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Penticton mayor looks back on busy 2024 and ahead to 2025

Housing continues to be one of the city's biggest topics
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Mayor Julius Bloomfield looked back on a busy 2024, filled with accomplishments for the city. (File photo)

From changes in legislation to dozens of events, it has been a busy year in Penticton that its mayor and council have had to navigate. 

Mayor Julius Bloomfield spoke with the Western News to talk about the challenges of the year, and what is on the horizon for the city in 2025. 

The trickiest issue that is still a work in progress and the first that came to mind was housing. 

"Right at the start we were dealing with the changes brought in regarding short-term rentals, and then the provincial requirements on housing and zoning," said Bloomfield.

"Trying to figure out exactly how involved the city needs to get, and how we partner up with other levels of government in working towards the answers to that and other issues, and then we throw in all the events in the city."

The ongoing issues of crime, addiction, mental health and homelessness also continued to be topics of focus during 2024. Bloomfield pointed to the introduction of Penticton's own Car 40 Program — the Mobile Integrated Crisis Response Team — in January as one of the city's major accomplishments after years of lobbying. 

"I'm very proud that it was brought into Penticton and I know that the RCMP have been very happy with how that's played out and it's certainly helped them do their job much more effectively," said Bloomfield. 

Further lessons from previous years were also applied to the handling of the winter shelter, which opened in November in Penticton's Industrial area. 

"That was a process where we said, 'OK, in the past, we saw how things shouldn't be done,' and we changed how we approached it," said Bloomfield. "More importantly, I think is the fact that the regional district realized and acknowledged that they need to be part of the answer as well and for them to step up to the plate and share in that cost was a major step forward."

While issues like homelessness, and the city's many major events such as Ironman or the Penticton Peach Festival are easy to see, there was plenty of work going out of plain sight that Bloomfield was proud to have seen accomplished in 2024. 

One of those things was the Ellis 4 Dam upgrades, which was undertaken even as rising construction costs continued to be an issue locally, provincially and worldwide. 

"It's caused us to rethink on the priority for some of these some of these projects, but some need to be done and includes ones people don't see," said Bloomfield. "There's a lot of activity up at the Ellis 4 Dam, which are required and certainly necessary and that takes a lot of money to do that, we're talking many millions of dollars. But they'd soon know about it, if we started running short of water."

Bloomfield pointed to other communities up and down the valley facing their own costly upgrades as a reason to invest and be proactive in protecting the city's water as much as possible. 

That issue though he tied back to the ongoing conversations in Penticton and elsewhere on how much the provincial government is responsible for and how to get them more involved in dealing with issues that go beyond a municipality's capabilities of handling, whether it is a health issue like water, social issues or policing. 

"In the past, various levels of government have been very good at standing in their corners and pointing fingers everywhere else, and, and I think that those days are over," said Bloomfield. "Now it's about everybody working together and willing to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem, and that means getting out of your corner and not pointing across the arena."

Working together with people of differing views also comes into play at the municipal level, where Bloomfield said he is looking forward to seeing who will join the council table in the new year. 

Also ahead in 2025, Bloomfield is eager to see the return of the city's many festivals and events. Frostfest was one example, which will take place in January. He noted that city events like Frostfest and support for events like Peach Fest are key for the community, especially in the wake of Ironman's exit. 

"Working to help keep them viable is something that we need to do," said Bloomfield. "I'm thinking about the Granfondo in particular and making sure that they have a viable event to bring back every year. Part of the reason Ironman left was because it was just no longer viable. I think when we get that right, we get things like Peach Fest, which is one of the biggest events, if not the biggest event in the city in the year."

In addition to events, Bloomfield said that major developers are showing faith in the city and are bringing a big mix of housing to the community. That also includes seeking out developers and proposals for city-owned land to provide more affordable housing. 

Hints of the coming construction were seen in 2024, with the first building in the Health and Innovation District getting council approval in what will be one of the largest developments in the community. Other projects like Sokana at Riverside are getting underway as the city works towards its yearly housing goal. 

"There are some innovative and constructive ways of approaching the city's different needs. The clinic that's just been proposed and some of the plans across from the hospital, there's definitely an ongoing interest from outside elements coming into Penticton because they see it's a forward-thinking city," said Bloomfield.

From the city's location, to the many different events, Bloomfield sees Penticton as only getting bigger in the future. 

"There's a vibe going on in Penticton," the mayor said.

"It's a good vibe, where the younger business people are starting to look at Penticton as a place to live because, if they can work remotely, they can live wherever they want, then Penticton is a pretty attractive place. As part of that changing pattern of business now, the changing demographics of the modern world, I think Penticton is ideally placed to really benefit from that change. I think that we just need to embrace it." 



Brennan Phillips

About the Author: Brennan Phillips

Brennan was raised in the Okanagan and is thankful every day that he gets to live and work in one of the most beautiful places in Canada.
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