PROFILE: Joy Davies, Grand Forks Council

 

1. Brief summary of you are and why you have decided to run for office:   

 

I moved to Grand Forks in March 2005 from White Rock, B.C. to care for my aging mother. I purchased property, built a home and two small businesses. I have lived across the province in both large and small communities and prefer the quality of life of smaller communities.  I have two daughters and two grandchildren in Vancouver.  

 

I quickly became involved in Grand Forks through volunteerism. In 2008, I ran for council was elected. My contributions in the last term strengthened my resolve and acumen to make a difference.  Recent prompting from many supporters and common threads in conversations with you and others are the unique concerns and opportunities you face locally, in your neighbourhoods and I sense we agree on the many challenges facing Grand Forks and the need for sensible economic, environmental, and organizational change. 

 

As a long time resident and political leader, I have a keen understanding of the diverse issues facing the city and the region and I know the people and the systems that produce results.  I have a strong connection to the business community and, more importantly, to you, the citizen.  I am known and respected as a person of integrity and experience who faces challenges and genuinely listens to people individually and as a community

 

 

2. What is your background? Have you held office before?  

 

I am an incumbent councillor for the City of Grand Forks with extensive community, political and business background and was an alderman in Tumbler Ridge (two terms) in the 1980’s.  I am respected for serving on many municipal, provincial and federal government committees as well as private business boards for example the Women in Film & Video (WIFV) Vancouver Board and the BC Chamber of Commerce Board in the 1990’s.

3. What do you think are the top three challenges facing the city/region/school district in the upcoming term?         

(i).  Implementing our community driven economic development plan completed in May 2011 by facilitating the development of an inclusive process and best practice tools to market our community.  We can “sell” Grand Forks rather than wait for something “magical” to drop into our lap. 

 

This will take hard work, partnerships with higher levels of government and community stake holders to recruit and encourage businesses to establish here.  We need jobs and managed growth in housing to keep our tax base manageable.  The major part of the planning is done; I want to ensure that the plan doesn’t sit on a shelf collecting dust.

 

(ii) Fiscal Responsibility andmanaging our assets:  Some of our infrastructure only has seven percent life left in it. (City Asset Management Study 2009).  I encourage our community to support the referendum questions on election day, Nov, 19 for borrowing the funds necessary to start repairing and replacing the over 100 year-old infrastructure.

 

We cannot delay and spend additional monies dealing with emergency situations that could compromise the health of our community. i.e. a water main broke under the river this year. Fortunately it did not affect the water quality or the ability for our industry to continue operating. 

                                                                                            

(iii)  Senior’s tsunami and issues:  We are becoming a retirement community.  Collaboration with seniors in planning to decide what the city must do to assist them, and the coming elderly boom to maintain a quality lifestyle in Grand Forks.  I want to champion our needs with the province to provide better health care access.

4. How do you think you can impact these challenges?

 

Through my leadership this term I have shown you that I have the skills, attitude and drive to successfully work with the members of our community, and with wider networks, who became engaged in the process of planning and action to move initiatives forward. 

 

I understand the system, constraints, creative ways to leverage our assets and persistence to champion our needs.  I ask for your vote for a second term to continue to move forward with the work that the community charged me to do.           

                  

5. If you could describe yourself in three words what would they be?                                                 

Experienced, innovative, tenacious.                  

6. Other comments that you feel are important to the voters. 

 

We are at a time in our community where we no longer have the luxury of “putting things off”. Our council and staff have worked very hard this past term starting and completing many initiatives to benefit our community including the economic development planning process and the asset management planning.

 

As your councillor, my commitment is to continue to serve Grand Forks and be part of the team to best manage and take care of Grand Forks.