I’m 53 and was raised in Salmo. After graduating from high school, I worked at a local sawmill for a few years and eventually saved up enough money to go to BCIT, where I graduated with a diploma in Biomed Engineering.
I met my wife in Vancouver and we started a family, but the travel I was doing with my job became too much and we decided that the city was not where we wanted to raise our family.
After working in Kamloops at the Royal Inland Hospital, and in the Prince George Regional Hospital, a biomed position came up in Trail, so we were able to return to the area.
When we moved back I had always thought I would eventually run for council, and events seem to be coming together for me to have the time to dedicate to that now.
I’ll be retiring out of the 44th army reserves shortly and I’m having a little trouble reading the pressure on and SCBA bottle without my glasses, so it’s time to pass the torch on to the next generation in both the Army Reserves and Salmo Fire Dept.
The top challenges that I see facing our village are that there are a few, legal, financial and staffing issues outstanding, not the indicators of a healthy organization that I would hope to see.
The main experience that will help me make a contribution is that over the years I have been a member of the Interior Health-wide biomed leadership team.
Interior Health has equipped me to deal with problems through training. I’ve taken several courses with the priority placed on being able to successfully supervise employees and work as a productive member of a team.
I’ve had a seat at capital equipment committee tables every year, and every year we’ve dealt with the fact that there are about three times as many requests as there are dollars to spend, difficult decisions are made every year. But when people work together, with an eye on what is the best we can do with the resources we have, difficult doesn’t have to mean impossible.
I’ve been fortunate to be a part of several smooth running teams and committee’s and I think that experience will help me to make a contribution to the Village of Salmo through the council.