Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas at an Oct. 4, 2022 pre-election forum.

(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)

Newly inaugurated Kelowna mayor Tom Dyas admitted he made a lot of promises during his campaign but acknowledged in his first speech as mayor they may take some time to achieve.

In an eight-minute inaugural speech yesterday, Nov. 7, Dyas was light on specifics.

“We have to have courage – the courage to step further, act stronger, listen to the others, try something new and the courage to admit when we’re going the wrong way,” he said. “We must have the courage to ask for advice.”

But, as far as any action on the burning issues of the day – “crime, homelessness, traffic, transparency, communication and affordable housing” – that will take time.

“These are major issues and they do not have a simple or quick fix,” Dyas said. “They are going to take time, strength and communication to address. But, four years is a long time and the residents of Kelowna deserve action.”

On his campaign website – which was taken down as soon as he was elected – he listed 13 promises.

READ MORE: Kelowna's new mayor has removed his entire campaign from the web

• Partner more nurses with our RCMP officers.
• Demand action on prolific offenders.
• End bicycle chop shops.
• Empower our by-law officers.
• Create an RCMP Community Policing office at UBCO.
• Prioritize crime intervention through environmental design.
• Learn from communities across North America who have tackled their crime issues.
• Create a Kelowna Citizens Patrol.
• Action Community Public Safety Plan.
• Add a dedicated nurse to the RCMP cell block.
• Meet weekly in-person with the Kelowna RCMP superintendent.
• Create an organized and violent crime task force.
• Review high-rise firefighting capabilities and hire more firefighters.

None of those were mentioned in his speech.

Instead, he said, he’s working with councillors and starting to put together an action plan.

“It's one thing to say you’re going to increase transparency or tackle crime,” Dyas said. “It’s another thing to actually take tangible concrete steps towards achieving it.”

What and when those steps will be remains to be seen.

READ MORE: Mayor Hamer-Jackson promises five task forces in inaugural speech

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