By David F. Rooney
Conversations Coffee House owner Karen Powers has more than the lunch special on her mind these days; in fact, she’d like to introduce some political specials this fall when she takes a run at a City Council seat.
Karen is the third newcomer to politics to announce her intention to campaign for a Council seat and with roots that very deep in this community she stands a better than average chance of succeeding.
Like any small business owner she is concerned about taxation. But taxation —like infrastructure and spending — is one piece of the day-to-day business of government and not necessarily an issue. Karen thinks about more than that and one of the unexpected things that she thinks about is the way Revelstoke has been changing in recent years — and not for the better.
“In five years I’d like to see Revelstoke be a healthier and stronger community than it is now,” the 54-year-old businesswoman said said in an interview on Saturday morning, May 24.
Revelstoke has become a somewhat less friendly place as new residents who have come here from larger centres retain their urban habits such as ignoring those around them whom they don’t know. Sure. That’s not a big deal but it is symptomatic of the social change that is occurring in Revelstoke right now.
“It used to be that if someone needed your help — even if they were a business competitor you’d step up and help them,” she said. “I don’t think that happens as much as it used to.”
Council has a lot of influence over Revelstoke’s social development and sometimes it exerts that influence and sometimes it doesn’t. Karen would like to see our municipal government actually foment change in the future.
“We have to open doors and then walk through them,” Karen said. “If nobody opens a door then nobody’ll walk through it.”
Opening a door that could lead her to a seat on Council is a big step for her. Her family, which has a history in the logging industry, thinks she is “a little crazy” but they support her wholeheartedly. She is also doing this on her own hook. Karen is not a member of the ad hoc Focus Revelstoke group that hs spawned candidates like Scott Duke and Trevor English.
