By City of Cranbrook Mayor Wayne Stetski

In October I wrote about what we are doing in Cranbrook to make this a welcoming place for business. Today, let’s ‘talk’ about Cranbrook as a welcoming place for people.

For me, a welcoming community strives to make all of our citizens feel welcome and respected – I want everyone to feel good about this place we call home. Some of the recent initiatives include:

– The opening of the new Immigrant Welcoming Centre located on 19A – 9th Ave. South, 
thanks to federal/provincial funding provided to the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy. Their staff helps new citizens feel welcome and understand where and how to access services.

– Celebrating culture, including the Metis celebration at City Hall and the Filipino celebration at Rotary Park.

– Improving the city’s infrastructure to assist those with mobility challenges, including making sidewalks wheelchair accessible, automating doors to public buildings, installing a stair lift (Studio Stage Door) and elevator (Senior Centre) to provide access to the arts and social gatherings and, most recently, ensuring that the RCMP building is accessible (new ramp and stair lift)

– The Salvation Army and the Ktunaxa Street Angels working together to try and keep our most vulnerable citizens, the homeless, warm and safe.

– Welcome Wagon welcoming new families, providing information on our city, and including a letter from me as mayor thanking them for choosing to live in Cranbrook.

– Cranbrook and District Chamber of Commerce staff and volunteers enthusiastically welcoming visitors between May and August. Our collective challenge is how to get even more of the 1.3 million vehicles that pass through our city on Highway 3/95 every year to stop, an initiative that our Hwy 3/95 Revitalization Committee is working on. Another aspect to a welcoming community is related to making a good first impression visually.

In the last few years we have:

– Made great strides in our beautification program (e.g. trees and hanging baskets);

– Improved our entrances through the Arches and Elizabeth Lake Welcome to Cranbrook 
projects.

Over the next year or two we need to continue those efforts by:

– Improving our eastern entrance (overpass area) welcome signage;

– Redoing Clock Tower Square downtown;

– Redoing 2nd St. South from Highway 3 to 14th Ave., the main access to the city campground, golf course and the hospital for people coming into Cranbrook from the west.

One of the important roles that I have as mayor is to make good people feel special. Some of the things that I do to encourage this include:

– Presenting framed certificates on your behalf to residents celebrating significant birthdays 
and anniversaries;

– Bringing youth who have accomplished significant provincial, national or international 
achievements before council to thank them for being such great ambassadors for 
Cranbrook;

– Continuing to raise banners recognizing Cranbrook’s ‘Heroes’ along Hwy 3 – six new ones in 
2013 bringing the total to 29;

– Beginning with Alice Cooper, sending hand-written cards to the amazing performers now 
coming to our little city, to say thanks for including Cranbrook on their tour;

– Ensuring I am accessible to you by attending over 100 events a year and inviting you to 
meet with me one-on-one through Brown Bag meetings at City Hall or at Coffee With the Mayor sessions in coffee shops around town.

As citizens we all have a role to play in making everyone who visits or moves to Cranbrook feel welcome. It can be as simple as a smile and saying hello to people you pass on the street. If you work for any level of government it’s making sure that you answer every question that you are asked, going out of your way to find that answer, and doing so partly because it brings you personal satisfaction to help people. If you are in business it’s all about providing quality, friendly service with a smile.

The good news is that in 2013 Money Sense Magazine ranked Cranbrook 53rd out of the top 200 places to live in Canada, and at least part of that rating must be because we ARE a welcoming community! 
Can we do more? I’m sure we can.

I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts and ideas. What does a Welcoming Cranbrook look like to you?

Best of the season to you all!

Mayor Wayne Stetski

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