There’s no doubt about it – certain politicians just understand taxpayers better than others. Case in point: Dan Ashton, the former mayor of Penticton and now MLA for the south Okanagan city.

Under Ashton’s leadership, Penticton City Council froze property taxes for three straight years and got their bureaucracy under control. They launched a core review, cut highly paid staff, merged services between departments and even negotiated a better deal with their unions that start employees at $5 less per hour than the previous contract.

When Ashton announced he would run for MLA, he promised taxpayers that he would pay for the by-election to replace him as mayor. Ashton won the seat handily, and last week, presented a cheque for $32,000 to the taxpayers of Penticton to pay for the recently-held mayoralty by-election.

“In good conscience, knowing the impact of those decisions on many, I cannot personally accept imposing an additional election expense onto Penticton citizens and the taxpayers,” Ashton told the Penticton Herald.

Hear, hear, Mr. Ashton. We hope your point-of-view proves contagious among 84 other politicians in Victoria.