Jessie Valstar
Background, public record, forum positions and unanswered questions for Jessie Valstar, a 2026 Armstrong councillor candidate.
Office: Councillor
Jessie Valstar was elected in 2022 and is seeking a second term.
The minutes provide several concrete examples of his work.
On April 7, 2025, Valstar moved a $50,000 transfer into the Roads and Drainage Infrastructure Reserve and a $100,000 transfer into the Sewer Reserve.
Both motions were recorded as CARRIED, with no negative vote identified.
At the same meeting, Valstar declared a conflict of interest on a proposed 20-unit development because he might be the electrical contractor and removed himself from that portion of the meeting.
The forum added something more personal.
Valstar said that early in his term he thought of grants as “free money,” but changed his view as he learned the job: grants still come from taxpayers, even when the dollars arrive through another level of government.
He argued that Armstrong should still pursue grants, but be selective about what it is applying for and why.
His response to CARI was also unusually candid.
Valstar said councillors are not civil engineers and must weigh professional advice against their own judgment.
He acknowledged professional advice can be wrong and described the new downtown design as, in part, “a gamble for sure” that wider sidewalks and a slower streetscape will eventually draw people downtown and help businesses.
He then said:
“God, I hope it works.”
That is a more revealing answer than pretending the result is already known.
Previous public office: Armstrong councillor, 2022-present.
Record summary: Infrastructure reserves, development, CARI, OCP and budget work.
What the minutes show: Valstar moved reserve transfers that carried without a negative vote attributed to him and formally recused himself from a development matter involving a potential business interest.
From the forum: Acknowledged uncertainty about the downtown outcome and described a change in how he thinks about government grants.
Another way to look at it: Admitting uncertainty can reflect realism. Voters may still expect councillors to explain why a gamble involving public money was worth taking.
What I’d like to know: What evidence would convince Valstar that the CARI design worked — or that it did not?