Who has declared his intention to run for Kelowna mayor?

It’s four and a half months away, and Kelowna now has its first declared candidate in the mayoral race.

After an unsuccessful attempt in 2018, Tom Dyas has announced he is putting his name in the race again come the October 15th municipal elections.

Speaking to a crowd of over 50 people at Rutland Centennial Hall Wednesday evening, he said his focuses are about safety and security in the city, housing affordability, and cost of living.

Speaking to reporters afterwards he said that this time around he’ll have several months before voting day, compared to the 10 weeks he had four years ago.

“From the time that the campaign started, to the time we went to the polls, I needed to be more organized, I needed to be able to communicate and listen to more individuals in the community. The last four years have given me that opportunity,” Dyas said.

One of his biggest talking points was the crime rate in Kelowna and how there has been a significant increase over the last several years.

And while he didn’t have much detail about his platform and how he’ll tackle his issues, he said the time from now till election night is about listening.

“There are a lot of issues that are happening within this community. We will be putting forth a platform as we continue to learn more from members of this community over the next few months,” Dyas said. And we will be moving forward the agendas on how we’re going to address those items.”

Dyas describes himself as a community leader, having been actively involved in Kelowna Minor Hockey, and sitting on countless community steering committees and boards aimed at community development, including::the Journey Home Task Force, the Airport Advisory Committee, the Child Advocacy Centre and an Okanagan College committee tasked with designing new courses.

In 2018, incumbent Colin Basran won the election with over 57 per cent of the vote (16,843), while Dyas finished with 29 per cent of the vote (8,552).

In his address to the crowd, Dyas said it’s time for someone to stand-up and address the issues “... when others won’t”, and that being the mayor of Kelowna is a full-time job. He did not mention Basran by name.

“It’s something you must be there for all the time. You need to be actively involved in what’s happening in the community,” he said. “The accountability will come with knowledge knowing and being involved with a lot of those committees to be able to communicate and take the right steps that you need to move those items forward.”

So far Dyas is the only person to declare he’s running for mayor. Basran has not yet indicated his future political intentions.