Mark Whiteson has stepped forward to run for District of Sooke council, In his own words:
“My name is Mark Whiteson, and I am seeking the taxpayers’ approval to be your representative at the District of Sooke council table.
I plan to bring my more than 20 years experience in the private sector, with varied-sized companies such as Universal Music and Sprott-Shaw in a variety of business roles, to the council table. My experience in marketing, sales, and managing budgets in the private ...sector are all assets I believe will be of great value to our great town, governance, and ultimately you, the taxpayer.
After having had the privilege of living in several cities around the globe, including London, England, and Toronto, I moved to Sooke eight years ago and have made Sooke my home.
I worked for two years at Worklink in Employment Services and presently I am a partner in a local Sooke small business.
My platform is very simple - taxpayers’ money should be spent on what we need not what we want. We don’t have unlimited money. There is only one place to get money for the day to day operations and the projects that the people need and or want, and that is from you, the taxpayer. We must spend it properly on the necessities first, before we even consider spending one penny of taxpayers money elsewhere.
People work hard for their money and don’t want to see it wasted on items lower down the list, or projects that only benefit small special interest groups and not the broader community at large.
Only after we have the fundamentals sorted out properly, should we begin to consider the extras.
One of the primary goals of local councils is to ensure safety and security of its citizens and provide basic infrastructure such as roads, sewers and sidewalks.
To that end, we need to have 24-hour effective policing, to keep our community safe, and reduce property crime. We need to work with the police to ensure that we can achieve this most basic of goals. Taxpayers have heard about the need for sidewalks in key areas for the last two elections and all we see for that is some refurbished sidewalks in front of Village.”
The election is being held on November 15. Advance polls will be open on November 5 and 12 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Sooke Community Hall.