Coun. Toni Boot has announced she will be seeking the mayor’s role in the upcoming municipal election in October.
Boot made her announcement on Tuesday morning, before a crowd of supporters.
“I feel I am qualified and completely able to lead you for the next four years,” she said.
Boot was elected to Summerland’s municipal council in the 2014 election. In that election, she finished first of 16 candidates, with 2,819 votes, or support from 65 per cent of those who cast ballots.
During her time as a councillor, she has been a director on the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen board and was recently re-elected to serve a second term on the Southern Interior Local Government Association executive.
She is also the council liaison to the Summerland Chamber of Commerce and the Water Advisory Committee, and is part of the Mayor’s Task Force on Economic Development.
If elected, she hopes to review the Official Community Plan and the Cultural Plan, two guiding documents for the community.
“We really need to make sure that a development meets the needs and expectations of the people who live here,” she said.
She added that the Official Community Plan document is due for a review. Neighbourhood plans, for the downtown, Trout Creek and Lowertown are also needed, she said. These plans will serve as a representation of what the people of Summerland wish to see in the community, she said.
In the coming years, she would like to see housing developments to meet the needs of the community, with a diversity of housing options within Summerland.
She said the Wharton Street development, to be constructed this year, and a development on Kelly Avenue will both provide housing for the community.
Boot also plans to promote arts and culture and downtown development in the community.
She would like to see an assessment of municipal infrastructure, public facilities and parks. “We are due, perhaps overdue, for a new recreation complex in Summerland,” she said, referring to the existing Aquatic Centre, which is more than 40 years old.
The municipal election will be held on Saturday, Oct. 20. A mayor and six councillors will be elected in Summerland.
At present, Boot is the only one in Summerland to have announced her candidacy for a role in the next municipal council.
