With a longer runway for takeoff, Tom Dyas hopes to fly higher this year than he did four years ago.
The Kelowna businessman has announced he will run again for mayor, as he did in 2018 against former friend and incumbent Colin Basran.
Dyas declared his candidacy on Wednesday, three months earlier than he did in 2018.
Dyas says a longer campaign will give him more time to get across his key messages, which include more effort to reduce crime and the need for a change of leadership style at City Hall.
“I realized I needed to give myself a longer runway than just 10 weeks,” Dyas said in a wide-ranging interview with The Daily Courier.
Throughout the half-hour conversation, the topic of crime came up repeatedly, with Dyas saying it’s something he hears about frequently when talking with other Kelowna residents.
“There are critical issues that have been encountered by this community – higher crime, higher home prices, increased homelessness, higher taxes,” Dyas said. “I”m passionate about this city and its future and I’m committed to making it a better place for everyone.
“We are looking for a sense of community,” he said. “And the concern from a lot of people is, ‘Is it community or is it chaos right now?’”
In 2018, Days’ mayoralty challenge attracted a lot of attention, due in large part to the fact that he and Basran had once been so friendly they traveled together with a group of other people to celebrate the mayor’s 40th birthday in New York City.
Dyas, who runs his own employee benefits firm, was a former chamber of commerce president, and was presumed to have a lot of natural allies in the business community. But on election night in 2018, the result wasn’t particularly close, with Basran winning 57.8% of the vote to Dyas’ 29.4%.
These are the edited highlights of our interview with Dyas, in which he discusses why he’s running again, why he believes he has a better chance now than he did in 2018, and whether his falling out with Basran was a personal or political matter.
The Daily Courier: As you did in 2018, you announced your mayoral campaign in Rutland, at Centennial Hall. Any reason for this?
Dyas: We feel that Rutland has not been paid attention to, as much as it should have been, compared to other parts of the community. So we think the representation, being there, is important.
The Daily Courier: Is there one reason above all others why you’re running again?
Dyas: This community has given me a lot. I’ve been very grateful to raise my family here. When I initially came here in 1996, I really didn’t know anyone. Kelowna has welcomed me and it’s been a great place to live. I want to give back to the community.
The Daily Courier: Four years ago, it raised eyebrows when you ran against Mayor Colin Basan, after being so friendly with him that you went with him and a group to celebrate his 40th birthday in New York City. Why did you then run against your friend?
Dyas: I met Colin in 2016 when I was chamber president, and I’d taken an oath to serve the community in the capacity I felt could best move us forward on agenda items. Colin and I used to socialize. There was a lot of interaction at events, and we’d always be placed at the same table when we went to events. There was an association there.
A number of people went on that trip to New York who were working through the city or who the mayor had met in his capacity as mayor. I was one of them. New York is a beautiful place in the fall. I chose to go to enjoy New York with a number of people.
The Daily Courier: Some people wonder if there was a specific incident that led to you and the mayor to having a falling out, because it seemed so unusual you’d travel to New York with him to celebrate his birthday and then run against him a year later.
Dyas: I had concerns then about Kelowna’s safety, homelessness, and how that was all affecting business and life in Kelowna. There were a lot of issues I felt that needed to be addressed with more authority.
There was no personal falling out. Anybody who puts themselves in a position to serve publicly is a good person. But we have different philosophies, different ideas on how to initiate those philosophies, and different positions. Nothing happened at all from a personal standpoint.
The Daily Courier: You lost to Basran by almost 30 percentage points in the popular vote four years ago. Why do you think you’ll do any better this year?
Dyas: Never having run for political office before 2018, there was a lot to learn in a very short period of time. I’ve spent the last four years speaking to more people, preparing for this election time frame. In 2018, I announced my campaign only in early September. I have a much longer runway this time, and I’m much more prepared. And I get an opportunity to talk to people all summer.
I have an appetite to get results because I believe a lot of the discussions we had then are still in play this time.
The Daily Courier: On crime, then, what would you do as mayor that Basran and the rest of city council haven’t done?
Days: I’m going to step up. The main leaders of the community have to step forward, be involved with community associations, hold community meetings, and initiate some form of change. Don’t blame the province, don’t blame other areas, but be in the frontlines. We have a crime rate that is twice the national average.
The Daily Courier: So, specifically, are you saying you would increase funding for the Kelowna RCMP? And what other specific anti-crime initiatives would you champion?
Dyas: Over the next little bit, I will be rolling out my platform.
