Paul Kandola may be a fixture in the Williams Lake business community for the past 25 years but this election will be his first as a municipal candidate.
Kandola says the reason why he’s stepping up now is that he doesn’t like council’s current direction.
“Economically I think we can do a better job,” he says.
Kandola says that means cutting red tape, establishing time lines for issuing development and building permits at city hall, and making it easier for people to invest in the community and create jobs. Kandola proposes a zero-tax increase in each of the next three years and a decrease in the City’s industrial tax rate that was ranked among the highest in the province. He believes that with job creation will come crime reduction.
The direction of any future council in the current economic climate, Kandola says, is doing more with less and he wonders whether the community can afford an expenditure such as a pool which is currently being discussed by the City and the Cariboo Regional District.
Kandola has further targeted building permit dollars aiming for $15 million in the first year; $20 million in the second and $25 million in the third. “I’ve seen the economy strong and weak and what we need is to get it back up.”