TUKTOYAKTUK - A councillor and a former mayor of Tuktoyaktuk are throwing their hats in the ring. hoping to dethrone the current mayor at next month's election.

All three candidates were set to face off in an all-candidates forum happening on Nov. 30.

The names of incumbent Merven Gruben, former mayor Eddie Dillon and councillor Jim Stevens will appear on the ballot when Tuk residents go to the polls Dec. 14, along with eight candidates for the eight open councillor positions: Charles A. Gruben, Maureen Gruben (incumbent), Georgina Jacobson-Masuzumi (incumbent), Sarah McKay, Darrel Nasogaluak (incumbent), Holly Ovayuak-Gruben, Dennis Raddi Sr. and John Stuart Jr.

Merven Gruben said he's running again because he has unfinished business to take care of and he wants to "continue making Tuk a busier place, keeping our people employed."

"I'm really just not finished what I was doing. I was actually going to retire this year but I heard who was going to be running and they don't continue the same vision as I do with the goal of getting this all-weather road between Tuk and Inuvik," he said. "It's been a dream for the community for over 30 years and I've been on council for 13 years, seven years as a deputy and two years as mayor."

Gruben added he would like to get some other big projects moving in Tuk, including increased use of wind-generated electricity and a deep-sea port.

"In a few years, exploration's going to be back up and happening in Tuk and we want to be a bigger part of it, more so than we were in the past," he said.

Gruben said he would like to maintain the good working relationships he's built with other leaders on the local, territorial and federal levels to continue serving the community.

"Ever since (Roger Gruben) got in (to the Tuk Community Corporation), I got in and Jackie (Jacobson), our MLA, got in, things have never worked out so good in Tuk. Tuk is just a really happy, busy place. We work together; we don't fight, you know, we're not distracted by anybody. We concentrate and keep our people busy."

"Everybody knows me as being a straightforward, straight shooter," he added. "I think I just have a really proven record of meeting with the people with the powers."

Eddie Dillon, who served as mayor of Tuk for more than a decade, with his last term ending six years ago, said he wants to bring the community "back to basics."

"Right now we have a hard time keeping up the maintenance of the roads we have in the community," he said. "There's some glamorous things out there that council has paid attention to, like the road to the gravel source ... There are a lot of things that can be glamorous about a road, but once it's completed, what do you do, how do you maintain it?"

Dillon is looking to improve year-round general maintenance, such as water and sewer, as well as lobbying higher levels of government for more housing for teachers and more staff for the health centre.

"I want to make sure that we have more permanent staff in place for the health centre because, you know, for the past three or four years it's been sporadic and sometimes the nursing station is closed due to not enough personnel," Dillon said. "It takes a lot more pressure from the community level to make sure those demands are met."

He also wants to strengthen Tuk's local economy.

"One of the things I keep harping on is the population is 90 per cent Inuvialuit and 10 per cent other and I think it's important that whatever projects, whatever work opportunities we have, we make sure that the breakdown of wages stays in the community like that. Right now I think it might be 30 to 40 per cent that stays in the community and the rest goes south."

If elected mayor, Dillon's first priority would be looking at the hamlet's financial situation.

"First off, I'd go back and try to figure out the finances and what tools we have available to deliver a better service and it always comes down to resources at hand," he said.

Jim Stevens, a 27-year Tuk resident with a background in project management, has been on council for three and a half years. He said other residents, hoping for change, convinced him to run.

"One of my strengths is that I've run a lot of capital projects and I've run a lot of quite large projects and I can help push through some of those capital projects that we now are responsible for," Stevens said.

If elected, he said he would work on projects such as general operations and maintenance, the development of wind turbines and solar power within the hamlet and a new sewage lagoon and graveyard.

"This one we have is threatened by erosion and is relatively full," he said of the graveyard.

"There's lots of things we need to work on. We need to be working on community planning which has been largely ignored over the past number of years. We have definite issues with having a new solid waste site developed - some of these projects may take a decade and be an awful lot of work."

He's also committed to lobbying for program funding for an alcohol treatment centre in Tuk, the site of which could potentially be a donated former housing unit the hamlet secured from the GNWT.

Stevens said as mayor he would use the hamlet's available funds more efficiently and increase communication between the hamlet and the residents.

"Industry comes and goes but for our own operations, I would say the thing I'm most looking at doing is trying to increase our energy efficiency," Stevens said," and increase the overall efficiency of our operations, our ability to run projects, to do capital projects, and just keep our finances in good shape."

Voters will cast their ballots Dec. 14 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Kitti Hall, with an advance poll on Dec. 7. Residents will also have the opportunity to vote on a liquor plebiscite that would restrict alcohol within a 25 km radius from the hamlet office, aiming to combat bootlegging within the community.

Ten communities across the territory are gearing up for hamlet elections this winter.

Residents of Aklavik, Enterprise, Fort Liard, Fort McPherson, Fort Providence, Fort Resolution, Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, Tuktoyaktuk and Tulita go to the polls Dec. 14. News/North will feature a full list of candidates and a breakdown of leadership races in our next edition.