The slate of candidates for the six seats as Councillors in the City of Yorkton is a long one.
A total of 24 are running, and Yorkton This Week prepared a single question for the response; What is the key issue you want to address if elected?
Candidates were provided the question in advance, and asked to submit an answer in 200-words or less.
Their responses have appeared over two issues of Yorkton This Week, this being the second installment.
The order has been randomized, and the responses appear in the format and style of the individual respondent to reflect their approach to the question.
The election will be held Wednesday, Oct. 26.
Brad Haberman
The reason I am running for council is to focus on several issues like the infrastructure serving our city, Kinsmen Arena, and our hospital. Â
If I am elected my key issue would be to address the hospital concerns as it’s a major issue for our city. Yorkton is a hub for a large trading area. With a new hospital it will bring new services and benefit the people of Yorkton and surrounding areas.
The business community is already doing its part in raising money for the hospital in several different fund raising events, we need to continue with this.
As a council, we have to have a plan in place to be prepared down the road to proceed with the new hospital.
We would have better services for patients, and we could have more local treatments instead of patients having to travel for health care.
We would be able to retain our exceptional doctors and staff.
We would be able to attract new doctors with a new facility.
With this being my key issue, I look forward to your vote for me on October 26.
Quinn Haider
In my opinion, the biggest issue during this election is the safety of Yorkton’s families.
In recent weeks, crime in our city has made headlines and has been on the minds of our citizens.
I believe that in order to keep our families safe, we need a two-pronged approach. First, to focus on the present, we need to collaborate with, and offer support to, our RCMP, EMS, and firefighters.
If families feel that additional attention needs to be given to our Protective Services, I want to advocate on their behalf.
Secondly, in order to help our children thrive, we need to invest in community facilities so that our current youth are actively involved in affordable and accessible sports and recreation. If they feel connected to their community, they will grow up with a strong sense of belonging and civic pride.
With the Gallagher Centre loan due to be paid off in the near future, this is the perfect time to explore new recreational options. Research shows that children involved in strong and varied extra-curricular activities during their youth are less likely to become involved in crime and violence later in life.
Let’s give our children those opportunities now.
Evan Johnson
The key issue to focus on if I get on City Council has been difficult. To help obtain my answer I went to the public. After all, I want my main focus to be your main focus. My response from the majority of the household doors I knocked on was, “the streets”. I agree, but I understand the city doesn’t have an endless pit of money and it is extremely difficult to please everyone at the same time; this is a hurdle of any government. This is where I, along with City Council will develop a long-term plan for road construction but keep in mind the importance of the general public and the business community. We need to better inform the tax payer on why the certain project or area was chosen opposed to others. I will make certain that your concerns will not be overlooked.
Being on council is a 2 way street. We need to receive information from the public about the wants and needs. In turn, they need to openly receive the information back from us. Council needs to work closely with the tax payer and together we need to identify the future of our community.
Mike Kirby
I am honoured to run for the position of Yorkton City Councillor. I feel the city is in dire need of new leadership and fresh thinking. First and foremost I would like to see council address it fiscal responsibility to the citizens of Yorkton and its business partners. This is the starting point to truly see the trickledown effect to the many needed areas. What do I mean by fiscal responsibilities? The city needs to look at its spending habits and were it is spending its money. We need to work with and use local business to achieve the best pricing and ensure the money stays in Yorkton in the hands of Yorkton residents. We need to get our house in order financially so that we can spend our money on the needs of the city. Here is what I see as needs: Citizen Safety with a full time fire department supplemented with volunteers and funds available for RCMP initiatives, roads and infrastructure, taxes and levy control, green space development and utilizing local business for city projects. If we manage with common sense and concentrate on the city as a whole we will see all of Yorkton grow and prosper.
Donald Anderson
I believe Yorkton has many issues that need to be worked on. Some of the issues like improving infrastructure, flood prevention and growing local economy will need to be dealt with. The one issue I want to work on is solving the volunteer vs. full time fire fighters debate.
A full time fire department is the best solution for Yorkton. I have experienced what they do first hand and we need their high level of skill and experience around. We also need to keep in mind how critical response time is during emergencies. Fires can become fully involved in as little as 5 minutes and serious brain damage can take place in 5 to 10 minutes. So who do you want responding when you are in need?
I would also like to explore the possibility of running a 5 man crew instead of a 4 man crew. 5 men are needed to enter structures so this would streamline rescue operations. This could also give the option to run with 4 men in cases where someone is absent. This would help keep overtime at reasonable levels. Having more full time staff also provides more good jobs in our city and reduces dependency on high turnover temporary positions
Mitch Hippsley
Yorkton has always been a city of opportunities…raising a family and providing a strong business foundation. Anyone with drive and determination can see that these two foundations nurture each other and perpetuate both the growth and the potential of our community.
Fortunately, Yorkton is perfectly located geographically to provide endless services for outlying communities. We need to continue to not only keep the magnet we were built on, but to aggressively grow it!
I’m a third generation resident and chose to stay and raise my family here while growing and maintaining our photography business for 32 years. Throughout my career I have listened intimately to people, in all walks of life and used this for my insight. City Council needs to listen, help family agendas, aggressively chase new business, support infrastructure and investigate and ensure accountability of our financial resources with open doors. Some good decisions have been made; however, I feel the pulse has diminished and I want to reenergize it and make Yorkton a “place” where MORE good things happen. A place to be recognized as a “go to place” for all major events. I see there is so much potential and I look forward to the opportunity to serve you and “make it happen”.
Raymond Bucsis
One of the benefits of calling Yorkton home is knowing that we are protected by a fulltime fire service. As the city moves forward in challenging economic times there has been an effort made to cut cost and look at what can be downsized. One area that has been a target is our fulltime firefighters. They provide first rate service - in many situations they can make the difference between life and death. I am committed to maintaining the service. You only have to take a quick drive to see areas where taxpayer dollars have been wasted. To remove this service from the residents and business owners would be very short sighted. By going to a volunteer force we risk a large increase to the insurance premiums we pay as home and business owners. This would amount to another form of taxation. If elected, it would be my priority to ensure we maintain our fulltime fire fighters. There are many areas of the city budget that have become bloated and mismanaged - to try to fix this by eliminating the fire service is wrong. Yorkton residents deserve to be served by the best protective services.
Larry Pearen
I feel infrastructure development is the top priority for the city. These expenditures for the replacement of old infrastructure is a major undertaking but must be balanced with the other needs of the community including affordable housing, recreation and safety services. The City of Yorkton continues to makes major investments to deal with the unprecedented rainfall, by creating new water holding ponds, renewing underground pipes and expanding waterways. Replacement of old existing water and sewer lines, which have outlived their life expectancy, is being coordinated with resurfacing of streets and sidewalks. Also, the costs of rebuilding a section of roadway have greatly increased over the past few years. Traffic planning continues as we develop our road system, bike lanes, walking paths and green spaces while moving truck routes outside the main city streets. Streets that are well maintained are welcoming for customers to business, visitors for tourism as well as for our residents. I feel a town hall meeting to discuss our infrastructure challenges with possible solutions would be beneficial. Yorkton is a great city to grow a business and raise a family. All of these improvements will contribute to our quality of life. Yorkton is “Where Good Things Happen!”
Darcy Zaharia
Two main elements for Yorkton to attract business and people are information and amenities. These two together form the basis for success in attracting people or businesses to our community.
First of all, most cities have certain strengths or competitive advantages. This is where Yorkton must advertising key elements to people who might be swayed to relocate. Offer incentives to new businesses to locate in the community such as property tax breaks and discounted fees and permits. Market the community and advertise business benefits to would-be business owners. Keeping in mind that some new businesses such as box stores can only really be successful at the expense of existing business so we must proceed cautiously.
Second, amenities are a highly important factor in individual location choice and therefore economic success. Amenities for Yorkton include health care, regional college, golf courses, surrounding provincial parks, sporting facilities, kid’s parks, closeness to major centers such as Regina and Saskatoon, daycare facilities and community safety. We must continue to offer a wide variety of all types of amenities and upgrade some of our existing services and facilities.
We need the people here first and then business will follow because the skilled workforce will be here.
Bernard Stephaniuk
I take this opportunity to congratulate all of the people who have allowed their names to stand as candidates for City Council. This is an important part of our democratic process. It is difficult to say what a key issue to be addressed is. This will change from time to time with what is most pressing at the moment. However, there is one overall factor I suggest that applies to all issues. This is managing fiscal priorities – what is needed, why is it needed, who will be affected, what will it cost and how will it be paid for? Included in managing fiscal priorities is transparency in decision-making and greater disclosure to the public.
Ross Fisher
The key issue in the next term is managing the city’s finances as a number of critical projects need to get started, including: replacing the city storm and sewer outfall; digging up Broadway to replace the underground utilities, and the storm and sewer water lines; and, because of our recent very wet winters with more freezing and thawing we need to increase road repair.
It is very important these issues are addressed cost effectively, because, even though the above are big and expensive projects that are necessary, the city has to continue to provide a full range of services. It is important the City continues to upgrade recreation services, maintain and upgrade sidewalks, and put in place short-term flood prevention measures while undertaking major projects.
You can’t focus on one issue or just on the big projects; yes they need to happen and we need to set priorities but you have to plan for the city as a whole; and you can only do that if you manage the city’s finances properly and create the capacity to do what is necessary without large tax increases.
Shelly Ross
There are many important issues I feel require attention and commitment from council. The key issue I would like to address is the financial position of the city and the efficiency in which revenues are utilized. Financial reports, available to the public give us a guideline as to where funds have been delegated, they do not however give any sense as to how effectively funds are being managed with regards to the productivity or outcomes of expenditures. It is time for a full independent audit of the city to disclose the details and effectiveness of the current disbursements. Let’s give the public and council a stronger sense of where changes need to occur to sustain and progress in the future. The decisions of today form the architecture of tomorrow. With an evaluation of this nature we would be able to discern why we do not seem to have adequate resources to support existing infrastructure, such as roadways, sewer and drainage. I would prefer to see an audit of these resources, which may yield valuable insight and cost saving opportunities for our city, as an alternative to the tax payers and small business consistently subsidizing solutions by the increase of taxes.
