Better communication a key issue at Armstrong council all-candidates forum
Published 4:00 pm Saturday, September 26, 2026
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Most of the time during an election all-candidates forum, candidates are looking for opportunities to demonstrate their positive attributes, rattle off the talking points they’ve honed, and generally present a polished self-portrait to the public, free of whatever warts they may wish to conceal.
At Armstrong’s council candidates forum in front of a full house at Centennial Theatre Wednesday night, Sept. 23, one question from the crowd turned all of that on its head.
“I’d like to know from candidates who have sat on council before, what is one decision you voted in favour of that looking back you regret, or you’d approach differently?” the audience member said midway into the question period.
The question abruptly shifted the exercise at hand for the candidates. No longer were they being judged on how flawless they could come across. Instead, the flaws took centre stage, and the test became how the incumbents and past councillors could demonstrate a willingness to listen — if not during past terms, then now.
Incumbent Steven Drapala was the first to answer. While he still stands by the principles of his past decision to approve the contentious traffic-calming delineators that line two Rosedale Avenue intersections, he said the issue was how he went about implementing and communicating the pilot project.
“Some of them have been terrible, to be honest, in terms of implementation,” he said of projects over the last term that, because of their contentious status, may have had something to do with the fact that Centennial Theatre was packed to the gills for the forum, with people spilling out into the main foyer, unable to see the stage but listening to the answers over the speakers.
Two projects have proven to be lightning rods during this municipal election in Armstrong: the aforementioned delineators on the Rosedale intersections which the public has pushed back on because large vehicles appear to be unable to safely navigate the corners; and the Comprehensive Armstrong Revitalization Initiative (CARI) which has seen businesses share their hardship on account of the construction project’s length, as well as criticism from the public on what the end result will look like on Pleasant Valley Boulevard.
These two projects were the most frequently brought up topics at the forum and guided a large portion of the conversation. Some candidates, such as Pleasant Valley Boulevard business owner Kristy McLennan, were expressly running in the election due to their discontent with the CARI project.
The candidates seemed to understand the weight of these projects. When asked if they would vote to remove the Rosedale delineators if elected, all 16 candidates answered “Yes.”
A common grievance between the two hot-button projects was also a thread that ran through most of the forum: trust needs to be rebuilt, and to do that, communication between council and the public needs to improve.
Perhaps the healthy dose of humility drawn out by the question was a step in that direction.
Incumbent Shirley Fowler, who has served on council for 21 years, said the decision she most regrets came in 2015, when the decision to fix up Pleasant Valley North was first on the table.
“It became onerous. It became confusing. It became really hard to make the decision about what to do between the railroad property and the front of the business,” Fowler said. “We made the decision that if we can’t figure out what to do, that we would table it. If we had just carried on and finished that project at the time, we would be spending half the amount of money that we’re spending now.”
Incumbent candidate Jesse Valstar didn’t name the vote he most regrets from this past term, his first in politics. But he was honest about an instance where he dug in his heels and was later proven wrong.
“I got stubborn about something, and I just decided I was not going to listen to anyone at the table,” Valstar said. “I decided there’s no way I’m voting in favour of this. It was the wrong decision. But the thing is, when you have seven people voting, the whole point of the seven people is if you do get stubborn, at least common sense or the sense around the table can guide the decision-making process.”
Paul Britton, who lost by 15 votes in the last election but served previously, went back to the design of Armstrong’s Sunbelt Sports Centre to name his regret. He said the current arena is great but it could have been far better.
“We had a beautiful design on that arena that had walk-around all the way around the arena. And we just kept having to cut funding. It kept getting smaller and smaller,” he said.
Another questioner put the theme of the night directly to the candidates, asking how they would improve transparency and communication in the city.
McLennan received a big applause after she said communication of the CARI project was lacking, especially when it came to visuals of the final result. She said as the owner of PV BLVD Coffee, she talks to at least 50 people a day in her shop, and said she would bring that level of communication to council.
Candidate Mike Babott, owner of Rhythm Productions, said in fairness the city did issue notice about the CARI project, it just wasn’t reaching everyone.
“There’s a policy that needs to be looked at and see what other ways we can reach residents,” he said, adding technology can help, and as he runs a production company he’s in a good position to use technology to improve communication with the public.
Stephen Zopf said the CARI project was needed in some form as PV Boulevard needed to be fixed up, but he disagrees with the final design and suggested feedback from the public wasn’t listened to. He said town halls should be held, perhaps every quarter, to make communication and transparency a priority.
On a question related to housing, incumbent Mark Wehner said he did a “deep-dive” into affordable housing over the summer in preparation for a meeting with the ministry to discuss the Sunset Housing project and advocate on its behalf. He said while BC Housing stopped taking applications for grants, he’s hopeful “something will happen from that.”
Fowler added that while the funding was withdrawn, the project is ready to go and is “already in the queue,” and the hope is that the soon-to-be-elected next provincial government will support it.
Taxes were another topic mentioned, and young candidate Mark Casson appeared to make lower taxes one of his core issues, joking in the opening statements that he decided to run after recently buying a house and looking at his property tax slip.
Casson essentially said he would never support a tax increase.
“The last thing I ever want to do is to see a tax increase anywhere,” he said.
Other candidates took a more realist view. Drapala said fiscal responsibility means identifying critical infrastructure that needs to be maintained, and paying to maintain it now rather than later when it will cost more.
Incumbent Neil Todd said he’ll continue trying to run things as cost-efficiently as possible, the way he did with his Brown Derby restaurant that offered a $2.99 breakfast for years until he and his wife retired the business at the end of 2021.
“This council has managed to scope out every inch of pipe and conduit and road in this community, and so we have a plan, and we know what to do and when to do it so we’re not throwing any money away,” Todd said.
Kim Sinclair said the city needs to eliminate any flat tax rates that exist and charge residents according to their income for things like the fixed water utility fee.
“We need to start proportionally charging people, and when people have the ability to pay, they should be paying more,” Sinclair said.
A young resident asked the candidates how they would balance their considerations of expert opinions with the opinions of the public, referencing the CARI project as an example of where expert and public opinions seemed particularly divergent.
Ray Baylis said more localized consultation was needed with the project to look “at some of the issues that are peculiar to our town, some of those that might supersede what a professional would say.”
One resident simply asked the candidates why they’re running.
Dale Bradley said there are things about Armstrong he wants to preserve. He mentioned there are a lot of interesting agricultural developments happening within the community, saying he knows a beekeeper that cares for the bees that pollinate the alfalfa fields.
“There’s a culture here that needs to be protected,” Bradley said.
Lyle Williamson said he’s running because he wants to create a stronger connection between residents and council. He said multiple times he’s willing to make himself available for conversations with the public.
To a person, the candidates were appreciative of how civically engaged the community showed itself to be, judging by the turnout and the thoughtfulness of the questions.
“The sheer turnout today showed us that the community is engaged,” said Andy Werner.
He added his friends and neighbours aren’t too happy with the changes that have been made over the last few years, and said he can help correct course.
“I am ready to be your voice.”
Bradly Bourgeois had the final word on the night and made the most of it.
He said a guy once took a chance on hiring him in the towing industry and 50 years later he owns his own business, which he operates locally.
Bourgeois said if elected, he’d make good on his next opportunity. But ultimately, he said he wants what’s best for Armstrong.
“This year is one of those years that you guys get a choice. A big table of choices,” he said, gesturing to his 15 opponents. “These choices are the community’s to make. I just hope that everybody selects the way they want, and everybody gets what the community deserves, which is the best.”
The forum was hosted by the Armstrong Spallumcheen Chamber of Commerce.
Voting Day is Oct. 17. Advance voting will take place Oct. 7 and 14.