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8 Tuesday October 13 2015 POLITICS NWT MUNICIPALITIES Continued from page 1. It could be as easy as having a Facebook page dedicated to council issues she said. Sibbeston would also like to see a stronger focusonyouthissueswithinthevillage.Aspart of this initiative she would instate a youth rep- resentativeoncouncilinordertogetanewgen- erationinvolvedinmunicipalpolitics.Addition- allyshestatedshewouldfocusonstrengthening relationshipsbetweenorganizationswithinthe community to build a stronger fiscal network. Our funding is squeezed across the board she said. We need to make sure we are build- ing and keeping key relationships. HavingmyselfasafemaleAboriginaloncoun- cil would greatly enhance the villages working relationship with First Nations Sibbeston in- timatedstatingthathavingmoreparticipation fromlocalIndigenousgroupsisakeygoalforher. John Dempsey The owner and operator of Fort Simpsons Northern Store has thrown his hat in the ring for the 2015 municipal election and his number-one priority is bettering transpar- ency for his village. Fort Simpson is a great place to live and I think that I can better support the commu- nity and do what I can do pitch in Dempsey said. The main issue is communication and transparency. Theres room for improvement incommunicationsbetweenthevillageandthe First Nation in particular and I think by work- ing together we can be a much better place. Dempsey said he would try to accomplish this by ensuring all the necessary stakehold- ers are involved in important decisions by in- viting them to meetings and if he has it his way televising council meetings. I have a proven track record of doing things forthecommunity.Ihavedemonstratedanabil- ity of leadership particularly in terms of large- scale business and I care very deeply about the community and I believe everybody is equal. Dempsey is determined to take his entre- preneurial skills developed while running the communitystoreforalmostsixyearsandapply them to running the ship in Fort Simpson. Sean Whelly Incumbent mayor Sean Whelly who was acclaimed in the last election is ready for term number three. I feel as though weve been very effective in improving the life of residents here over the last six years and there are still things that can be done he said. Id like to stay in there working with a new council to see if we cant keep on the path that weve been on improving the quality of peoples lives here. Whellys projects have ranged from im- proving local recreational facilities like the towns new swimming pool to taking on en- vironmental initiatives including a 3.4-mil- lion biomechanical sewer plant. Ithinkthatwevesupportedalotofculture heritage literacy things in the community as well he said. All in a firm financial way that we havent seen a tax increase in the last six years. Fiscal management and getting things donehaskindofbeentherecordthatImstand- ing on and I think I can still do more for the community. I have the energy to put into it IveenjoyedthejobquiteabitIhopeIcanstill give somemorevaluebacktothecommunity. HAY RIVER Andrew Cassidy It has been a tough year for mayor Andrew Cassidyfollowingthesix-monthstrikebytown employees but the challenge has left the in- cumbent invigorated and ready to take on the tasks at hand. Theres a number of projects or initiatives we started under this council that have not yet been completed. One of them for example is thefranchiseagreement.Anotherwouldbethe MACAformulafunding.Theressomeinternal organizational reviews that were working on as well as changing some of the internal pro- cesses to become a better organization for the community Cassidy said. Those are ongoing and I would really like to put in another term to see those through to completion and con- tinue to work with a council that is obviously not afraid to tackle some of these tougher de- cisions and move forward. Top priorities include the updating of infra- structure in time for the 2018 Arctic Winter Games to be hosted in Hay River and Fort Smith updating town hall and continuing to build partnerships with organizations such as the Northern Farm Training Institute. I think that Ive shown my dedication my enthusiasm for the position my experience being on council for a term being mayor for a term I think that speaks to my commitment to municipal governments and my interest my passion for it as well. Brad Mapes First-term Councillor Brad Mapes has a love affair with Hay River. He said as mayor he would work to attract more business to the townandtorunthetownmorelikeabusiness. Any politician will tell you the next few years are the most important but for our com- munity we need to move forward quickly he said. The economy is extremely bad and I feel Ive got the networking skills and plans for our community to move it forward. Mapes wants the political process at the town corporation which is currently trying to fill the key positions of senior administra- tive officer director of finance and director of public works more transparent. WhatIdliketodoischangethestructureof how the town is run and go more with a com- mittee structure reporting back to council Mapes said. We get recommendations given to us for council to make decisions but right now were getting a lot of stuff brought to us to vote on with incomplete information such as financial implications and everything. Mapes said he is committed to Hay River. I always put our community first he said. A lot of times I look at my business and sometimes should probably go a different route but Im committed to our community. Im a great business head and maybe the town needs to get back to that mode where you need to run it like a business. INUVIK Derek Lindsay After taking a backseat as a councillor in In- uvik Derek Lindsay has decided its time for himtoonceagaintakeonthepositionofmayor. I want to get back in the mayors seat. I was mayor from 2006 to 2009 and I think its time we had some leadership for council Lindsay said.Iwanttoattackthehighutilitycostswere experiencingrightatthistimepayingournatu- ral gas and our electrical costs. Whatwouldbethemethodtohismadness as he put it. I want to streamline the operations in the town of Inuvik be more practical he said. Werespendingalotofmoneyincertainareas where we really shouldnt be. We need to cut back on a few things. Energy is a big one the town consumes a lot of energy throughout our recreation centre. We spend 3 million a year operating that facility for a population of less than 3000. I think thats a bit much. Lindsay is confident his experience will lead him to victory. IdidagoodjoblasttimeandIhelpeddoagood jobagainthistimesaidthecurrentcouncillor. Jim McDonald AfterthreetermsonInuvikcouncilJimMc- Donaldwasreadytocallitapoliticalcareerbut he has supporters who wouldnt let the acting mayor hang them up just yet. IstillhavetheenergyandInuvikismyhome- townsoIthinkmyheartishereandmyfamily ishereandIthinkIcanhopefullydosomestuff inthemayorsofficethatwillmakethecommu- nityabetterplacehesaid.Ivehadalotofen- couragement from the community. Inuvikatownofabout3500peoplenestled ontheArcticcoastischallengedfirstandfore- most by the cost-of-living borne of its remote- ness. McDonald admitted there are no simple solutions to the problem for the residents. Our council has been dealing with that for a number of years now he said. There is no singlesolutionoranysolutionatthispoint.Its somethingthatwilleventuallyunlesswecanget someindustrymovingtohelptheeconomy.Its adifficultthingtodealwith.Inthelongrunwe wontseemuchuntiltheeconomypicksupagain. In the meantime the town has to capitalize when opportunities come. Thereisopportunityhereonthesmallerscale and I think we just have to take advantage of whatevercomesalonghesaid.Tourismseems to be on the increase this year certainly seems to be a lot more people travelling the Dempster Highwaylotsofmotorhomesheremotorbikes pedalbikesevenpeoplewalkinginsoIthinkwe need to kind of capitalize on that opportunity. YELLOWKNIFE Mark Heyck Withthreetermsoncitycouncilandanother as mayor Mark Heyck has entrenched himself as a public servant. Icertainlyfoundaftermyfirsttermandeven after my second term on council that you get a few things done during the three-year term buttheresalwaysunfinishedbusinessthatyou wanttoseethroughtoitsconclusionandIthink the same applies to my first term as mayor he said. I think weve made some progress on a lot of important issues but I think theres a lot of work left to be done and Id like to be in the mayors chair to help oversee that work for our community. Among the top priorities for the incumbent is the revitalization of the capital citys down- town core. Ithasbeenalong-standingissueforthecity. Weve undertaken some revitalization efforts during this turn of office particularly the cost ofpowerandheatingourhomesandbusinesses and I have some ideas about how we might be able to help our residents with those cost of liv- ing issues as well. Heyck is confident his years of experience and reputation in Yellowknife will win him an- other term. Ive shown I can bring different viewpoints together in a cohesive fashion from a variety of councillors that will ultimately be elected to makedecisionsonbehalfofthecommunity.As a lifelong Yellowknifer Im truly committed to this city and to making it a better place to live for all of our residents. John Himmelman A self-labelled armchair mayor Himmel- man has always been interested in politics but decidedtoparticipateatthemunicipallevelfol- lowing debates around the revitalization of the 5050 lot downtown. That didnt look quite right then I looked intoitfurtherandIfeltliketherewasadiscon- nectbetweentheiradministrationandwhatthe public is looking for he said. I think the pri- oritiesidentifiedbythepublicarehousingcosts andhomelessnessanditseemslikethecurrent administrationappearstobemoreinterestedin revitalization and beautification. Id be looking towards a mandate to address the housing and focus more on social issues. TostartHimmelmanwouldaddressthehigh cost of housing by taking measures to expand thetaxbase.Ideallyhedliketoseemoretempo- raryworkersfromoutofprovince-likeminers - settle in the city on a more permanent basis. Thecityiseffectivelythegatekeeperandhas a monopoly on the land and in a lot of cases the developerswilllookatthepricetheywantforit andiftheydogoforitthatincreasestheircosts. Ithinkthatsthedriverbehindourridiculously high housing prices he said. Thats a huge problem. The city is actually starting to budget for these profits and so now if we really want to tacklethehighcostofhousingbylookingatthe amount of profit we make off land sales were goingtohavetofindthatrevenuesomeplaceelse and that would be increasing our property tax base or trying to negotiate more support from theterritorialgovernmentorhavingacloselook at what our expenses are. Theaccountantexpressedhisinterestinmak- ingtheYellowknifecitycouncilmoretranspar- entevengoingasfarastobringitundertheter- ritorial Freedom of Information Act. NORMAN WELLS Norman Wells Mayor Nathan Watson is running unopposed in his community. Elections in half-dozen NWT municipalities Oct. 19 THE NWT VOTES Monday Oct. 19 2015 is a big day for democracy in the Northwest Territories with both federal and municipal elections taking place in six of the NWTs municipalities Yellowknife Fort Smith Inuvik Fort Simpson Norman Wells and Hay River where voters will decide whether to borrow more than 20 million to renovate a recreation centre in addition to electing a mayor. The Journal spoke to the mayoral candidates in each race to provide some perspective before voting day. This should not be perceived as an endorsement of any individual candidate.