On Oct. 20, Prince George residents will pick one mayor, eight councillors and seven school trustees. The ballot will have two mayoral candidates, 13 councillor candidates and 11 school trustee candidates. There are also 15 candidates running in the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George.
PrinceGeorgeMatters has sent out a list of questions to those vying for a seat in public office.
Name: Paul Serup
Age: 57
Number of years lived in Prince George: Around 51
Current neighbourhood: Hart
Occupation: Renovation contractor
Reason community would recognize your name: My parents have been active in politics in the past and we all have been interested observers on local affairs, which we have commented publicly on.
What is the most important issue facing Prince George, and how do you propose to deal with it?
Wasteful spending, overspending by city council which leads to higher taxes. I would work to highlight the needless spending and would reason with/urge council to stop wasting precious tax dollars.
How should Prince George address the issue of crime in the city?
By doing what it can to make life uncomfortable for those engaged in criminal behaviour, possibly including a curfew, and lobbying other levels of government that can have more of an impact on criminals to take a tougher stance with respect to crime.
What is your specific reason for running?
To stop wasteful city spending which is increasing the tax burden on citizens and work to reduce bureaucracy, to streamline approval processes, such as building permits and reduce needless regulations; thereby, for example, making building a house, getting a home, less expensive and quicker.
Where can the city spend less?
On wasteful things like knocking down buildings that don’t need to be knocked down, such as buying the perfectly good hotel, the Days Inn, to demolish it to put a new pool there. A waste of $5 million for no really good reason.
Where should the city be investing more?
In infrastructure, roads, fixing potholes, improving traffic flow and things like that.
What new business or feature would you like to see in Prince George?
I would like to see the new pool be built beside the YMCA building, resulting in a place that offers a great variety of healthy activities to people or the pool built on the Hart, thereby spreading the swimming opportunities across the city.
Next time you’re walking in the woods and you come face-to-face with a Sasquatch, what do you do?
This seems to presume that this happened before. I might say “You do exist! This is going to change my world view,” while wondering if I should try to run away.
If the next city council does something film-worthy, who would play you in the film?
If I was honoured by being elected to council, and we did something of note that should be memorialized in film, Daniel Day-Lewis could play me.
Complete the sentence...
When I’m not at home or at work, you can find me:...enjoying the Prince George area with my family and visiting with friends.
The most random, yet interesting fact about me is: A book I wrote is held by a U.S. presidential library
My favourite beverage is: Coke/Pepsi
For Christmas/Hanukkah/the gift-giving season, I would like:...peace, good will toward men.
The best park in/near to Prince George is: Forests for the World
If Prince George didn’t exist, I’d be living in:...a forest.
When I need some pump-up music, I listen to: Music by Bach or Handel, especially the Messiah around Christmas.
