Damian Kowalewich is a full-time police officer and volunteers for numerous organizations but he doesn’t want to stop there. He wants to take on a new venture of becoming a councillor in the byelection for View Royal.
“I love the community of View Royal,” Kowalewich said. “My family and I have lived here for almost 10 years and we couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.”
Although View Royal isn’t one of the largest communities in the Capital Regional District (CRD), Kowalewich believes that could be an advantage.
“It gives you that small town feel,” he said. “It’s set in a beautiful area with forests, lake, oceans, and beautiful landscape. I chose to run for the position as councillor because I’ll be able to contribute to our community and add a family focus perspective to the council.”
He said his platform includes increasing public participation by building connections and shaping the decision-making process so that it is more collaborative and accessible to those in the community.
“An example of that would be developments,” said Kowalewich. “View Royal is no exception to developments. I think engaging with the community is important. I think the days of simply mailing out a letter to residents about an upcoming forum that is happening at a town hall are over and I think we can communicate better with our residents.”
The second item on his platform is to improve traffic congestion in View Royal. Kowalewich said it’s an issue that people are regularly voicing concerns over.
“Now that I’m hopefully representing View Royal, I think we’ve got an opportunity here to increase cyclists and increase transit ridership and carpooling,” he said.
The third idea on his platform is to improve the overall sense of community in the area.
“One thing that is lacking is a family orientated community event portfolio that can be improved.”
View Royal’s byelection is scheduled for Nov. 18. Find the candidates and more information online at goldstreamgazette.com.