It can take years to get simple approvals done for renovations or to build a single family home in White Rock, or to get a business renovation approved. That’s costs builders and businesses tens of thousands of dollars in delays, and costs city taxpayers due to extended approval times. We can do better.

The Mayor promised to fix this but it appears nothing has been fixed. Taxpayers deserve to get value for their money and that includes creating a faster and more taxpayer friendly approach to help people and businesses get their projects done quickly. It take years to get approvals in White Rock for simple approvals that takes weeks in Surrey..

The Fieldstone Bakery on Russell took over three years to get approved. In any other city, it would takes weeks, not years. Three Dogs ran into similar problems and delays.

Many home builders frequently have run into similar delays and hassles. Our Engineering department has some great staff but the current corporate culture is not focused on getting things done for the builders of single family homes. Towers can get approved in months it seems, but renovating a business or building a single family homes takes years.

I don’t blame poor city corporate culture and high turnover rates on staff. The Mayor and City Council sets the standard and is responsible for creating the kind of culture that wants to help taxpayers get projects done, not delay them and get in the way.

On Columbia, as an example, the builder was given formal approval to build a home that included a double paved parking pad on Columbia. The building spent tens of thousands of dollars to build a beautifully built parking pad to code as approved by city planning.

However, according to the builder, after it was built at great expense, the city engineering department changed it’s mind and demanded that the parking pad be removed. Council was notified of this, but that same day the City Engineering department drove down to the builders new home with several employees and backhoe, and ripped up the cement pad and the blocked it off so the new owner could not use it.

That was in 2019. The parking pad is still blocked off by the city in 2025. We need a Council that knows how to work together with staff, using continuous improvement techniques for process review and improvement, and create a corporate culture that helps taxpayers succeed. I know how to get it done based on my 40 years of experience in businesses using these techniques. Vote for Scott Kristjanson and I will work with staff and council and taxpayers to create a Can-Do corporate culture that works for taxpayers instead of getting in their way.

I have improved project completion time in business using Continuous Improvement techniques developed by Dr. Deming to reduce project times while also saving money and customer and employee satisfaction. We can do that at City Hall too Let’s fix this together.