Doug Pederson (Keith Lacey photo)
Doug Pederson has no illusions of ever becoming mayor or a member of town council in Osoyoos or any other community.
But that doesn’t stop him from exercising his democratic right to seek public office.
“I’ve ran three times now … and finished dead last every time,” said a smiling Pederson, 66.
Knowing he is likely to garner only a few votes and acknowledging that he perfectly fits the bill as a ‘fringe candidate’, won’t deter Pederson from officially filing his nomination papers to run against incumbent Mayor Stu Wells in the November 15 municipal election.
Pederson, who moved to Osoyoos seven years ago after working for more than 25 years in the computer and technology fields mostly in Alberta and B.C., recognizes his chances of winning the mayor’s seat are slim to none, but he looks forward to running a busy and vocal campaign.
“I will be filing my papers in the next few days,” said Pederson last Friday. “I would be the best mayor this town has ever seen. The very best. Every single person who came into my office and talked to me, I would interview them on video and post them on YouTube.
“My thing would be total and absolute transparency. Anything that is dealt with in-camera, I would recuse myself totally and not take part. Secrecy leads to corruption. I want total and complete transparency on all matters. That is my main promise to local citizens.”
Pederson first ran for office 20 years ago when he ran federally in a riding near Edmonton. He also ran in the last provincial election in Boundary-Similkameen and ran for a spot on Oliver town council after Linda Larson announced she was leaving council and eventually won the election for Boundary-Similkameen.
Pederson spends a great deal of his free time shooting video in and around Osoyoos and downloading those videos to his own YouTube site called Spectate Swamp.
“I’ve shot more than 3,300 videos over the past few years,” he said. “I believe in the power of video because it captures the truth and you can’t lie. I like to share knowledge and I believe the best way to share knowledge is to shoot videos.”
Pederson claims “nepotism is rampant” at town hall with many senior administrators ensuring family members and friends have secured good jobs with the town.
If he were to become mayor, Pederson said he would voluntarily take a lie detector test on a regular basis to ensure he was telling the truth about all key issues and would ask fellow members of council to do the same.
“If you have nothing to hide, you shouldn’t be afraid to take a lie detector test,” he said.
Pederson said he is most looking forward to participating in public debates during the campaign with Wells and any other candidates who come forward seeking the mayoralty seat.
“There are going to be some fireworks at these forums,” he said. “I’m going to challenge the mayor and current council and I want to put them on the spot and get some answers to some tough questions.”
Even if he is unsuccessful in November, Pederson said he has every intention of staying politically involved and running for mayor or a seat on council four years from now.
“Every election needs a fringe candidate just to keep them honest,” he said, once again smiling.
When he first ran for public office, Pederson admits he was somewhat shy about sharing his opinions on many subjects, acknowledging many of his opinions aren’t shared by most of his political opponents.
However, now that he has been through the process on several occasions, he has learned to enjoy the spotlight and opportunity to exercise his democratic right to free speech.
Here in Osoyoos, Pederson insists he has a small, but loyal following of supporters who will be showing their support during the election campaign heading towards the November election.
“I have a lot of people who agree with what I say and I’m confident I’ll get their vote when it counts on election day,” he said. “Many people, like me, agree it’s time for a change.”
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
