Municipal politics isn't about ideology.
Council doesn't set immigration policy. It doesn't negotiate trade deals. It decides where the fire hall goes, how much you pay in property taxes, and whether your street gets repaved. These are practical decisions that deserve practical answers — not party platforms.
Slated candidates pre-negotiate their positions.
That's the whole point of a slate — you agree on a shared platform and vote together. I respect that some voters prefer that clarity. But I think Penticton is better served by councillors who walk into every meeting with an open mind, listen to the presentation, hear from residents, and then decide. Not councillors who already know how they're voting because the team discussed it last Tuesday.
My platform borrows from both sides — because both sides have good ideas.
I believe in fiscal discipline, protecting and growing Penticton's industrial base, courting new employers and investment, and using casino and utility revenue before raising taxes. That sounds conservative. I also believe in a curbside green bin program, solar power on city-owned buildings, and investing in the cultural life of downtown. That sounds progressive. I call it common sense.
You shouldn't have to pick a political team to get a councillor who cares about your taxes and your environment.
I answer to Penticton.
Not to a board of directors in the Lower Mainland. Not to a slate that agreed on their votes before the meeting. To the people who elected me — and to nobody else.
The Conservative Electors Association president said "too often with independents there's a lack of clarity on where they stand." My platform is on this website. Eight issues. Specific policies. Specific funding sources for every one of them. If that's not clear enough, I don't know what is.
What I won't do is tell you I agree with every position my "team" has taken — because I don't have a team. I have a platform I built myself, from knocking on doors and listening to Penticton residents.
I won't be the only independent on your ballot. Here's why I've earned one of your six votes.
Other independents will be running too — and honestly, that's healthy for Penticton. But "independent" only tells you what a candidate isn't. Here's what this campaign is: a plan to build what's next — more homes, a stronger economy, a downtown alive year-round. A by-election run in 2025, a promise to come back, and a promise kept. A voting seat on the city's Public Safety Advisory Committee, where I'm already doing the work — reading the reports, sitting at the table, making the recommendations. Ambition for Penticton, and the homework to back it up. That's the difference.
When you vote for Riley Thompson, you're voting for someone who will ask one question about every decision: Is this good for Penticton?
Not: Is this what my party wants? Not: Does this fit our ideology? Just: Is this good for Penticton?
That's what independence means. Not the absence of a position. The freedom to take the right one.