Frequently Asked Questions
Find some thoughts on important topics here. Below, I will post answers to voter questions.
Please contact me and let me know how the future of Vernon matters to you.
Water Security
This summer was a very difficult reminder of how important, and precarious, our water system can be, especially with the unpredictability brought on by the effects of climate change. The Okanagan Valley is climatically the most water short area of Canada, with our relatively arid climate and high summer temperatures.
Our water usage approximately quadruples during the 4 peak summer months, and most of that demand is from agriculture. Our per capita water use is dramatically higher than the average world standards, so the good news is that we have lots of room to improve our overall usage practices by investigating all the tools used by other water stressed areas of the world.
The tools in our toolkit includes pricing water in a way that all users, but especially agriculture who are our biggest users, will make the choices to reduce our high per capita consumption to much more normal standards.
Besides the conservation methods that are available in our toolkit, we can investigate whether an independent public water utility would assist in improving the administration of our future efforts to store and treat our most essential resource.
When I was first elected mayor in 2011, I met with the director of the Okanagan Basin Water Board, who wanted me to understand the importance of the organization. I told her that I suspected that “water would become the most important single issue in the valley.”
I don’t raise this to indicate that I have great prescience, or exceptional insight, but to show that without political will, the best decisions won’t be made.
I believe that we now have a strong political will, and I will work with our fellow community decision makers to make the decisions that ensure a reliable, safe water supply for our future.
– Rob Sawatzky
What experience do I bring to Vernon City Council?
I have a strong background in community leadership and a commitment to transparent governance. I served as the Mayor of Vernon from 2011 to 2014 where I championed progressive programs and long-term planning. Learn more about me.
How can I contact you?
I welcome the opportunity to listen and respond to residents’ concerns. You can reach me directly by calling 250-540-8732 or use the contact page.
How can I vote for you?
You can vote in-person from 8am to 8pm at the Advance polls on Wednesday, October 7th at the Schubert Centre, or on the next Wednesday, October 14th at City Hall, or on General Election Day, which is Saturday October 17th at VSS, Fulton and the Recreation Centre. If you cannot vote in-person, you can apply to Vote by Mail – see Guide and Application. More information for voters can be found on the City website at vernon.ca/voterinfo
How can I volunteer for your campaign?
Thanks for considering volunteering for my campaign! You can send a message through the contact page or contact me directly to get involved.
Where can I donate to support your campaign?
Thanks for considering donating to my campaign! See the contact page or follow this link for instructions on how to E-transfer your donation.
Where can I find more answers?
If you cannot find the answer on this page or website, send a message through my contact page. You can also find surveys for which we will post links as they become available, where you can compare candidates’ answers to a set of questions.
- Vital Vote 2026 – Rob’s answers
Community Safety
Living in a safe community is essential to a great quality of life.
Municipal government has a role in that with the provision of local police and fire rescue services. Vernon’s community policing is contracted to an integrated detachment of the RCMP, which also provides services to our neighbouring communities.
Research shows that the RCMP is the most cost effective community police force option.
As part of providing the best service, our local detachment established a 5 year Strategic Plan for Vernon in 2023. Components of that plan include annual public consultation and regular quarterly reports to council, and a public safety focus that includes reduction of prolific offenders, dealing with the street entrenched, and road safety.
The City of Vernon has maintained crime prevention programs for many years because the most important factor in safety is involvement of the community. These include Block Watch and RCMP Crime Prevention Volunteer Programs.
A sad fact in North America is that the programs that evolved to deal with the crime associated with substance abuse, have been overwhelmed by a tsunami of drugs that experts say were engineered, largely by criminal gangs based in Asia, to be highly addictive. The experts tell us that substance abuse and the resulting homelessness are the most significant factors in crime.
As we work with senior levels of government to deal with those issues, we should remember that Vernon has received an influx of refugees who have moved from unstable, unsafe parts of the world who are overjoyed to find peace and contentment in our community.
As a physician who has been studying population health and safety data for over 40 years, I completely agree with those experts who say that our biggest health and safety risk is the automobile. We should never forget this.
There are political actors who spread misinformation and fear for their own political gain and make claims that are not supported by our local, provincial and national crime statistics, which show a slow, steady reduction in crime and crime severity since 1992.
Those cynical political actors do our citizens a severe disservice in creating an atmosphere of fear, that isn’t supported by fact and reality.
We all want a peaceful, safe community in which to grow and nurture our children, and that provides a supportive, serene haven for our seniors.
Please support those who understand data, and actually work on issues, not those who create fear.
– Rob Sawatzky
Answers to Voter Questions
Voter Question:
“How will you attract business to our city? I continue to see opportunities flee Vernon from the city demanding more and more out of them before shovels are in the ground. It seems to be easier to move to Kelowna where things seem to happen with ease.”
My answer: “I believe that within the powers of local government in BC, we have two main avenues to assist business. One is to make our regulatory processes, which are designed to protect us all, as efficient and cost effective as possible. The other is to have a vision of how to make our community as attractive as possible to those who can choose where they work and live.
If we don’t have that vision, and don’t work toward providing lifestyle amenities and community design, like parks and active transport, that makes us attractive, and maximizes our assets, which include proximity to an international airport and a university campus, and year round world class outdoor recreation, other communities that do those things will “eat our economic lunch.”
I will try to work with council toward that vision so that we build a community that is “sticky” enough to make people want to stay, and work and raise their families here.”
Bringing Experience, Integrity and Vision to the City of Vernon
Rob Sawatzky for Vernon City Council
Voter Question:
“Our homeless problem has gotten worse and worse. We have members of council that are linked to companies that financially gain from housing these people, rather than addressing the issue. How will you combat this?”
My answer: “Homelessness is indeed a widespread, significant problem, and considered by the experts in the field to be multifactorial in cause. The Economist magazine writes regularly about how prevalent the problem is in virtually all western democracies, and reports on the ways in which countries struggle to deal with it. The BC provincial government recently stated at an annual Union of BC Municipalities, that Vernon was the provincial model for how a community should coordinate local agencies in dealing with this issue.
Saying that a non profit agency provides housing “to financially gain from housing these people, rather than addressing the issue” is a bit like accusing firefighters of starting fires for their own financial gain. If you are alluding to Turning Points Collaborative, a non profit housing agency, I must tell you that I served for 7 years as a volunteer, unpaid, board member of this organization because it not only provides housing, but also has the only long-term, non-profit, in-house, substance abuse treatment programs in our area.
Although housing is constitutionally a federal responsibility, provincial governments must also take responsibility for obvious practical reasons. But that leaves local governments to deal with the results, without either the legislative tools, or the legislative responsibility, to deal with this issue that affects us all so much. I will use my experience to advocate for a package of efforts that address this issue, with the understood limitations of local government tools. They will be similar to best practices throughout the world that can be applied to our local laws and situation. These include zoning, and support and assistance in housing grant applications, to name only a few.
I will continue to make myself aware of the best, most effective practices throughout the world, that can be applied to our situation.”
Voter Question:
“Our emergency services has been severely understaffed and under funded for a very long time. Will you commit to bring these departments the staffing and funding they need to deliver us the services our growing city needs?”
My response: “Vernon emergency services include policing by the RCMP, Vernon Fire Rescue, and Emergency Support Services to deal with issues like fire and flood evacuations and support.
I think we would all agree that they are a very important part of the essential services our local government provides. Adding to spending on any particular service or function, requires either that taxes go up, or other services are cut.
Our emergency services use over 41% of our tax funded budget at present. So I think you would agree that those decisions should be made within detailed budget discussions as part of council, and by weighing those choices with full budget implications and information. I feel that I would be doing the community a disservice to commit to increase spending without full information.”
How to Vote
General Voting Day is October 17, 2026
Advance Voting Days
8am to 8pm October 7 at the Schubert Centre and October 14 at City Hall
Mail In Voting
If you cannot vote in-person, you can apply to Vote by Mail – see Guide and Application.
For more information go to vernon.ca/voterinfo
General Voting Day
8am to 8pm October 17, 2026 at the Vernon Recreation Centre, Fulton Secondary School and Vernon Secondary School