Invermere’s mayor likes to achieve

With 2013 at an end, Kootenay Business asked District of Invermere mayor, Gerry Taft, to tell us a little about himself and his outlook for the year ahead.

Where did you grow up?

In Invermere.

Where did you go for post-secondary education?

I attended University College of the Cariboo (now Thompson Rivers University) in Kamloops. I graduated with a diploma in tourism management with a focus on hotel/restaurant.

What was your first job and how old were you when you started working?

I was 15 and got a job at the Invermere bottle depot. It was not fun.

What kind of workplace challenge brings out the best in you?

I like being busy, with many things going on.

If your city were a person, what would you say is its dominant characteristic?

I think Invermere is kind of like a bear—fierce and strong in the summer, sleepy and slow in the winter.

Before you became mayor, where might we find you on a Saturday night?

I’d be working or sometimes at a local bar.

And now, where might you be on a Saturday night?

I’ll be working or at home.

As mayor, what would you like your legacy to be in your city?

A legacy of doing things—of action and accomplishment, of rising above personal egos and politics.

Can you tell me how you’ve begun to achieve this?

In the last five years we were able to finish Pothole Park, move and restore a historic building, construct the Kinsmen Beach amenity building and enhance the beach area, do upgrades to our downtown core, replace the entrance sign to Invermere and hire an events co-ordinator. Now we’re beginning work on a new multi-use centre. Also, the level of regional co-operation and working with the other governments in the Columbia Valley has increased dramatically.