Putting Kimberley first

With a year as Kimberley’s mayor under his belt, Don McCormick talked with us about his experience

Don McCormick really, really likes being mayor of Kimberley, B.C. — Photo courtesy Don McCormick

Don McCormick, mayor of Kimberley, B.C., is a risk taker. His background in sales has accustomed him to being confronted with resistance and with the unknown.

“It might be old school, but I believe that fear is one of our best motivators,” he said. “It’s a natural part of getting things done.”

We asked McCormick to tell us more about himself and about his first year as mayor.

What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?

My most difficult time was leaving a company that I’d been with for 14 great years, physically relocating across the country into a technical job that I had no background, knowledge or experience with. My kids were teenagers, so it was a difficult move for them, but it just felt like the right thing to do at the time, and my wife, Bev, was 100 per cent supportive.

What have you learned about your community in the past 12 months? 

I see that the community is not only ready for change, it’s embracing it. We’re a great tourism destination, and tourism will always be important to us, but the city can’t rely on tourism alone for its future. I think the community understands that.

What have you learned about yourself in the past year?

I’ve learned I can’t do it all. In addition to being the mayor, I have a business that I have to keep up. Also, Bev and I are active members of the Rotary Club, and we have other things that are important in our personal lives. To achieve my objectives, I need to pace myself and be more patient than I’ve traditionally been.

Bev and Don McCormick of Kimberley, B.C., shown here with their grandson, appreciate the active, outdoor lifestyle available to them in the East Kootenay. — Photo courtesy Don McCormick

What’s been your biggest challenge in your first year as mayor?

Learning to be more patient and work with (Scott Sommerville) our  CAO—the person who’s actually driving the bus—has been an interesting challenge. When I get ideas, I want to act on them, and I tend to jump in and try to make things happen quickly. Building relationships and trying not to interfere have been part of the challenge.

What are you most excited about moving ahead with?

The single most important, most exciting thing, to me, is the Cranbrook Kimberley Development Initiative (CKDI). Without a doubt, this is the future. We have an outstanding tourism product and we’ll continue to nurture that, but it doesn’t create taxes for the city.

Since the (Sullivan) mine closure, we’ve recovered to the point where our tax revenue is back to where it was, but it’s on the backs of the residences and the commercial properties. And that’s just not right—as we move into the future, we cannot sustain ourselves with that model. That’s why this initiative is so critical.

Both Cranbrook and Kimberley are suffering on the industrial tax side of things. In order for us to generate new taxes for the city, we need to enlarge the industrial tax class. That’s what CKDI is in place to do. It’s going to require an awful lot of work over the next year.

What do you see as the greatest strengths of your council?

The first is its diversity. We have seven elected officials with diverse backgrounds and different skill sets and their own priorities for the community.

Second, we have no shrinking violets on council. We’ve got seven different views of what’s important for the community, so we get some robust debate and we get all the bases covered. With that background, the decisions we make are in the city’s best interests.

What are five words that express success for you?

A successful person listens, thinks, acts, solves problems.

What’s the best advice you ever received?

I tend to blend the advice I’ve been given into the advice that I give. I think the best advice I’ve ever had was given to me by the vice-president of a company I worked for, and it was, “Be naturally curious, and then trust your intuition.” He encouraged me to never move off a topic until I understood it completely, to not be so anxious to move on that I failed to capture everything I needed from that moment.

What’s the most meaningful compliment you’ve ever received?

Most of the recognition that I’ve received has been around my leadership results, but the best compliments that I’ve ever received have been from my wife. We’ve been married for 44 years and we are best friends, so the compliments that come from her are the most meaningful.

What’s your favourite quote?

“It’s better to be lucky than good, but good helps.” (Note: The first part of that statement is accredited to Lamar Gillett, a Second World War pilot; no alternate source is found for the latter part.)

Is there anything you'd like to add?

After this year in office, my bottom line is I really like this job. What I like most about it is that the things that I do are in the best interests of the community. That’s what I’ve discovered in the last year, and I really, really like that.