What matters

Work History and Experience

Before moving to Harrison Hot Springs, I worked for the Vancouver Park Board for almost 20 years, from April 2002 until my retirement in July 2021.

I started as a Trades II Painter, became a Sub Foreman and later served as Acting Superintendent of the Paint and Sign Shop.

Working within local government gave me practical experience with budgets, planning, public assets, workplace safety, purchasing, procedures, staff and getting work completed in a public sector environment.

Asset Management and Long Term Planning

A significant part of my work involved keeping track of public assets and their condition.

I managed an inventory of the Park Board's paintable assets, signage and road marking assets. This meant knowing what we had, where it was located, its condition and what work would be required to maintain or replace it.

I was also responsible for managing light pole inspection and replacement programs. This included maintaining condition reports and adding signage and light poles to GIS based records.

Having accurate asset information allowed work to be planned rather than simply reacting when something failed.

That experience taught me the importance of knowing what assets you own, where they are, what condition they are in and when they will need to be repaired or replaced.

It also taught me the value of preventative maintenance and long term planning.

Waiting until infrastructure fails is usually not the best or least expensive way to manage public assets.

That experience is one of the reasons I place so much importance on asset management and long term infrastructure planning for Harrison.

Supervision, Scheduling and Getting Work Done

As a Sub Foreman and Acting Superintendent, my responsibilities went beyond doing the work myself.

I was responsible for planning and scheduling work, coordinating employees and resources, setting priorities and dealing with changing demands.

Time management was an important part of the job. Work had to be scheduled realistically, priorities had to be balanced and employees and equipment had to be available when they were needed.

I was also responsible for employee time keeping. Accurate records mattered because employee hours, overtime and the time spent on different work all had financial consequences.

Managing work also meant following up. It was not enough to assign a job. I needed to know whether it was completed, how long it took and whether other work still needed attention.

Working for a local government taught me that there are processes that need to be followed when public money, employees and public property are involved.

It also taught me the importance of setting priorities and following through.

Workplace Safety

Safety was a major part of my career.

I served as a First Aid Attendant and was involved in training workers in areas including WHMIS, fall protection, boom lifts, working alone procedures, site inspections and some confined space procedures.

I also coauthored a boom lift training manual for the City of Vancouver and Parks.

I chaired the Evans Yard Safety Committee and served on the Vancouver Park Board's central safety committee.

Those experiences taught me the importance of identifying risks before someone gets hurt, having clear procedures and making sure the people expected to respond are properly trained and prepared.

That same principle is behind my position on emergency preparedness in Harrison. Having a plan is important. Making sure people understand it, practise it and are ready to carry it out is just as important.

Working With People and Meeting Procedure

Local government involves people with different responsibilities, experience and opinions.

Throughout my career I worked with tradespeople, supervisors, managers and other departments.

My involvement with workplace safety committees also gave me experience participating in structured meetings. Meetings had agendas, procedures and responsibilities, and people sometimes had very different opinions about the issues being discussed.

I learned the importance of meeting decorum, allowing people to speak, listening to different points of view and keeping the discussion focused on the issue rather than the individual.

People can disagree strongly and still treat each other respectfully.

I also spent many years as a union member, which gave me experience seeing workplace issues from the employee side as well as later taking on supervisory responsibilities.

I learned that disagreement does not have to prevent people from working together.

You ask questions, listen to the people who understand the issue, follow the proper process and then get on with the job.

Community Experience

Since moving to Harrison, I have taken a strong interest in how our Village operates.

I served on Harrison's Environmental Advisory Committee and I am a member of the Miami River Stream Keepers Society.

I also created the Harrison Village Facts website as a way of looking more closely at Council agendas, bylaws, reports, financial information and other Village documents and making that information easier for residents to understand.

That work has involved reading a great deal of municipal information and asking questions when something is unclear.

Small Business

I am also the owner of Uncle Jerry's Sharpening & Sharpening Supplies.

Running a small business means dealing with customers, suppliers, inventory, pricing, taxes, shipping and the everyday reality of making financial decisions with your own money.

It has also given me a greater appreciation for the challenges faced by small businesses and why a healthy year round local economy matters to Harrison.

What I Would Bring to Council

I am not a professional planner, engineer or accountant, and I would never pretend to be one.

Council has access to professionals for that expertise.

I believe a councillor's job is to read the information, understand it as well as possible, listen to professional advice, ask questions when something does not make sense and consider the consequences before making a decision.

My experience has taught me to know what assets we have, understand their condition, set priorities, manage time and resources, take safety seriously, watch costs, work respectfully with people and follow through.

That is the experience and approach I would bring to Harrison Hot Springs Council.