Questions (& Answers)

My partner and I rented for the first 15 of our 17 years in Squamish. In 2024, we faced losing our most recent rental because our landlord had to sell, but we were fortunate to secure a mortgage that allowed us to buy the home. We do not own any other property.

My primary source of revenue is from software development/consulting as a sole proprietor. I have worked in every part of the software development process (with a lot of backend/server/database focus) and my current contracts include a software screening tool for Children's Mental Health, and some information/collaboration platforms related to Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation.

I co-founded Amped in the Park nearly a decade ago when I was a director with Squamish Arts. This is a program that provides performance opportunities for new and emerging local artists, and free community music every Thursday night in Junction Park. Amped in the Park is a volunteer endeavour, but a side effect of this program is that I'm increasingly being asked to support live sound on both a paid and volunteer basis.

Last, but not least, I've been on Council for eight years. For the last four years, I've been appointed as a Director for the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, and I have been elected by my peers across Lower Mainland governments to serve as the First Vice President of the Lower Mainland Local Government Association (LM LGA). The LM LGA advocates to the province on issues faced by local governments for about 70% of BC's population.

My software and audio work both involve a lot of problem analysis, problem solving, careful listening and compromise.

My eight years of Council experience have given me lots of practice working collaboratively through tough decisions, without compromising on my values, and without being afraid to speak up when it's important to do so. I have built a deep understanding of Squamish's issues, the many perspectives around each issue, and the systems that we are required to work within. I am quick to understand the nuances in new issues and how we can most effectively address them. So many of the issues we face in Squamish are shared by communities across BC, and my LM LGA role gives me (and therefore Squamish) an outsized voice at the table with the province. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean we automatically get what we want, but it does give Squamish a strong voice at important tables. If re-elected, I will be travelling to Victoria in November with the LM LGA executive to speak directly to provincial ministers about key municipal issues.

For me, “affordable housing” is context-dependent, and I generally think of it as housing costs relative to one's income. Access to services and other things play some part in this too.

As identified in the District's prior housing work, there is a wide range of housing affordability needs. Helping Hands, Squamish Community Services, PearlSpace, Squamish Senior Living Society, Squamish Nation, and BC Housing provide housing with special/additional supports/focus and/or deep subsidies. Although many of those providers are on the Board of the Squamish Housing Society, Squamish Housing is meant to fill a different “middle housing” gap, important for our community's workforce. It is intended to be below-market, but not deeply subsidized.

The District is currently reviewing its perpetually affordable housing policy and I encourage everyone to share their thoughts about where our focus should be at letstalksquamish.ca/pah. This policy will impact how/if the District funds/supports Squamish Housing (and any other housing initiatives) going forward.

As challenges with inequality and homelessness increase, and as the province fails to adequately live up to its responsibility for housing, I think we may need to consider deeper levels of housing subsidy. The trade-off is that deeper subsidies take more taxpayer resources which means having less money to put towards other things. Personally, I would lean in this direction, and I hope that's one discussion we can have through the election. Having said that, I hear about requests for more infrastructure rather than more below-market housing, so I'm eager to hear more from the community on this topic.

My understanding is that as per 2.3 in Squamish's Perpetually Affordable Housing Policy, our below-market rental rates should be both at or below 30% of a renter's gross income, and at or below 80% of median rental rates (for privately-owned rentals). Put another way, the Perpetually Affordable Housing Policy attempts to ensure some level of affordability relative to both income and the broader rental market. I think both are relevant, so this makes sense to me.

I know one couple who started doing a bit of development in the last year or two, and we only manage to connect (socially) once every couple of years. We have not connected socially since I found out they were doing development — though I have run into them and had a short conversation at a couple of community events.

I am running independently. I do not have personal or professional relationships with other candidates other than being friendly and volunteering at some of the same events and organizations as some candidates (Chamber of Commerce, Squamish Days Loggers Sports, etc).