1. How long have you lived here?
Six and a half years.
2. What is your occupation?
Project Coordinator for the Wood Waste 2 Rural Heat Project working with communities helping them to understand biomass heating as a form of economic development.
3. Have you done any volunteer work here?
Current: Ashcroft Secondary Boys Soccer Coach; Ashcroft Secondary PAC; South Cariboo Minor Soccer (various positions); and Winding Rivers Arts and Performance Society. Previous: First Ashcroft Scouts; Cache Creek Fire Dept. and Cache Creek Elementary School – SPC.
4. Have you served on a town council before?
No.
5. Which issues are most important to you?
The two biggest issues for me are economic development and supporting families. Our community is struggling economically and we need to implement a strong plan that will stop this decline. When revenues from the Landfill are gone, we need to have a strong and diverse base to fill the gap.
Our community has seen an aging of the population and a loss of families. We need to actively work to ensure that services and activities are available in Cache Creek.
6. How would you address them?
I believe that we have to develop the capacity within our town to implement the economic plans previously developed. We have to be dedicated to this task and ensure there are enough financial and capacity resources. The airport commission has identified a plan to go forward. We need to strive to implement this plan as well as for other assets such as the park structure, community hall, fitness centre, etc.
We need to identify family needs and wants, then address them. A first step would be to develop a better system of contacting people and allowing them to address staff using technology such as email, newsletters, Facebook and other forms of electronic communication. When there is interest in activity, the municipality should work to facilitate that activity either by providing space, admin support, etc. We also need to better integrate with neighbouring communities so that all can benefit. As a parent who often is driving to other communities three or four times a day for activities, having things happening in Cache Creek would be a windfall.
7. Additional comments
For the past nine years I have worked with local, provincial, federal and First Nations governments across the province, examining issues such as waste management, energy, economic development, transportation and infrastructure. As an engineer, I bring a level of technical knowledge that is needed for a strong, small rural community. I have chosen to live my life in Cache Creek because I believe in what it is and what it can be. Simply, I would like to help Cache Creek.
David Dubois