The Tribune asked candidates running in the municipal, regional, and School District 27 election a few questions about themselves and their platforms.
We asked the following:
• What position are you running for?
• Why are you running for it?
• What do you see as the top three issues to address in your community?
• How do you propose to tackle them?
Candidates in the area, including those who have been acclaimed, were invited to participate for free
and were given a maximum word limit of 275 words to answer the questions above.
The following are the answers we received from participating candidates:
Gordon Keener
1. I am running for the position of council.
2. The reason I am running for council is that there is a need for change and a new outlook on how business is done in the area.
3. The top issues are as follows: the need to find ways to diversify the economy to encourage small- and medium-size industry to develop and grow in Williams Lake and surrounding area; by building on economic growth the impact of taxes would be reduced as we would have a larger tax base to work from. As it stands with the downturn in growth in Williams Lake the tax burden to keep up the same level of service is carried by a smaller population and business base; what will happen if one of the major mills shuts down? What is the impact on the city?
Do we have a plan? These are questions that need to be addressed again.
We need to diversify to lessen the impacts; what happens if the transportation corridor is cut off to the north and the south at the same time? Do we have enough food to carry us through till it reopens? The short answer is no.
What we need is to encourage and support the local producers with producing vegetable, grain and fruit crops, beef, pork, lamb, poultry and dairy and have it processed in Williams Lake.
4. If elected I would push to explore the issues above and work with council, staff and the community on the best approach to move these issues forward and develop a plan that works and is sustainable.