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Running for council

Letters

Are growth tensions in Sooke the result of taxes that are too low? One would think so, given the current solution to wasteful spending is a never-ending string of tax increases year over year. My taxes are up 32 per cent since this administration was brought in.

That has prompted me to get in the game and run for council in November. My platform is simple – less tax, and my pet project is a longstanding grievance in the community – Harbourview Road access to our four community lakes.

On both the tax issue and Harbourview the worn-out response from the administration is consistently “we can’t do anything about it.”

I don’t accept that. I have been a self-employed businessman for nearly 30 years, and in that period I have found there is precious little that I can’t do anything about.

As councillor, I think I will bring a lot to the District of Sooke. I’m one of the 12 per cent of men who are full-time dads, and my bona fides include seven (going on eight) children, a Master’s degree in professional communications, director of the South Island Recreation Association, technical writer, home-stay provider for foster kids and international students, Shriner, happy owner of a sailboat, and the unhappy owner of an off-highway vehicle.

As a businessman I learned a long time ago how to navigate financial statements, develop (and keep to) budgets, handle my own legal matters, and deal with the public. I’m a professional project manager with a lot of teamwork experience. The intercultural component of my degree specialized in First Nations, and the applied part equipped me with specific expertise in the Community Charter, Local Government Act, law, and public policy.

Come November, I will hopefully get the chance to say, “Our plan is to do more with less tax. Now go ahead, take the kids to the lake.”

Terrance Martin

Sooke