After eight years in local government, including the last four as mayor, Arnold DeBoon has decided to step away from politics.
DeBoon has confirmed he will not seek re-election in the Oct. 17 municipal election, formally closing a career that began with a term on council before he was elected mayor in 2022.
He said it was not a hard decision.
“When I got into local government, I decided that I would serve for two terms, and my two terms are up.”
DeBoon initially expected to serve both terms as a town councillor. However, a lack of what he called “qualified candidates” leading up to the 2022 election prompted him to put his name forward for the town’s top position.
“As it turns out, I needed to become mayor. There was, I guess, a lack of really qualified candidates, so I put my name in.”
At the time, DeBoon’s priority was re-establishing stability coming out of the pandemic.
“When I started my campaign to be mayor, people said, well, what have you got to offer? And the answer was simple. It was stability,” he said.
“It was just a little bit post-COVID, and we’d had a tumultuous time trying to complete our fire haul. We got those things done, and then we moved on to other fairly significant community projects.”
While DeBoon will not be seeking another term, he believes the next council will be well positioned to continue the work already underway.
He said housing will remain one of the community’s key priorities, pointing to the Creston Valley Housing Corporation’s housing and child-care development currently underway.
“We haven’t started construction. That will probably will start in September. And so we just need to get that project completed and, of course, fill the daycare, fill the suites, and then reassess to see if there are other housing projects that we should be involved in.”
The outgoing mayor has thrown his support behind Councillor Denise Dumas, who recently became the first candidate to enter Creston’s mayoral race.
DeBoon said Dumas spent her first term on council preparing for the role and has demonstrated a strong commitment to the community.
“With her experience in council, I think she’s ready to take the move,” he said. “She looked to me for some mentorship, and I gave her opportunities to act as a mayor and do mayor things. And I think she’s been preparing for this for four years, and she’s ready to take the next step.”
While he still has several months remaining in office before the new council is sworn in, DeBoon said he is looking forward to a slower pace in retirement.
An avid angler, DeBoon said he plans to spend more time at his property on Kootenay Lake, travel with his family and enjoy reading for pleasure rather than working through council agendas and correspondence.
“I retired from my first career 13 years ago. And so I spent some of my retired time already doing things that I was very committed to. Not having those commitments will seem like a luxury, I guess, when I’m finished.”
DeBoon also expressed appreciation for fellow council members and town staff.
“It’s been a pleasure working with them. They are very professional people. And when I finish this, I’m going to miss them all.”
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