Making strong decisions today for a better outcome tomorrow.
Regional District of Central Kootenay
Area B
I am Danny Turner — farmer, neighbour,
and your candidate for Area B Director.
The decisions that shape life here
— on water, on land,
on long-term finances —
deserve focused, practical attention.
MEET DANNY
Rooted here. Working for here.
My name is Danny Turner. My family farm is in Erickson; we bought the farm from the Malyk family in 2011 and we have been here ever since.
I grew up spending every summer in this valley. My grandparents owned Crescent Beach Resort, and my grandfather drove the Creston Taxi. Our family home was in Boswell. I was educated at Oxford and spent my professional life as a consultant living in Toronto, San Francisco and London. However, In 2011, it was time to settle down, and my family and I returned.
I am running for Area B Director because I think we can do better on the issues that matter most. Water has been a slow-moving problem for years — and when growers in Area B found out at a meeting that even though newly installed water meters were not reporting data the board had still approved moving forward with the next phase of installation, that was the moment I decided to run. We deserve stronger accountability than that.
I spent thirty five years in business. I know how to read an organization, find the gaps, and push for real decisions. I am not running to sit on a board — I am running because I know I can lead with clear focus and decisive action. I care about what this place looks like for the next generation.
Area B deserves the best leadership it can get, and I would like your support to do exactly that.
— Danny Turner
WHERE I STAND
Seven issues.
Clear positions.
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Roads & Rural Infrastructure
Roads: Province · Water: RDCK
Roads belong to the Province, so our job is to hold them accountable for plowing and repairs. Water is ours — and it's where I'll focus. I'll lead the renewal of our aging system, keep it on stable financial footing, and build to a sensible standard. Affordable, safe, future-proofed — not gold-plated.
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Emergency Services
Fire: RDCK · Police: RCMP · Ambulance: Province
Fire is ours, policing is RCMP, ambulance is provincial — and none of it happens in isolation. Area B and the Town of Creston deliver fire and policing together, and that partnership makes the service better and cheaper for everyone. The RDCK should lead that conversation, not pretend it's a solo job.
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Wildfire & Flood Preparedness
Response: Province · Prevention: RDCK
The heavy lifting — suppression, dikes, stream flows — is the Province's, and we hold them to it. Our lane is prevention: FireSmart, emergency management, evacuation planning. As the climate changes the risk, our prevention has to keep pace rather than rely on outdated plans.
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Growth & Development
Enable, don't duplicate
A strong economy needs the RDCK to provide the infrastructure and services that support residents and business — with a "how can we help" attitude. Development belongs to the private sector; our job is to enable it, not bury it in rules the Province already covers. We apply the ALR; we don't gold-plate it.
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Local Taxes & Financial Management
Live within our means
"Our means" is what residents can afford, not what the RDCK wants to spend — so no tax increases above wage growth. All public money is taxpayer money. We also have a real unfunded infrastructure deficit: close that gap before building anything new, and only invest with a fully funded lifecycle plan.
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High-Speed Internet & Cell Coverage
Telecom: Federal · RDCK advocates
Telecom is federal, so the RDCK can't be the provider — but connectivity is now a safety issue. Building on our Columbia Basin Broadband legacy, I'll keep pushing providers and Ottawa to improve rural and highway coverage.
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Parks & Recreation
Facilities: RDCK's real value
The valley, surrounding Crown land, and provincial parks already give us the outdoors. Where the RDCK adds real value is running our recreation facilities and programming — the Creston & District Community Complex above all — efficiently, to a high standard, and accessible to everyone.
Creston Valley Advance Letter to the Editor re: July 20 community meeting on Erickson Water System Metering
To the Editor:
Monday night's public meeting on the Erickson water system was a reminder of how much this community cares about its water — and how much strain the system is under.
It's worth remembering how we got here. The Erickson water system, drawing from Arrow Creek, was originally built by the farming families who settled this valley, to serve agricultural use. Over time it was converted into a drinking water system serving both Erickson and the Town of Creston, without the kind of forward planning that a dual-purpose system really needs. That history matters, because it shapes where today's tension is actually coming from.
Metering is being framed as a fix for that tension, but on its own it risks placing the responsibility solely on users — agricultural and residential alike — rather than addressing the infrastructure gaps that exist on both sides of the connection. There was a time when farms in this valley planned their water use with each other to match supply. Under the management of the RDCK that cooperation has eroded, and what's left too often looks like a free-for-all, where everyone draws what they can rather than what the system can sustainably provide.
Rebuilding that cooperation isn't just about meters. It's about infrastructure investment, and about restoring the kind of coordinated planning this valley once had — between users, the community, and the RDCK.
Water issues on this scale take time, technical work, and follow-through at the board table. I believe Area B deserves a director who stays engaged with this file year-round — especially when tensions rise.
I would welcome the chance to be that voice for Erickson and the rest of Area B — and to keep listening to the people who know these properties and this water system best: the people who live here.
Sincerely,
Danny Turner
Candidate RDCK Area B Director