KEVIN KRAFT — CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE OK, Let’s Vote — Kelowna’s 2026 Election Guide Office: Kelowna City Council Submitted: Sep 14, 2026 04:44 PM (Pacific time) Reviewed and published September 15, 2026 Answers supplied by the candidate or authorized campaign representative and published with saved authorization. Private contact emails and upload links are excluded. Paragraph spacing follows the original submission table. Claims in answers are attributed statements, not independently audited results. Blank answers, scope selections and conditions do not establish support or opposition. Written Other answers are retained without a binary score. Answers about past motions are hypothetical, not recorded votes. PROFILE AND PRIORITIES 1. Which office are you seeking, and where can voters find your campaign and public contact details? Answer: Running for Kelowna City Council, voters can find my campaign information and contact details on my website www.kevinkraft.ca 2. What experience would you bring to this role? Answer: I bring a combination of practical experience, leadership, and a deep understanding of our community. I have served as an elected Regional District Director, previously as Vice Chair of the Regional Board and currently as Chair of the Electoral Area Services Committee. My experience spans agriculture, land-use planning, business, teaching, firefighting, recreation, and community organizations. I understand how decisions at the council table affect families, businesses, taxpayers, and our rural neighbours because I have lived and worked alongside them. I know how to listen, work collaboratively, manage competing priorities, and make thoughtful, practical decisions. Most importantly, I am ready to contribute from day one. 3. What are your top three priorities, and one practical action for each? Answer: 1. Prevention & Homelessness Invest in proactive youth programming and partnerships that give young people opportunities before they reach crisis. Practical action: expand partnerships with schools, recreation organizations, and community groups to increase accessible sport, mentorship, and prevention programs while improving coordinated services for people experiencing homelessness and addiction. 2. Water & Agricultural Resilience Protect our water security and agricultural land while preparing for drought, growth, and changing conditions. Practical action: prioritize long-term water infrastructure, additional storage capacity, and better water management to support agriculture, food security, and responsible growth. 3. Housing, Affordability & Choice We need more homes, but we also need the right homes at attainable prices. Families, young people, seniors, and first-time buyers need more options—not simply more expensive housing. Practical action: reduce unnecessary costs and delays in the municipal approval process, encourage practical infill and a greater mix of detached homes, duplexes, townhomes, and other attainable options, while making better use of existing neighbourhood infrastructure. 4. How would you keep your decisions transparent and remain accountable to residents? Answer: Transparency means being accountable before, during, and after decisions are made. I would push for greater council transparency, including public reporting from closed meetings before announcements where legally possible. I would regularly engage residents and stakeholders before major decisions. I support a clear remuneration policy with an independent end-of-term review, consideration of term limits, and stable two-year appointments to council boards and committees—not appointments that can change solely at the Mayor’s discretion. 5. Are there any affiliations or interests relevant to your candidacy that you want voters to know about? Answer: My experience and affiliations are rooted in serving and understanding our community. I bring agricultural experience, eight years as a regional firefighter, and a strong interest in emergency preparedness, including wildfire and flood response. I am an alumnus of Okanagan College and UBC, and previously worked at UBC Okanagan. I serve on local community boards, the Okanagan Sun Board, and the Region 8 BC Wildlife Federation Board. I have also built relationships across local, regional, and provincial governments. These experiences provide practical knowledge and perspective while keeping me grounded in representing families working hard to navigate today’s world. 6. What else would you like added or corrected on your website profile? Answer: Existing roles at this time: RDCO Board — Electoral Area Director, East Electoral Area RDCO Electoral Area Services Committee (EASC) — Chair Okanagan Basin Water Board (OBWB) — Director Central Okanagan Regional Hospital District Board Sterile Insect Release Program (SIR) — Director/representative Kelowna International Airport Advisory Committee Okanagan Film Commission Okanagan Regional Library Board Collaborative Leadership Table — (ONA) regional/community partnership Okanagan Sun Board Oceola Fish and Game Club Board Region 8 BC Wildlife Federation Board Young family, 3 kids [children’s ages omitted] Kelowna local, raised in Rutland KMFA U12 Football Coach QUICK POSITIONS 1. The City should shorten and simplify the process for approving new homes. Answer: Yes / Support 2. The City should reduce development cost charges on new housing. Answer: Conditional / Depends Candidate explanation: I support reviewing Kelowna's DCC structure to determine whether we are appropriately balancing housing affordability, development viability and the infrastructure needs of a growing city. I would not support simply shifting growth-related costs onto existing taxpayers. Any review should look at whether charges are discouraging attainable housing, whether different housing forms should be treated differently, and whether we are getting the right infrastructure for the cost. If we can reduce unnecessary costs and barriers while protecting the City's ability to responsibly fund growth, we should do it. 3. Restrictions on short-term rentals should be loosened. Answer: Conditional / Depends Candidate explanation: I would support reviewing short-term rental restrictions where there is a demonstrated opportunity to provide tourism accommodation without disrupting neighbourhood stability or the social fabric of established communities. This should be approached carefully and on a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood basis, considering housing availability, parking, noise, safety, and impacts on long-term residents. Where STRs can operate responsibly without displacing needed long-term housing or creating significant community impacts, there may be an opportunity to allow greater flexibility. Any changes should include clear standards, enforcement, and regular review to ensure the community benefits. 4. The City should pursue expanded public transit service. Answer: Yes / Support 5. Infrastructure and service capacity should be ready before major additional growth is approved. Answer: Yes / Support 6. The City should advocate for expanded involuntary addiction-treatment capacity. Answer: Yes / Support 7. The City should invest in wildfire prevention and preparedness. Answer: Yes / Support 8. The City should carry out additional spending audits or operational reviews. Answer: Yes / Support 9. The City should make individual councillors’ voting records easier to find and search. Answer: Yes / Support 10. Would you have supported the October 27, 2025 electoral-reform study and conditional referendum-preparation motion? This bundled decision did not implement wards. Answer: Conditional / Depends Candidate explanation: I support studying electoral reform, but any significant change should ultimately be decided by Kelowna voters. Before moving to a referendum, I would want clear information on the options, costs, benefits, and potential impacts on local representation. My priority is a system that encourages voter participation while maintaining strong, accountable representation for individual neighbourhoods and communities. Any reform should make local government more accessible and accountable—not more complicated. 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. Answer: No / Oppose 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. Answer: Conditional / Depends Candidate explanation: I support maintaining the services Kelowna residents rely on, but every tax increase should come with accountability. Council needs to continually review spending, find efficiencies, prioritize essential services, and ensure taxpayers are receiving value for their money. As Kelowna grows, we need to make sure growth pays its fair share and that we are not simply downloading the cost of growth onto existing families and taxpayers. 13. The City should help expand co-operative housing and community land trusts. Answer: Conditional / Depends Candidate explanation: I support exploring co-operative housing and community land trusts where they can provide attainable housing without placing an unreasonable burden on taxpayers. The City should look at partnerships, land, and streamlined approvals where there is a clear long-term community benefit, while maintaining accountability for public resources. 14. The City should strengthen protections for tenants displaced by redevelopment or renovations. Answer: No / Oppose 15. The City should allow more small shops and cafés within residential neighbourhoods. Answer: Yes / Support 16. The City should advocate for a second bridge crossing of Okanagan Lake. Answer: Conditional / Depends Explanation: A second Okanagan Lake crossing has been studied and discussed before — then shelved. It’s a conversation that needs to continue. Growth and seasonal traffic volumes are only getting worse. This is a provincial and federal responsibility, not a municipal one. I would support the dialogue around a second crossing if it comes up. Editorial note: Candidate clarification added September 15, 2026. This replaces the previously unanswered entry; conditional answers remain unscored. 17. The City should invest in filling gaps in its sidewalk and cycling networks. Answer: Yes / Support 18. The City should expand foot patrols in commercial areas experiencing crime and disorder. Answer: Yes / Support 19. The City should support expanded non-police response teams for suitable mental-health and substance-use calls. Answer: Yes / Support 20. The City should increase access to public washrooms. Answer: Yes / Support 21. The City should prioritize protecting agricultural land when making land-use decisions. Answer: Yes / Support 22. The City should strengthen protection for existing trees. Answer: Yes / Support 23. The City should limit annual property-tax increases to inflation. Answer: Yes / Support 24. Mayor and council pay increases should take effect only after the next election. Answer: Yes / Support 25. Would you support a ward system for Kelowna, where residents elect councillors to represent defined geographic areas? Answer: Conditional / Depends Candidate explanation: I would support a hybrid council model with five Councillors elected at large, five Councillors elected by ward, and one Mayor elected city-wide. This would give Kelowna a balance between city-wide leadership and direct neighbourhood representation. At-large Councillors would be responsible for considering the broader interests of the entire city, while ward Councillors would provide residents with a direct advocate who understands the specific needs and challenges of their area. The Mayor would continue to provide city-wide leadership and accountability. AFFORDABILITY Which actions would you prioritize to make housing more affordable in Kelowna? Answer: Speed up and simplify housing approvals, Identify and reduce unnecessary local costs and regulatory barriers that are driving up the cost of building and owning a home. Beyond housing, which actions would you prioritize to make everyday life more affordable in Kelowna? Answer: Review municipal spending to limit taxes and fees, Support local jobs and business opportunities, Reduce recreation and community-program fees Editorial note: Choices and written Other responses are retained in the submitted order. The form requested up to three choices but allowed more. Conditions in the answers still apply. SUPPORTING MATERIAL One uploaded portrait reviewed. Existing profile imagery is retained. A YouTube link was supplied as additional material but its contents were not reviewed; no claims were taken from it. The children’s ages in the final profile answer are omitted from this public transcript. Candidate-supplied video link (contents not reviewed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFBA8Qj7ums PUBLICATION AUTHORIZATION The saved response authorizes OK, Let’s Vote / Gain Street to review and publish these answers with attribution, confirms permission to share supporting material, and states that the private contact email will not be published.