West Kelowna grateful as Community Vision wins top Community Excellence in Governance award from UBCM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021

West Kelowna is celebrating a big win as the City’s OurWK initiative earns the 2021 Community Excellence Award in Governance from the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM).

“Council and staff are humbled and honoured at the Province of BC and UBCM’s recognition of the collaborative journey we went on with our residents to create our City’s first Community Vision,” said Mayor Gord Milsom. “The OurWK initiative engaged our community from June 2020 to April 2021, as a first step towards updating our Official Community Plan. It captures the values that are most important to our residents and paints a picture for where they want to go over the next 20 years.”

BC Municipal Affairs Minister Josie Osborne and UBCM First Vice President Laurey-Anne Roodenburg announced the 2021 Community Excellence Award winners during local governments’ annual convention, held virtually from Sept. 14 to 17.

The UBCM Community Excellence Awards recognize the work of local governments that demonstrate leadership, work together with their residents, businesses and other stakeholders and build stronger, more sustainable places to live, work and play. 

“West Kelowna is the place to be thanks to an excellent program that our caring, compassionate, progressive and forward thinking community members participated in,” added Milsom. “Our Community Vision was a success because of our residents and stakeholders’ involvement and we are grateful for their contributions, earning this top honour for West Kelowna."

Learn more about OurWK including insightful community feedback summaries and the final award-winning Community Vision at www.westkelownacity.ca/communityvision and stay tuned as we prepare for the next phase of the Official Community Plan starting this fall.