Dauna Kennedy

I work to reduce my personal carbon footprint through renovations to my home and appliances. I still have more work to do and much more to learn about the new options becoming available on a regular basis.

I do believe in innovation and that at times we need flexibility for situations never considered when plans are designed. That doesn’t mean abandoning the core principals that were put in place to protect our community on a number of fronts around environmental concerns, inflated taxation burden from satellite developments, etc. The current OCP has put in preventative steps learning from past developmental mistakes that cost Vernon taxpayers. It addresses the concerns around wildlife corridors, emergency vehicle access and the added burden of servicing suburban style development on raw land. This is important, but no policy is complete unless it also addresses the ripple effects that come from it. It has been a challenge to entice developers into the development area. We need to consider mitigating strategies to encourage development and balance the potential for loss of jobs and economic development as a result. I am pro Smart development. We urgently need it, for the long-term health of our community.
A ‘good’ project in Vernon would be the Via District Community Plan which is an infill project utilizing current services already in place, providing high density housing with easy access to public transit and amenities. Developments that would now be considered ‘not good’ under the current OCP are the Foothills and Predator Ridge. Developments that would now be considered ‘not good’ under the current OCP are the Foothills and Predator Ridge. Both would now fail on similar grounds; ultimately because the costs outweighed the tax generating potential.

A. I like that community engagement is a key role in this plan. Broadening community buy-in is going to be an important factor to tightening the target gap that exists. Yes, there are key priority areas but ultimately, making this a ‘community’ plan rather than a ‘city’ plan is what is going to help us be successful. Vernon is a community that pulls together when needed and I think this is a perfect opportunity to mobilize around this important topic especially in light of some of the other challenges we currently face. We need to be creative in our approach and seek opportunities for neighbourhoods to come together and support each other in making change. I have seen this type of action be successful in other communities for things like crime prevention which is also an issue in Vernon. In this time of high taxes, providing our taxpayers with creative, active ways they can get directly involved in helping meet the goals of the CAP in a disciplined low cost solution will ripple out creating support for the larger investments required.
B. Much has happened in our community since this plan was completed and I would like to see a comprehensive evaluation of this plan alongside our water needs. These issues go hand in hand and given the significant costs involved, need to be planned in a coordinated manner.

The model used by the City of acquiring land with money through the Parks Development Cost charges and Park’s reserve, prevents these types of property purchases from putting a strain on the City’s annual operating budget and therefore taxpayers directly. If they have been purchased as parkland then it should be protected as that. Should future development challenge this, there should be not net loss to the protected habitat.

Discipline is not always popular in the moment, but is necessary for a few key priorities for the long-term health of our community.

I see this situation as being similar to the Agriculture Land Reserves. The idea that we are protecting land for the long term to ensure that we don’t lose it to short-term objectives. We need to have long-term protections in place for key necessities for our long-term sustainability. The question comes in as to can it be privately owned like farmland with a designation attached or does it need to be purchased to protect it like parks and at what level of government?

I work to reduce my personal carbon footprint through renovations to my home and appliances. I still have more work to do and much more to learn about the new options becoming available on a regular basis. Climate action has been more of a personal interest for me as my dad (agrologist) has always been very active in the climate change movement and I have learned what I know through him. I do know that for my role on council I will need to get more actively involved in this area of our community and look forward to that opportunity.

I am not going to pretend I am an expert in this field, but it is impacting us daily and Vernon is facing some significant issues as a result of climate change. Right now the two that are top of mind for many in the community because of the summer we had are water and fire. Significant work has been done to set a comprehensive plan in motion for Vernon and it will be important to continue to ensure it is implemented over time. This will require investment and advocacy with senior levels of government ensuring Vernon is better prepared to mitigate some of these challenges. Prevention is sometimes a hard sell, but so much cheaper over the long run as we can see with some of the devastation from this past summer season.