Castanet News is getting to know the candidates running in the upcoming Penticton council by-election. Watch for new candidate Q&As each day leading up to the first day of advance voting on Aug. 13. Interviews have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity. Wayne Llewellyn: Penticton council candidate Wayne Llewellyn is a former municipal employee with over three decades of experience that he says makes him ready to hit the ground running as councillor. Castanet: Why are you running to be a city councillor? WL: Well, I'm a little bit frustrated, like most people, and I believe that we need to put the servant back into public service, and that comes with my promise to listen to and act on the citizens' concerns. One of the things that I've noticed is is that we tend to put forward plans that have council priorities listed rather than citizens and community priorities. And I think we need to get back to community priorities rather than having priorities set by just the elected officials. So we need a far stronger engagement program than we've seen in the past. C: If elected, what’s the first issue you hope to address, knowing that council only has so much power? WL: One of the things that I think has been missing for a long time is a core services review. A core services review, and a value for money audit, really has several benefits, such as transparency, accountability and efficiency and public service delivery. Audits assess whether municipal resources are being used effectively, economically and if they're aligned with the public's interests, they also identify areas for cost savings, process improvements, enhanced service delivery, and they ultimately help to build public trust in local governments. So I would like to see a process started immediately where we have a core services review and a value for money audit conducted, and that's going to, I think, be achieved in large part with me holding town halls about every three months to inform citizens what decisions are actually being made down at City Hall, and to ask for their input or various issues before decisions are actually made C: What is one example of a time you have agreed with the current city council in recent years, and one when you disagreed? WL: Actually I disagree with mostly everything, particularly the bike lanes. For example, one of the councillors put forward a motion that they would stop discussion of what's going on with the bike lanes.* And now we've got the South Main Street debacle, and we've also got the area down on Martin Street, and I think that needs to be reviewed. The council is also looking forward, as I understand it, to putting in east-west bike lanes as well. And I think that we've missed the boat when it comes to having a balance between our overall transportation infrastructure compared to just one mode of transportation being bicycles. I think I disagree on that one most vehemently, because, again, shutting the citizens out of having input on to what happens with our transport, transportation infrastructure or otherwise is, again, it's censorship, and I don't like that at all. I think that the exact opposite should have been done. C: This is a by-election, so roughly a one-year term is guaranteed before the scheduled fall 2026 election. Is your plan, if elected, to stick around and run again? WL: I would make that decision when it comes time and it's a little closer to the election. My focus right now would be on the things that I could accomplish within one year. I think that has to be a priority, laying out things that could change over the next year. Because if, for example, we start conducting audits the way that they should be done to build public trust and so forth, then the whole landscape can change down a year from now. So I'm not prepared to say one way or another. If I had to lean, I would say at this point I'm 50/50, but I want to assess it at that point in time. C: This is our second by-election in 2025, and they each come with a hefty cost. Do you believe councillors leaving their term early, or on paid leave, have a financial responsibility to the taxpayers? WL: If it's an opportunistic thing, for seeking higher public office, then, yes, I think that there should be an obligation for that. But if there's things like illness that comes up that prevents a councillor from finishing their term, that's a whole different circumstance. But yeah, I think that once people, or anyone sits there says that they want to represent citizens at a particular capacity, they should fulfill that promise to them first and foremost. C: In recent years, council has taken steps to fund ways to make beaches and lakes more accessible. What else, if anything, would you like to see done in this community to improve accessibility for all ages and abilities? WL: If there is one area where I agree with council, it is on those Mobi-mats down at the beaches. I think they're wonderful. They serve lots of purposes to give people access to the beach that they might not have otherwise had. But when I take a look around the city right now, I actually think Penticton has a lot of really safe routes to travel on. I've been a cyclist, and I've competed in Ironman triathlons and the Ultraman triathlon as well, and I never once had any real problems riding my bicycle around Penticton. I think that council has done all that they possibly can, and while there's always improvements to be made, it needs to be assessed and prioritized, the same as any other service that the city has to offer. C: What’s the key thing you want voters to know about you as a person? WL: Well, I go back to where I started at the beginning that we need to again, put that servant back into public service. I was a public servant. I worked for the City of Calgary for 35 years, and I always considered my job in public service as being a public servant and a servant to people. I also think it's important to mention that I have extensive volunteer experience. I was president of an international organization that had over 7,500 members in 26 different countries. That responsibility included providing oversight for everything from professional certification programs, educational offerings, professional standards and best practice in property analytics and economic management, public relations and property taxation. So I think that I can put that to work and hit the ground running on day one, rather than having to have a period of time where I need to be brought up to speed. I think I'm quite capable of reviewing staff reports and determining whether or not the are aligned with citizens objectives, and using things like the town halls to regularly gain input and actually use them as a bit of a report card for council. Another great reason to have those things on a frequent basis, where the agendas are wide open, not to deal with a specific item, such as budgeting or bike lanes or otherwise, they are a wide open discussion on, 'Okay, here's what council has been up to.' And then, if there's a second part to it, it is, what do you want to see next? Advance voting days are August 13 and 14, general voting day is August 23 *Editor's Note: The current city council voted to stop any further discussion about "separated" bike lanes for the rest of their term. At the time, the South Main portion of the lake-to-lake separated bike lane had already been approved.