A Vernon businessman says he was prompted to run for city council after speaking to residents.
Art Gourley, a 71-year-old self-employed painter, says he decided to run as a councillor Nov. 15 because people have concerns about a range of issues.
“I have some good ideas that might make the city more livable,” he said.
Among the concepts is reducing the bylaw department’s focus on issuing parking tickets.
“In Kelowna, handicapped parking is free and that helps business,” he said.
“We need to get people downtown.”
Gourley would also like to see 30th Avenue reconfigured to include one-way traffic and diagonal parking.
He also says that previous plans to turn 32nd and 27th streets into one-way roads should be dusted off as a way of improving traffic flow.
Another concern for Gourley is the paint that apparently gets splashed on to sidewalks when curbs are being painted.
“Why pay someone for making a mess?” he said, adding that the city budget could also be reduced if cemetery maintenance was turned over to funeral services.
Gourley also wants to see expanded emphasis on economic development.
“I’m a straight shooter and a working guy,” he said. “I want to help the young guys out of working. How do they survive?”
The other declared candidates are Juliette Cunningham, Kari Gares, Jack Gilroy, Shawn Lee, Catherine Lord, Dalvir Nahal, Mark Olsen, Bob Spiers and Brian Quiring.
