Lumby Mayor re-elected, still eying provincial seat

“Bradley did a lot of homework and put in a lot of effort; he was out door knocking and talking to people in town, and I think he put together something that was a lot more reasonable as a campaign compared to last time,” Acton said.

“So I had to make sure I really stepped up to the plate as well and ran a good campaign.”

Looking towards the next term, Acton said he had a lot of work he would like to see done in the village.

“We had the road and industrial park completed; we have five lots and the people we partnered with have three. We’re seeing a lot of interest on those lots, so hopefully we get those full and get people building some jobs into Lumby through industrial improvements,” the Mayor-Elect said.

“That’s a big one because it will help increase the tax base for Lumby. Industrial land always has a good tax base that helps offset residential and commercial.

“Then the Public Works building is nearly complete, so we’re going to start to look at moving things over and getting those guys settled into a new building, which is looking really good. Where the old Public Works building is we have to decide what to do there, we’ve talked about a few different things, maybe a four-plex or something or maybe even just some extra parking.”

Acton said there was also more developments underway in Lumby, and he’d like to see the village grow responsibly and “make sure we put density where density should be.”

He also noted flood mitigation efforts were being done to protect properties along Duteau and Bessette Creeks, and would like to see that work continued to ensure properties were protected.

Additionally, the Village of Lumby was in the process of redoing the Wastewater Treatment Plant, and he would like to see that completed soon.

Acton had an interesting campaign period as he was not only running as Mayor of Lumby in the municipal election, but also running in the snap provincial election as the Conservative Party of B.C. candidate in the Vernon-Lumby riding.

“It’s certainly challenging because not everyone has access to news in the same way, so we’d knock on some doors and they’d say ‘We got you’ and we’d say ‘For Mayor and the province, or just for the mayor or just for the province?'” Acton told Vernon Matters.

“So in Lumby particularly there was a lot of explaining, but when we did some door knocking I was actually pleasantly surprised how educated the voter was in Lumby. So everybody was really paying attention to this election.

“But I can’t say it didn’t cause some extra challenges. Some extra effort had to go into campaigning for the mayor so people understood what was going on.”

Acton also reaffirmed his commitment to donate to the Village of Lumby to cover a by-election for the mayoral seat if he wins the MLA seat.

“The expectation is going to be that I pay for it out of my pocket, and that’s exactly what is going to happen,” Acton told Vernon Matters.

The provincial general voting day will be held Saturday, Oct. 24.

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by Liam Verster

Lumby Mayor re-elected, still eying provincial seat

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