New mayor, new platform

Wayne Stetski is Cranbrook`s new mayor and is looking forward to the term ahead

Wayne Stetski, the new mayor of Cranbrook, believes that being a public servant is an important calling in life. He brings an environmental and green focus to the job, drawn from his position of regional manager of the Kootenays for the British Columbia Ministry of Environment.

Stetski sees 12 areas for improvement in Cranbrook, but three stand out right now.

“There are three priorities in particular that we deliver on,” said Stetski, "a more attractive Cranbrook, a stronger economy and an empowered community.”

A beautiful Cranbrook

Stetski thinks that it is a must to improve the highway strip and Cranbrook, making them both more beautiful and more interesting. He aims to ensure the services of a full-time horticulturist who can work with business owners and volunteers to beautify the strip and public spaces.

“We have a world-class environment, we live in one of the richest areas for wildlife anywhere in the world, our food chain is intact and this is extremely rare on a world scale,” said Stetski. “Picture driving through Cranbrook and encountering a metal statue of an elk, and then a little bit further on, a concrete statue of a moose or a cougar.”

Stetski's goals include redesigning the entrance to the city so that visitors can see it as a welcoming hub for tourism and business. Through incentives, bylaws, zoning and art, he envisions refurbishing one lot or business at a time. He wants to make sure the weed bylaw is enforced on vacant lots in the city and would like to see public amenities along pedestrian routes.

A strong economy

Stetski has a number of goals concerning Cranbrook's economy. They include encouraging investment in vacant lots and buildings by incentives and development within city limits.

“We have the sunniest city in British Columbia,” said Stetski. “We have done nothing with this so far and we are not even a solar-energy community, so there is lots of potential. Along with some of the natural assets that we have, I think this could ultimately shape our economy as we move forward.”

Stetski said solar energy and bioenergy are new initiatives that the College of the Rockies may be interested in.

He said that the airport, hospital and college are all strengths of Cranbrook and by improving the focus on a sustainable economy, Stetski feels that Cranbrook can be a desirable place for industry. Stetski also emphasized hiring locals and youth, and attracting new events, focused on Cranbrook's First Nations culture, ethnic diversity, the arts and entertainment.

Before becoming mayor, Stetski attended a workshop convened by the Vancouver Foundation and the provincial government.

“One of the suggestions they had was that it would be great to pull the non-profit (organizations) together at a municipal level in a workshop and look at seeing if you can find common values," said Stetski. "Getting more than one of the groups to work toward achieving the same objective would improve life in Cranbrook."

Stetski said he liked this idea and thinks a variation of this theme could work in Cranbrook.

“One of my priorities is to try and bring the people of Cranbrook together around all kinds of different objectives that will lead to a better Cranbrook in the end,” said Stetski.

Empowering the community

“We can make sure that all of the citizens of Cranbrook understand that they have value and we welcome their diversity of opinions,” said Stetski. “I want everybody to be comfortable to come forward and talk about ideas and concerns.” 

Stetski will encourage communication and collaboration with the mayor's office and staff. He will meet one on one with citizens monthly as well as encourage lunchtime brown-bag sessions.

“If you are going to be involved in municipal politics, you really do have to welcome a diversity of opinions and variety of people," said Stetski. "You may or may not share the same views, but the way you get better decisions, I truly believe, is by having a diversity of opinions brought to whatever the issue is.”

Stetski said that he is excited about the composition of the new council for the same reason.

“The divergence of viewpoints will make for better decisions,” he said.

The Cranbrook mayor will try to host a radio show for people to have public access to the mayor and councillors.

Stetski is excited about the future and well aware of the challenges ahead.

“It is a real challenge to try and move forward on new infrastructure or initiative at the same time as trying to balance it off with increased costs," said Stetski. "It is a challenging time to be in government in general and we will have to be really creative in ways to get things done.”

Pulling together and achieving things collectively, said Stetski, is important.

Personally

Grew up in: many small towns, originally from Manitiba, resident of Cranbrook for 21 years.
Family: Wife, Audrey, married for 33 years, three children and one grandchild
Must-reads: Many, but a favourite is Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
Downtime activities: outdoor oriented, mountain biking, hiking, camping, ball and curling