CANDIDATE FOR SCHOOL TRUSTEE
Deb Dickerson-Pogue
Former teacher prioritizing measurable learning, safe schools, reporting systems and financial accountability.
Nomination checked September 28, 2026. Earlier platform and record research: September 8, 2026. Recent statements show their own review dates.
Candidate questionnaire received and reviewed September 17, 2026. Published with authorization; answers are the candidate’s own statements. [406]
Experience & background
Her campaign reports 30 years of teaching, including elementary, secondary, special education and ESL instruction for international students. It also lists COPAC vice-president experience and involvement with Kelowna’s multicultural centre. [112]
In her September 17 questionnaire, Dickerson-Pogue reports teaching across elementary, junior and senior high school, special education, ESL and college courses, plus administration and teacher-hiring experience. [406]
Issue positions
Campaign proposals are attributed positions. A blank area is an information gap, never an assumed vote against an issue.
IN THE CANDIDATE’S OWN WORDS
Candidate questionnaire · September 17, 2026
Answers supplied by the candidate and published with authorization. Conditional explanations are retained. Answers about past motions are hypothetical, not recorded votes.
Read the full response, priorities and affordability proposals ↗
Read all 25 quick-position answers
1. The City should shorten and simplify the process for approving new homes.
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
2. The City should reduce development cost charges on new housing.
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
3. Restrictions on short-term rentals should be loosened.
Conditional / Depends
Candidate’s explanation: absentee landlords should have a local manager
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
4. The City should pursue expanded public transit service.
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
5. Infrastructure and service capacity should be ready before major additional growth is approved.
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
6. The City should advocate for expanded involuntary addiction-treatment capacity.
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
7. The City should invest in wildfire prevention and preparedness.
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
8. The City should carry out additional spending audits or operational reviews.
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
9. The City should make individual councillors’ voting records easier to find and search.
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
10. Would you have supported the October 27, 2025 electoral-reform study and conditional referendum-preparation motion? This bundled decision did not implement wards.
No / Oppose
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
11. Would you have supported the March 16, 2026 second and third land-use and rezoning readings for part of Kelowna Springs? These were not final adoption.
Undecided
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
12. Would you have supported the April 20, 2026 financial-plan and tax-funding motion, with its stated average net property impact of 4.40%? Individual bills vary.
Outside my role
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
13. The City should help expand co-operative housing and community land trusts.
Conditional / Depends
Candidate’s explanation: The partners involved should not be seeking financial gain in land acquisition for CO-OPS.
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
14. The City should strengthen protections for tenants displaced by redevelopment or renovations.
Conditional / Depends
Candidate’s explanation: Home owners should give 6 months notifications to tenants unless due to fire or accident.
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
15. The City should allow more small shops and cafés within residential neighbourhoods.
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
16. The City should advocate for a second bridge crossing of Okanagan Lake.
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
17. The City should invest in filling gaps in its sidewalk and cycling networks.
Main pathways should be filled first on a useage basis.
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
18. The City should expand foot patrols in commercial areas experiencing crime and disorder.
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
19. The City should support expanded non-police response teams for suitable mental-health and substance-use calls.
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
20. The City should increase access to public washrooms.
Conditional / Depends
Candidate’s explanation: within the downtown core and recreation areas
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
21. The City should prioritize protecting agricultural land when making land-use decisions.
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
22. The City should strengthen protection for existing trees.
for Existing healthy trees and not brush.
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
23. The City should limit annual property-tax increases to inflation.
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
24. Mayor and council pay increases should take effect only after the next election.
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
25. Would you support a ward system for Kelowna, where residents elect councillors to represent defined geographic areas?
Yes / Support
Editorial note: This is a municipal-policy question answered by a school-trustee candidate. It is retained as her stated view, not a school-board power or municipal Candidate Match score.
Learning & opportunity
Prioritizes curriculum-based learning with assessable outcomes and draws on reported teaching experience across several education settings. [406]
Earlier sourced material: Emphasizes student success and helping students become contributing members of the community. No measurable programme targets or detailed implementation plan were found. [112]
Prioritizes reading, writing, mathematics and critical thinking, with classroom-focused spending and measurement of learning outcomes. [355]
School inclusion & wellbeing
Highlights special-education experience, support for language learners and understanding between ethnic communities. [112]
School funding
Advocates strong public education. A specific funding request, budget tradeoff or tax position was not verified. [112]
School accountability
Review status not recorded for this section. Missing information does not establish a position. Submit information or a correction ↗
Recent public statements
What the candidate has said publicly, with links to the original sources.
School priorities in public interview · Candidate interview
Prioritizes academic fundamentals, practical readiness and compassion, including understanding how answers are reached when using computers and AI.
Edited public interview; candidate account.
Read the original source ↗Learning & accountability · Public social post
Prioritizes reading, writing, mathematics and critical thinking, with education spending focused on classrooms and students. Says she would measure results and hold the district accountable for student learning.
Read the original source ↗How to read these statements
Voting record
Selected decisions, not a complete voting history. Follow each record for the full motion. Historical votes do not automatically establish current views.
No elected public-office tenure was identified in the reviewed sources. No voting record is attributed. Campaigns, employment and community-board service are not legislative votes.
No individual voting records have been verified for this section. Submit information or a correction ↗
Business & finances
Public business & professional interests
The campaign describes education and community work. It does not provide a business-ownership inventory, ownership percentages or asset values. [112]
Her response describes pottery as a community connection and training ESL teachers. It does not provide a complete financial-interest inventory or recusal procedures. [406]
Personal net worth
No reliable, dated net-worth disclosure was verified in the reviewed sources. Business roles, real-estate interests, public remuneration and campaign donations cannot establish personal net worth. Submit information or a correction ↗
Campaign finances
Campaign receipts and expenses are separate from personal wealth. Historical Kelowna campaign filings can be searched at Elections BC. The City lists January 15, 2027 as the 2026 campaign disclosure deadline. [8][2]
Politics & broader policy
Political alignment & party history
Political alignment unknown
Review status not recorded for this section. Missing information does not establish a position. Submit information or a correction ↗
Broader public & foreign policy
Dated personal statements, historical campaigns and organizational positions are distinguished below.
Review status not recorded for this section. Missing information does not establish a position. Submit information or a correction ↗
This collection is selective. It does not claim to capture every interview, speech, social post or position held over a lifetime.
Contact & follow
Public links from the candidate’s campaign or an official directory.
Not yet verified: phone. This does not mean the candidate has no account or contact channel.
Contact sources · checked September 13, 2026 (City directory base); later checks noted individually; older campaign contacts retain their original source
Campaign-linked accounts are listed as supplied by the campaign or election directory. Links and contact details can change; availability or a reply is not guaranteed.
Research gaps & questions
What still needs an answer
- No quantified learning targets, first-year milestones or costed school-budget plan was supplied.
- Specific reporting-system safeguards, conflict procedures and a complete financial-interest inventory remain unspecified.
Questions worth asking
Editorial questions, not statements attributed to the candidate.
- How would learning outcomes and school-safety reporting improve during the first year?
- Which budget priorities and accountability measures would she propose to the board?
Sources & references
5 relevant sources · original publication and review dates appear below. Nomination checked September 28, 2026. Campaign pages describe what a candidate says; official records establish recorded actions.
Photo: City of Kelowna candidate listing
View original image · Checked September 6, 2026. Photographer and reuse licence not stated on the candidate listing.
- 1City of Kelowna — officially declared 2026 candidates
Official record · Declared September 18, 2026; declaration reviewed October 1, 2026. Campaign-directory links were separately captured September 28, 2026.
kelowna.ca - 273Reviewed public statement — School priorities in public interview
Campaign · October 7, 2026; reviewed October 7, 2026
castanet.net - 355Reviewed public statement — Learning & accountability
Campaign · September 15, 2026; reviewed September 15, 2026
facebook.com - 112Deb Dickerson-Pogue — 2026 campaign biography and priorities
Campaign · 2026 campaign; page undated
debdickersonpogue.com - 406Deb Dickerson-Pogue — submitted candidate questionnaire (public transcript)
Candidate questionnaire · Submitted September 17, 2026; reviewed and published with candidate authorization September 17, 2026
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