Eighteen years of municipal government experience. Been a part of, or chaired, every committee the City of Armstrong has. Currently the chairperson of the Parks and Recreation committee and Armstrong’s representative to the Vernon-based affordable housing committee.
There’s a lot Paul Britton has accomplished in his 18 years as an Armstrong councillor, and more he wants to do, which is why the Pleasant Valley Secondary School trades and student transitions coordinator is running to retain his seat.”
“I have lived in Armstrong for more than 33 years and raised my family here,” said Britton. “I was first elected councillor in December 1999 and am very proud of all the accomplishments councils have done to make Armstrong such a great place to live and raise families.”
Britton believes his experience is critical for a seventh term on council.
“My educational background and past experience at the municipal level, school district level, and at the provincial level of the Ministry of Education has prepared me well for a council position with the city,” he said.
Not all decisions politicians make are popular ones but as an elected official, you must take a stand. I have never been one to just accept someone else’s opinion if I do not agree with it. I would encourage the electorate to vote for me because I take this position very seriously and enjoy the time and effort required to research the issues before council. I am very proud and honoured to have the citizens in Armstrong trust in me to make the right decisions, keeping the best interest of the whole of Armstrong in mind.”
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The city’s residents, said Britton, are its greatest strength. He feels city administration and council works well as a team and has governed the city prudently over the last few terms.
If there’s a weakness, he said, it’s probably the city’s tax base.
“Taxation brings in 41 per cent of the city’s revenue and of that 41 per cent, 91 per cent is residential and only eight per cent is business and commercial,” said Britton. “We rely heavily on residential taxation to operate our city. Another issue which we should look at in more depth is developmental cost charges for development. Currently we have voluntary development cost charges and we should review this practice to see what works best for Armstrong.”
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If re-elected, Britton believes the biggest issue facing council is getting a handle on flood mitigation and the maintenance of Meighan and Deep creeks.
“Updating and proceeding with the environmental management plan has been a long and frustrating process for council and staff,” he said. “Just getting the 90 residents’ approvals along the creeks was a feat in itself.
There are many other items of importance as well that we are still working on like master sewer plan updates, water master plan which includes working with Spall council on the MOU Water District Dissolution Plan, parks and recreation master plan and also handling all the developments applications.”
roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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