Scott Tibballs has announced his candidacy for Fernie City Council, positioning his campaign around infrastructure, municipal services, economic development, community partnerships and improved communication with residents.

Tibballs is known locally through his previous work as a newspaper journalist, where he regularly attended Fernie City Council meetings and reported on municipal decisions and issues affecting the community.

“Like many in Fernie, I am not from here, but this community made me feel welcome, so I fell in love with it and decided to put down roots,” Tibballs said.

Now a Fernie homeowner, Tibballs said his years of professional engagement with residents have given him the opportunity to hear community concerns, share local stories and develop a deeper understanding of the city.

“I’m running for Fernie council because I believe in this community,” he said. “I’ve been engaging with this community professionally for years, and I’ve had the honour of hearing more stories and sharing more experiences than I can recall.”

Tibballs described Fernie as a resilient community supported by several important strengths, including the Elk Valley’s mining industry, the economic contribution of tourism and the work of local organizations and volunteers.

He said the City should build on those strengths while concentrating its attention and resources on responsibilities that fall directly under municipal control.

“I want the City to engage these strengths, so that it can focus on the issues that only the municipality can affect change on: service delivery and infrastructure,” Tibballs said. “We’ve got some expensive problems, and they’re not going to go away quickly.”

Infrastructure and municipal finances are expected to be central themes of his campaign. Tibballs said Fernie cannot rely exclusively on property taxation to address infrastructure deficiencies that have accumulated over several decades.

“For all this to work, we need more funding sources,” he said. “We cannot tax ourselves out of problems that built up over decades. As a homeowner myself, I look at my property tax bill and feel the same pressures we all do.”

Tibballs said Fernie must become more supportive of business and economic development to expand the municipal tax base and reduce the financial pressure placed on existing taxpayers.

“We have to make it easier to do business here by being more business friendly and supporting economic development to broaden Fernie’s tax base and reduce the tax demands on the community today,” he said.

He also identified partnerships with community organizations as a way to provide recreational, cultural and social amenities without requiring the City to assume the full cost of delivering them.

“We have to make it easier to live here by supporting the community groups that seek to provide amenities the community benefits from, but the City would pay for in full otherwise,” Tibballs said.

Tibballs said his professional background has given him experience in communication, research and asking questions of decision-makers at the local, regional and provincial levels.

“What I bring to the table is communication and creativity,” he said. “My job has been to pick up the phone and ask questions here, up the valley and out to Victoria.”

He said public engagement would remain a priority throughout his campaign and, if elected, during the next council term.

“As a journalist, I’ve spent a lot of time engaging with the community, listening to concerns and sharing stories,” Tibballs said. “That work isn’t going to stop. I want to hear from you about your priorities for Fernie today and into the next term of City Council.”

To engage with Scott contact him by email; tibballs4fernie@gmail.com or visit his Facebook page

Fernie residents will elect one mayor and six councillors in the municipal election on Saturday, October 17, 2026. The successful candidates will serve a four-year term running from November 2026 to November 2030.

Editor

Photo/content: Scott Tibballs