Penticton Herald editor James Miller announced his candidacy for election to Penticton city council this morning, May 4, 2021.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ James Miller
May 04, 2021 - 6:00 AM
The writ for Penticton’s June 19 by-election dropped this morning and among the first to declare their candidacy is the editor of the daily newspaper.
James Miller, managing editor of the Penticton Herald since 2008, has long been critical of council decisions. Now Miller is coming out from behind his desk to join them.
Despite the obvious conflict, Miller said he thinks his 30-year career in journalism makes him well qualified to be a Penticton councillor. He’s covered the city’s last four councils and figures he can “hit the ground running.”
“I believe I have the courage and the knowledge to ask the hard questions," he says. "It can be tough to be a lone dissenting voice but people who know me know I will speak up.”
Miller said he has already put a system in place to keep him at arm’s length between work and council duties. He won’t be covering anything that is related to council, with head office deciding who will be assigned council coverage.
“I won’t be touching anything council-related. Those duties will all be assigned to other individuals. I will likely take on other tasks, such as covering school board, writing features,” he says.
He has also hired contract reporters to cover the by-election.
He says his employer has been supportive of his decision to run for council. He has banked holiday time and his job has some workday flexibility that should allow him to deal with any potential council - day job conflicts.
“It’s going to mean some long days, but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Miller says.
He also points out the by-election means, if elected, he’ll be serving a shortened term of 14 months until the next municipal elections.
“It’s another reason I chose now as a time to run. The 14-month term is absolutely perfect as opposed to a four-year term. It will give me the chance to see how it goes. I intend to deal with it one term at a time,” he says.
The editor says he’s been asked about running for council since 2011. He says had he run earlier, he probably would have been a lot more critical of council.
“I think for the most part, now, they are on the right track,” he says.
The Penticton by-election is being held to elect a councillor to replace Jake Kimberley, who stepped down in February of this year after suffering a stroke.
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