable questions, focusing on practical outcomes, and cutting through theory to get to what actually works.

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On this week's podcast, the panel discusses the complex issues facing Kelowna as it balances its identity as a resort destination with the realities of a rapidly growing urban centre.

The discussion touched on everything from street safety and housing to the urgent need for a more robust local economy.

Scott Lanigan pointed a recent list that ranked Kelowna the 122nd most desirable place to live in the world.

"What lowered our rate of desirability was safety, and that was one of the biggest factors," Lanigan said, adding that the city needs to find a "more human, relatable focus" to help those caught in the cycle of homelessness.

Cassidy deVeer pointed to the economic divide between the wealthy and regular folk in the Okanagan.

"We're a city of haves and have-nots," deVeer said. "We need to have a lot more high-paying jobs in this community if we're going to get people moving here to live and work and raise a family here."

Host Rick Maddison suggested that while technology like CCTV might help with safety, the root of the issue is often financial. "The jobs would fundamentally solve a whole bunch of problems," Maddison said, discussing the potential for 24-hour monitoring to change the "face of safety" in troubled areas.

Former Kelowna city manager Ron Mattiussi argued that enforcement and surveillance only go so far without provincial support for mental health. "People need to be treated, until our government, in fact, deals with that, and we could hire all the police we want and all the bylaw officers, because they can't do anything."

Despite the hurdles, the panel agreed that Kelowna is not going to stop attracting people anytime soon, with Mattiussi noting that "people still find this a desirable place to live."

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.