All candidates forum - round three Midway
By Mona Mattei
Despite nine candidates vying for four seats the Midway all candidates forum had an almost friendly tone. All of the candidates were at the meeting giving locals a chance to meet their future representatives and hear their positions on issues. As with other meetings in the region, there are no hot buttons in Midway right now, but candidates were asked about their take on a number of issues from tackling social needs to economic development and water meters. “The bottom line in these [social] situations, and I happen to have a job right now where I’m trying to get people back into the work force, it definitely all comes down to money,” said Evelyn Booth. “We don’t have money to get to the job, transportation, we don’t have child care. A community can work together with the people that are having these difficulties in their own community and we can volunteer, or just start up something that brings these families together.” Incumbents standing for re-election include Marguerite Rotvold, Martin Fromme, Dick Dunsdon and Gary Schierbeck. New at the table are: Darrin Metcalf, John Coburn, Earl Lehmann, Chris Robinson, and Booth. Challenged on how to bring new businesses to Midway, Lehmann commented. “How often have I heard, ‘Have you been to Midway? Yeah, I went through it,’” joked Lehmann. “What’s on the highway that will bring people in? I don’t see too much. As far as business is concerned to get here – we have an airport – how many planes do we get here? What will stop me from going to Vancouver and talking to the man down there who has just been told that his tax has increased ten-fold? For him to come up here and say hey, come to Midway because we have what you’re looking for. Low taxes, friendly people. Business – bring it in, bring them to work here.” One of the evening’s most interesting questions posed was: as part of a team at council what do you bring to the group? The short version of their answers is:
- Rotvold: commitment and dedication;
- Dunsdon: hard work and dedication;
- Booth: good listener, new ideas and thinking outside of the box;
- Fromme: experience, patience, attention to detail and a philosophy to push times forward;
- Lehmann: background as a professional, energy, education and acts as a good “ice breaker”;
- Coburn: 35 years experience in analytical trouble shooting, business owner and understand business needs;
- Schierbeck: listens to facts and puts decisions into action;
- Metcalf: 20 years as a small business owner in Midway, relationships with other small businesses, and familiarity with the forest industry.
Other questions were fielded touching on regional relations, support for families and youth, how they new people would do business differently at council and tourism development. And just so you know – three out of five candidates said no to water meters.
The forum took place on Monday, Nov. 14 at the Midway Community Hall with about 80 people in attendance. The forum was moderated by Darryl Turner and hosted by Boundary Region Chamber of Commerce, Boundary Sentinel Online News and Community Futures Boundary.
