Mayor Tom Dyas is sworn in Kelowna’s new mayor says the challenges ahead of him and the new city council are “not small” and the tasks entrusted to them by citizens “are significant.” Mayor Tom Dyas made the comments during a speech to a few hundred people gathered for the inauguration of the new city council Monday night at the Kelowna Community Theatre. “It’s not going to be easy, and we know we’re never going to make all the residents happy,” Dias said. “But my goal in the next four years is to do what I said – to be honest with residents and show you that politicians can listen and come up with new ideas.” Dias said there are no easy or quick solutions to the issues facing the city, such as homelessness, crime, affordable housing, traffic, transparency and communication. They will take time, he said, as well as strength and communication to deal with. “But four years is a long time,” he said. At the top of his to-do list is drafting a new set of strategic priorities to guide the council over the next four years. He said he expects that to be revealed in the coming weeks. “Not everything we try will work, and we have to admit it when it doesn’t,” Dias said. “But saying there is nothing that can be done is not good enough. “We need to have the courage to go one step further, to act stronger, to listen to others, to try something new and the courage to admit when we are on the wrong path.” Referring specifically to a letter from Interior Health and BC Housing about temporary housing programs with concentrated media, Dias said a meeting was held Monday to discuss the letter. “There are a lot of discussions going on right now,” he said, “and there will be concrete answers, but not right now that I can share with you. “With another week or two of meetings … I’m officially in office a few minutes ago … I’ll be able to take a deeper dive into some of the things we’re going to be doing.” Photo: Wayne Moore Kelowna was recently sworn in to council
