Former Kelowna fire chief and city councillor Gerry Zimmermann is pictured in this undated file photo.
Image Credit: regionaldistrict.com
October 18, 2018 - 6:00 PM
KELOWNA - Gerry Zimmermann may have issues with some things Mayor Colin Basran has done but that doesn’t mean he endorses Tom Dyas.
“I don’t want to be dragged into it,” Zimmermann told iNFOnews.ca. “Voting should be something people make up their own minds on about how they think a politician represents their point of view.”
Zimmermann is a former city councillor and was a national hero as fire chief during the 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park forest fire.
Other media today said he endorsed Dyas.
“I just want to make it very clear that I wasn’t endorsing anybody,” Zimmermann said. “Because of the fire, people know who I was. I don’t want that to influence how anybody votes.”
Zimmermann was mentioned in a Dyas press release in late September over concerns about how Basran handled issues with irrigation districts that resulted in the take over of the South East Kelowna Irrigation District earlier this year. He sat on the board of directors for Black Mountain Irrigation District and was a city councillor in 2012 when a plan for water improvements was signed by the city and the four major irrigation districts.
The press release from Dyas blamed Basran for abandoning that plan.
Zimmermann doesn’t like what Basran did on that file but that doesn’t mean he’s any happier with Dyas.
“I really don’t know who I’m going to vote for,” Zimmermann said.
He said a voter can’t judge the value of a candidate because of a single issue.
But he disagrees with a lot that Dyas has said, especially his comments about relocating city hall and building a convention centre in its place, moving the downtown fire station, possibly switching to a municipal police force and setting up a farm to treat addicts. He calls those statements “outlandish.”
“I’m not endorsing Colin either,” Zimmermann said. “I’m not endorsing anybody."
To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2018