Managing growth while maintaining small town feel priority for Lumby’s incumbent mayor

Oct 4, 2022 | 3:08 PM

The current mayor of Lumby is seeking to reclaim his seat this month and help guide the growth of the community for the next four years, as he has done for more than a decade already.

Speaking with Vernon Matters, Kevin Acton said the village creates a strategic plan each year which is primarily based on public feedback.

The four-term mayor said, if re-elected, he wants to address the needs of the community outlined in that plan.

“I think it would be a bit of an ego thing if I have a vision for Lumby. It’s more about finding what other people want and putting a vision together for Lumby,” Acton said.

“I think the big focus for us over the next four years is to have [market value] housing available to make sure people have a place to live and service the community for the jobs we have [available]. And of course, job creation is also something governments strive for.”

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While he did say growth was important to Lumby, Acton noted he also wishes to try to balance that with retaining the small town feel.

“That is a challenging part of growth, so I think what we’re doing is we’re looking at infill and increasing density,” he said.

“We’re not trying to sprawl out. We don’t want to see our residential or commercial properties sprawl. We want to keep everything in a nice, tight little area and continue to work on making sure that the village has good walkability. Good access always gives you that small town feel so that you’re in close quarters with your neighbours and you get to know everybody.”

The village also supports several community events each year, including Lumby Days, which Acton said helps bring people together and maintains that connectivity.

He added that, while people can bring in franchises, he doesn’t want to see Lumby expand with big box stores and encourages people to shop local.

Acton also stated he would also like to remain in office to oversee planned developments of apartment complex projects, the new wastewater treatment plant, and the flood mitigation work required to protect the community for years to come.

Acton has a lot of political experience coming into the election, as he has served as the village’s mayor for more than a decade.

“I originally ran for council in 2008 and then shortly after, the mayor ran for MLA [Eric Foster] and was successful so we had a void,” Acton told Vernon Matters.

“We sort of all talked together as a council and we didn’t really want a new mayor to come in and change the direction. We had worked really hard on our strategic plan, so the council supported me running. So I’ve been the mayor for about 13 years since then.”

Acton said having this experience will help him lead the village if re-elected for a fifth term.

“It’s funny because in politics, we sometimes think we should limit our terms and move over and let in somebody new, but yet with a job. It seems the more experience we have, the better off we are and the more valuable we are to a company, so when I was considering running this time that was my sort of thought,” Acton said.

“It’s been a really unstable time in our lives with the economy and COVID going through. The one thing that we could use is some stability, so having that stability moving forward, myself and some of the councillors who are running, we understand legislation, we know how to get things done and work with senior levels of government. We have relationships built. We’re not starting from scratch.”

In addition to serving as Lumby’s mayor, Acton serves as chair of the Regional District of North Okanagan board of directors.

Acton and his family moved from Victoria to Lumby in 1992, a year after his first son was born, to escape the big city feeling. He said he was drawn to Lumby due to the small town feeling while still being in close proximity to the Kelowna International Airport. He also noted that being surrounded by outdoor activity opportunities like fishing, white water kayaking and skiing was a big draw for him and his family, which include three sons he raised in the village.

He co-owns and operates a massage therapy and chiropractor business, Bloom Wellness Centre, in the village.

Citizens will cast their ballots for their mayor and council at the 2022 local general election on October 15.

Vernon Matters has reached out to Lumby’s other mayoralty candidate, Brad Weston, for an interview.

Editor’s note:

Vernon Matters is providing profiles of candidates from local communities who provide us with information about why they are running and what they see as the main issues. A picture of the candidate is also required.

Candidates can send the details to vernon-newsroom@pattisonmedia.com.

by Liam Verster

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