Meet incumbent Peachland mayoral candidate Cindy Fortin as she sits down to answer some important questions, and a just for fun question, before the election on Oct.15.
Cindy Fortin - Incumbent mayor
(The following has been transcribed from video: sic)
If elected, how do you think council should manage growth and development of the district?
I want to ensure that we maintain the quaintness and the feel of Peachland and at the same time have some development but not overly developed. I definitely believe in moderate development. We have to provide housing for people. If we don’t the Ministry of Housing and its representatives have said that they are going to step in. That’s terrifying to have people who live outside your community, who may not have even visited your community make decisions on that. So, we have to continue to develop.
I like to see more affordable, or I prefer attainable the word attainable housing for people, especially young families. Affordable housing for seniors we’re already doing, but I’d also like to see a new Beach Avenue management plan and have more public consultation.
What steps do you think council could take to improve traffic flows o Highway 97 and road infrastructure in Peachland?
I can’t think of a ministry that I’ve spoken to more than the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. They are the toughest ministry to get to move ahead with projects. They have studied and studied the idea of a bypass, and at one point they were going to cut right through the hillside neighborhoods.
There’s also a great fear that they’re going to be four-laning through Peachland, and people don’t want to see that either, some do and so it’s a very divisive issue. What I want to see is what they have promised, which is improvements to the existing highway through Peachland to make the traffic flows better to make it safer.
I would like to see the speed limit not go from 90 km/h on Drought Hill to 70 km/h to 90 km/h and then go back to 70 km/h by Antlers Beach then it goes up again. I’d like to see the consistency of a lower speed. They’ve always told us that they won’t do that because they’ve done studies and when your lower the speed, people tend to take more risks, drivers that like to speed. I also want to see that (traffic) light at Trepanier. I know that traffic lights are annoying to people, but there’s a safety issue there. I believe that’s already in the works, it’s already in their budgets, but I am going to continue to push for that light. They’re also going to make changes with that light, there are a couple of really dangerous roads to the north at the base of Drought Hill. We have to think about safety first.
Who is your favourite Okanagan celebrity and why?
This is a tough one, because I would rather choose someone that’s not under the definition of celebrity, but has done a lot for the community. We have an amazing group of volunteers in Peachland. Our community couldn’t run without these volunteers. We even have a special volunteer appreciation day just to acknowledge them. They love Peachland and they love their community.
One of my favorite people and I love them all, is our latest citizen of the year Linda Sarsons. Linda and her family for years have run the Peachland Ambassadorial Society and they’ve done an amazing job. So I have to say that it’s the volunteers. I love them, and I’m so proud of them and the amount of volunteers that get out for every single event.
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