John Redenbach is running in the School District 53 by-election to be a trustee for Osoyoos. (Contributed photo)
John Redenbach wants to shatter the myth that students need to go to Oliver to get a good education.
“The main reason I wanted to run is I really felt this town was lacking a strong voice for our community,” the father of three young children said of his candidacy for school trustee.
“We need a really strong advocate for us,” he continued. “The idea that there’s better education in Oliver is false.”
Redenbach is one of three candidates running to represent Osoyoos on the board of School District 53 in a by-election on Nov. 5.
The other two – Penny Duperron and Casey Brouwer – were profiled in other recent issues of the Osoyoos Times.
The by-election has been called to fill the vacancy left by long-serving trustee June Harrington, who is stepping down in the middle of her term.
Redenbach argues that a recent innovative timetable at Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS) improves course choices and he insists that statistics in recent years show better outcomes for students graduating in Osoyoos than Oliver.
“My main reason for running is to make sure there’s a strong voice for our kids in the community,” he said. “To keep both schools open in Osoyoos.”
Redenbach was active earlier this year when OSS was threatened with closure. He said he made posters, chalked sidewalks, helped to organize a protest at the school and he participated in online discussions.
In one exchange with MLA Linda Larson in May, later posted to Facebook, he took on Larson and her B.C. Liberal government for doing nothing to help or show interest in the Osoyoos situation.
When Larson retorted that the only beneficiary of the closure of a school in Osoyoos was the NDP, Redenbach took umbrage.
“I have never voted NDP in my life, but this time will be different and many of us will have long memories,” he told the MLA.
Redenbach said he wants to foster the local economy by keeping students here and providing education in trades and agriculture so students have options to stay in Osoyoos and return here.
He also believes that a smaller school like OSS provides an advantage in that students don’t get lost in the system.
Redenbach is himself an OSS graduate, having played on the school’s basketball team and playing a role in winning a spot for the team in provincials.
He’s an electrician and he and his wife also run a vacation property management company managing properties at ski resorts such as Apex and Mount Baldy as well as elsewhere in the South Okanagan.
They have three children aged 10, almost five and one. The two older children go to Osoyoos Elementary School.
Redenbach was born in New Westminster and lived there until he was 12, when his father became the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church and the family moved to Osoyoos.
He’s lived in Osoyoos since, except for a stint in Vancouver in his 20s when he worked in financial planning and as a partner in a software company.
He moved back to Osoyoos at age 30 to pursue his electrical ticket.
“I have always considered Osoyoos my home,” he said.
Like the other candidates, this is the first time Redenbach has run for elected office. He’s also not been active on a parent advisory council.
Redenbach has, however, experienced going door-to-door in an election campaign as a young child when he his father won election as a school trustee in New Westminster.
“I learned many lessons from my Dad,” he wrote on Facebook. “Stay true to yourself and stay true to the Lord and let everything else fall into place.”
He wrote that he’ll be transparent and honest with the community.
Redenbach noted that his father died unexpectedly last Christmas.
“I also hope to make my Dad proud,” he said.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
