Experiences That Shape My Leadership

I've had the privilege of serving our community in a few different ways. I’ve been a volunteer, small business owner, District of Sechelt Councillor, and Chair of the Sunshine Coast Regional District.

Every one of those opportunities has reinforced something I've come to believe: the best decisions aren't made by one person. They come from listening, asking good questions, and working together.

Whether I'm at the council table or chatting with someone over coffee, I'm always trying to understand different perspectives before making a decision.

Municipal Leadership

Serving on Council and the SCRD Board has given me the opportunity to work on some important issues, from housing and infrastructure to water security and regional collaboration with the Town of Gibsons and the shíshálh Nation.

Some of the topics I’ve specifically brought forward for discussion at the Council or Board table have included (in no particular order):

• Bringing forward a motion calling on BC Housing to terminate its agreement with RainCity, ushering in a much more collaborative environment between them and Sechelt staff.

• Asking the Federal Minister for Housing to visit Sechelt to discuss opportunities to redevelop the downtown post office into a new, modern post office with workforce or seniors housing on upper floors.

• Asking Canada Post to assign the downtown post office an urban postal code, allowing business owners downtown to save significantly on shipping costs

• Bringing forward (with Councillor Shepherd) a decision making framework to allow Council to decide on it's level of support for expanded supportive housing, and the associated conditions to go along with it.

• A partnership between the Sunshine Coast Community Forest and the SCRD that has resulted in new bridges in Cliff Gilker Park, with an associated project cost savings of approximately $600k.

• Asking our Community Associations to identify road dedications that may be suitable for affordable housing partnerships, to get them thinking about how to include more forms of housing.

• Adding a four-way stop sign at the corner of Ocean and Cowrie to improve safety for children and pedestrians in the area.

Additionally, I’ve served in some additional capacities:

• Liaison to the Sunshine Coast Community Forest, Library Board, SCRD, Permissive Property Tax Exemption Committee, Sechelt Sewage Facilities Commission (joint committee with shishalh Nation).

• Contract evaluation committee for the construction of the operations centre.

Other discussions that I have been proud to have been involved in have included moving forward with Church and Langdale wellfields (and exploring other options), vertical expansion of the Sechelt landfill, completing the water meter installs in Sechelt and the start of the move to volumetric billing, free transit for youth, approval of over 200 units of rental housing in our downtown core, including subsidized rentals for seniors and women at risk, and so much more.

Have we solved everything? No, absolutely not.

But I think we've made meaningful progress on so many things, and I've learned over and over again that respectful relationships and regular conversations can accomplish far more than confrontation and division ever will. 

Alton has served on District of Sechelt council
for eight years.

Community Experience

Long before I was elected, I believed in giving back to the community that gave me so much. I grew up in a single-parent household, where my mother volunteered to help people navigate systems that too often let them down, from WorkSafe and EI to welfare and disability support. I often would help her with that work.

I've spent much of my life volunteering with Scouts Canada, including being the lead coordiantor of British Columbia's largest annual Scouting event every spring in Vancouver (1400 attendees this year). Since 2016, I've helped organize Sechelt's Canada Day Parade (including a drive-by parade to bring the parade to our neighbourhoods during Covid), and was proud to spend four years on the Board and as a member of the Executive of the Sechelt Downtown Business Association, including a period of time as Interim President during a transition.

During my first term on Council, we faced the Covid-19 pandemic and learned how to adapt in ways few imagined possible. But despite all the challenges and our personal differences, working for the betterment of our community was what kept us going.

Those experiences reinforced my belief that communities are strongest when people come together, share their experiences, and find common ground.

Responsible Financial Management

I believe taxpayers expect us to spend their money carefully, and for us to hear them suggest ways we can do it better. As our infrastructure ages out, we are going to face monumental costs to replace it, so we need to be starting early, and finding creative ways to make it happen.

Sometimes the answer is finding community partnerships that reduce costs, like the Cliff Gilker bridges partnership between the SCRD and the Sunshine Coast Community Forest that saved the project over $600,000. That was a great way to leverage volunteers and local logs to help deliver a project at a far more affordable rate.

Sometimes it's asking whether there's a better way of doing something, even as small as putting in a stop sign instead of an expensive traffic light, or whether we should be putting a metal roof on a community hall instead of shingles. 

There are so many opportunities for municipal governments to get into new services that the Provincial and Federal governments are failing to provide leadership in, but we need to make sure that those opportunities do come with additional resources, so that our local residents and businesses are not paying for the shortcomings of other levels of government.

We always have an opportunity and a responsibility to ask our senior governments for advice, supports, and so much more.