Candidate Forum Overview
The candidates for Kindersley’s upcoming election had an open forum at the Norman Ritchie center last night. The forum began at 7:00 p.m., with a brief welcome by the moderator Monte Sheppard. At 7:05, the candidates for council received their first question from Sheppard, and the following six came from the audience.
The candidates were first asked to list their two most important goals for the next four years. The rest of the questions focused on plans to address Kindersley’s crime rate, improving the town’s attractiveness, and addressing the problem of shrinking service groups. Other questions centered on deciding how compost fits into the town’s essential services and the new landfill; plans for supporting Kindersley’s infrastructure; and the possible reduction in town administration.
The twelve candidates were each allotted a one-minute answer per question.
Tammy Anderson-Jackson stated that her top 2 priorities were financial responsibility, and water rates and bills.
Gary Becker emphasized the need to build a new swimming pool and streamlining the town to work better with service groups, focusing on creating better communication in running the town.
Rob Cote prioritized recreation, including the swimming pool, and striving to run the town like a small business. He recognized the need to keep businesses in town, and using sports and facilities to bring people into town.
Chris Douglas’ top priority was ending the animosity and creating better cooperation between the town government and townspeople, as well as the RM.
Randy Ervine said he wanted to focus on building a new pool, addressing the high taxes, and building a new fire hall and landfill. He stressed the fact that business minds could help to reduce waste in the town government.
Scott Faulds believes that Kindersley should work towards building a new pool, by being as fiscally responsible and accountable as possible. He suggested recreation as a way to encourage town growth, attractiveness, and also reducing the crime rate.
Ken Francis’ foremost goals are to review the town’s budget, and add to existing facilities. He would like to see a friendlier tax regime, as well as a more diverse industrial sector.
Dean Galbraith hopes to start with a critical look at the budget, and analyzing the town infrastructure, especially in the industrial section.
James Garland’s answers had one main theme: getting the population base back to Kindersley. This would involve lowering housing costs and creating a forward-thinking plan to encourage growth in the town.
Rob Gilmour’s top priorities included critically analyzing the town’s spending, and making water more affordable. His goal is to create more transparency and efficiency in the town government.
Shaun Henry’s plan is to create sustainability and cooperation in the town government. The pool is a top priority, along with improving relationships with service groups, the RM, and the community.
Elyse Moss’ goals were straightforward: operational efficiency and sustainability. She believes these are the keys to creating a vibrant community, and states that without them, Kindersley will not grow.
The session with the councillor candidates lasted until 8:15 p.m., and the Mayoral candidates began their turn five minutes later. Each candidate had 2 minutes to respond to each question. The questions focused on responding to attacks through social media; possible overspending by the town; achieving city status; getting students involved in the community; improving Kindersley’s road situation; and verbalizing their top two goals for the next 10 years.
Tom Morris main goals are to open up the lines of communication, promote positive interactions, and make affordable housing a reality. He is in favour of achieving city status, as this would help encourage growth, and enable more fairness in taxes.
Rod Perkins’ top priority was generating more growth in the community, and repairing the disconnect between the council, the townspeople, and the RM. He makes the pool a high priority and is also in favour of city status, stating that it would add to Kindersley’s attractiveness and create more flexibility in taxes.
Monte Sheppard concluded the forum shortly after 9:15 pm.
The candidates were encouraged to linger afterwards for more personal discussions with attendees.
Feature Image: Rina Rast/ Kindersley Social
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