Prince George city councillor Kyle Sampson will be seeking a second term on city council.
Sampson announced his intention to run in an event on the steps of city hall on Wednesday afternoon.
“Today I announced my candidacy and re-election campaign for a seat on Council here in the City of Prince George,” Sampson wrote on Facebook, following the event. “Serving our community over the past (four) years has been my greatest honour, and after much consideration, I am excited to be seeking another term on council where I can bring my common sense, logic-based approach to tackling the issues we are facing.”
During his announcement, Sampson said he’s learned a lot from his first four years on council.
“Despite being new and ensuring I was learning and absorbing as much information as possible, I confidently led and supported a number of initiatives that brought further fiscal responsibility, advocacy, transparency, communication and improved city policies,” Sampson said. “These actions helped identify a number of inherited project management issues and concerns around senior administrative staff, that I helped resolve through strategic, logic-based and strong-willed leadership.”
Sampson voted against two increases and recommended budget cuts that would have resulted in lower property taxes in the city. He also requested the city look at its existing inventory of property, and consider selling land no longer needed to generate revenue for the city, he said.
“Now, more than ever, our city needs a logical approach for how we address the needs of our community, and as we seek stability,” Sampson said. “The City of Prince George is in need of leadership that can create a plan towards finding community safety for all members and all areas, especially downtown and in the bowl areas.”
Sampson said he’d like to see the city cut red tape for development, to attract new industries to Prince George.
“But also that the development is informed, and in tune with the community’s wants and needs,” he said. “Infill is going to be an extremely important piece, but we need to connect with residents and make sure developers parks and greenspaces, trails, playgrounds and other resources into the developments that meet the needs of our residents.”
The city needs to plan ahead to meet the challenges posed by ageing facilities and infrastructure above and below ground, he added.
“We need a vision for what our city will look like in 10, 20 and 30 years, with a roadmap for how we’ll get there,” Sampson said. “
Sampson said he will be announcing more platform details throughout the campaign.
