Allan Holt
Seventy-one-year-old Al Holt has made water his priority, and in an Oct. 9 press release he said, “I enlisted four very bright individuals to help me with this issue. We came up with a plan that includes Clowhom Lake.”
Holt promised, if elected, to take his water proposal to a referendum.
Holt, who lives in Halfmoon Bay and owns property in Sechelt, told Coast Reporter that he wants to reverse what he sees as a trend of Sechelt residents voting someone out and offer them someone to vote in.
Holt’s background includes time as a small business owner and entrepreneur and in the publishing and newspaper business. He still publishes The Sunshine Coast Times.
He said taxes and economic development, including an airport expansion and a revitalized downtown, are the other key issues he is running on.
Bruce Milne
(Incumbent, also served as mayor from 1996 to 2002)
Milne’s re-election campaign has made “Keep the Change” one of its slogans, and he claims he’s kept his 2014 campaign promises by having “ended the reckless spending” and “rebuilt local government with a professional civil service,” while providing “open, transparent decision-making, with respect for all.”
At the launch for his re-election bid, Milne also highlighted increasing the stock of affordable housing and creating “an economy that works for everybody – not just a few” as key platform planks.
He pointed to the increase in business licences and building permits under the current council as evidence that Sechelt is doing well under his leadership. “Business thrives when government is managed well,” he said.
Milne’s campaign website also lists water, good governance and community progress as priorities.
Darnelda Siegers
(Served on council since 2011)
Siegers, 60, is running under the banner “Courage to Lead.” She told the crowd at her campaign launch that Sechelt needs “a mayor and council who will be leaders for our community and make the choices to implement solutions to those challenges [facing Sechelt].”
Siegers also said with two seats on the Sunshine Coast Regional District board, Sechelt should take a lead role on water. “Water, water supply and water usage have now become a political football,” she said. “If the community believed the [SCRD] Comprehensive Regional Water Plan was sufficient, we wouldn’t be having this intense debate in our community.”
Siegers also lists housing for “young families, seniors, newcomers and [the] homeless,” “vibrancy in our downtown core,” child care, and “synergy with the shíshálh Nation” as top priorities.
Web: www.siegersforsechelt.com
