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Daphane Nelson

Independent for Kamloops Council
People, Planet, Prosperity. Combined with sustainability, these are all intertwined and integral components of a healthy and vibrant community. I stand for community, cooperating, action, creative thinking and finding actual solutions.

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Climate Change

Active Transportation

It would seem that safer/improved cycling/walking paths to encourage this type of transportation is necessary.

Green Space

Our climate is semi-arid and while green spaces are integral, they're not sustainable. A review of water usage could uncover waste areas.
This is not saying we remove them, but look at water consumption and use it more appropriately as a community.

Parking

If parking is difficult to find then it means we need to find other means of getting to that area. Walk, bike, transit.

Zoning

Possible resolutions: Streamline applications (online?), reduce red tape, pre-approved designs.

Housing & Homelessness

Affordability

Two words: cooperative housing. Kamloops has one non-profit co-op housing development with a 3-5 year wait list.
Enable an online process to register a suite with both the city as well as rental bank. Possible tax incentives to create affordable suites?
Encourage/facilitate roommate situations; elderly person living at home and a TRU student could create a beautiful co-existence for both.

Co-Op Housing

Kamloops has one non-profit co-op housing development with a 3-5 year wait list. Need to develop more and create communities around them.

Housing Accessibility

Two words: cooperative housing. Kamloops has one non-profit co-op housing development with a 3-5 year wait list.
Enable an online process to register a suite with both the city as well as rental bank. Possible tax incentives to create affordable suites?
Encourage/facilitate roommate situations; elderly person living at home and a TRU student could create a beautiful co-existence for both.

Indigenous-Led Housing

Cooperative housing could be a great model for any community within the Secwepemc region.

Property Taxes

I want to review the budget and truly get a sense for where money is being spent and talk to citizens about their perceptions of need.
Reviewing quarterly budgets against projections will keep budgets in line. Currently this is an annual practice which needs to be updated.

Zoning

Possible resolutions: Streamline applications (online?), reduce red tape, pre-approved designs.

Public Spaces & Services

Green Space

Our climate is semi-arid and while green spaces are integral, they're not sustainable. A review of water usage could uncover waste areas.
This is not saying we remove them, but look at water consumption and use it more appropriately as a community.

Zoning

Possible resolutions: Streamline applications (online?), reduce red tape, pre-approved designs.

Reconciliation & Indigenous Nations

Indigenous-Led Housing

Cooperative housing could be a great model for any community within the Secwepemc region.

Transit & Getting Around

Active Transportation

It would seem that safer/improved cycling/walking paths to encourage this type of transportation is necessary.

Parking

If parking is difficult to find then it means we need to find other means of getting to that area. Walk, bike, transit.

Biography

submitted by the candidate or their team
I recognize that I, my partner of seven years, and fourteen-year-old son live in unceded Secwepemcul’ecw, the land of the Secwépemc people and that it has provided me with nourishment, livelihood, and recreation for most of my life.

Originally from Clinton, I graduated in Ashcroft and moved to the booming metropolis of Kamloops in the 90s to study business at TRU. I’ve been here since, and have close to twenty years working with non-profits and businesses in Kamloops through a number of work and volunteer opportunities including The Relay for Life, Kamloops Food Policy Council, Farm 2 Chef, Community Futures, Kamloops Arts Council and the Kamloops Public Market Cooperative. My community involvement extends beyond board governance, I have hosted free in-person and online Co-op Cafes in alignment with co-operative principle #5, coached minor baseball, played ladies sports (hockey and fastpitch) and been involved in various beginner adult dance troupes over the years.

In 2018, I began a business consulting practice to assist small businesses achieve their highest potential and have contracted with Community Futures of Central Interior First Nations as an export advisor and Sun Country as a Regional Business Liaison helping business recovery efforts in Lytton. Coinciding with this endeavour, I have been a director with Interior Savings Credit Union for six years sitting on the audit and finance, governance, investment & lending, and nominations & elections committees during my tenure. While running for city council, I'm incorporating a worker cooperative that will help other people interested in the model to develop their worker-owned enterprises.

Reason for running

submitted by the candidate or their team
I have been struggling with the status quo approach by Council and administration for many terms now. A topic came up and I was floored by Council's response. I thought, we really need some progressive leadership and realized I had to help lead a new way forward.

You might see my People, Planet and Prosperity tagline on my signs. I feel we need to drop the silos and consider everything holistically instead of looking at social programs OR climate action plans OR business retention OR attracting doctors. We are a community where folks can't help but bump into each other and have an impact as a result.

As a current director with a credit union and past director with many non-profits in Kamloops, I am accustomed to reviewing year to date financial statements as well as how those numbers measure up to the budgets, at least quarterly. There are existing, legacy thoughts that Council holds; I've been hearing for years that their responsibility with the budget is only to approve the items put forward by staff. I also understand that they only view the numbers annually because the Local Government Act only requires this annual update. I can confirm that by viewing the finance committee agendas for the past two years, I did not see any financial statements or comparison to budget. As a fiduciary or steward for Kamloops taxpayers, Councillors need to take more responsibility for the budget and take that deeper dive.

In terms of funding social service agencies that are expected to support people struggling with mental health and addictions, I would like to see a more cooperative and collaborative approach, with an invitation to a table where every single social service agency is welcome and has an equal right to be there, instead of staff and Councillors playing favourites with the people they view as doing it 'right.' We need a gap analysis completed by an unbiased external party to determine what services we already have and who is being serviced vs. what services are needed and which populations are not being serviced. It's nice to talk about the positive outcomes but it's time to be accountable to all the citizens of our community.

I have heard from many that the City planning and engineering department is difficult to work with; having said this I do not have any personal experience with this and cannot give specific examples. I would like to send the message to staff that the City is “Open for Business” and that efficiencies are needed along with policy improvements. For example, expediting the process by pre-approving designs for carriage houses and other housing opportunities. Maybe the application for a legal basement suite could be an online form if it’s not already.  I could also see moving developments that offer a certain percentage of affordable units to the “front of the line” and I would like to ensure that cooperative housing complexes would not face added red tape because they’re not a commonly known development model.

My message is simple; let's make it easier for residents to live a comfortable life, do business, have an impact, feel safe and thrive.

daphanenelson.com www.daphanenelson.com