Former Mayor Keith Bertrand says that his biggest issue when he came on as mayor was learning about how Tumbler Ridge fit into the Peace River Regional District.
Because of this, he says, “I have tried to smooth that transition by creating an organizational structure for mayor Krakowka to help explain how it works. It is quite complicated and a very large organization.”
As of Monday, Bertrand is no longer mayor of Tumbler Ridge. These days, he’s working “nearly full-time” at the high school.
He says he chose not to run again because he was “frustrated” on many fronts.
“I was also looking for more work life balance,” says Bertrand.
Despite the frustrations, he says he is proud of how council handled the “trials and tribulation of the pandemic.”
Indeed, it is the pandemic that shaped much of his time on council.
And, while the pandemic was unexpected, what was even more surprising was how divisive it proved to be. “The divisiveness was unexpected as well as the harassment myself and council received,” says Bertrand.
In addition, he says he is “proud of re-establishing stable secure funding from the PRRD for the geopark and museum.”
Shortly after Bertrand took office, the PRRD realized the way it was funding these two organizations was not supported by the legislation and funding was withdrawn until they could create new service functions to support the organizations directly.
While the functions have passed, it will still be the better part of a year before the organizations benefit from these funds, as the functions passed weeks after the Regional District closed off new funding for 2023. Instead, the two organizations will be waiting until 2024 to receive funding.
Bertrand fought to have the functions brought to a special vote earlier this year, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
That’s one of a few things the outgoing mayor wishes he could have shepherded to completion. “I was hoping council could improve connectivity this term with a fibre optic install,” he says. Instead, the District seems no closer than when he started.
He says there are a number of big issues facing the incoming council. “The biggest issues will be housing—both low income and possibly seniors and assisted living—childcare capacity needs to expand which is in the works with a new agreement with YMCA, as well as infrastructure upgrades.
“Our community was instantly built and now all of our infrastructure is coming due and in need of refurbishment or replacement. And lastly connectivity will need to be upgraded. We need to have a community where you can live but work virtually as well. Consistency of connectivity will be important as this has become an essential service now.
“I’d like to thank everyone for their support over the last four years. I’ve enjoyed my time as mayor and have been honoured to serve my community that I love.”
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
