Mayoral candidates facing off
Infrastructure, transparency and partnerships top priorities
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Thursday, October 15, 2015
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
With the municipal election coming up on Oct. 19, the Deh Cho Drum reached out to the three mayoral candidates to discuss past and future council actions for a Q&A.
Answers have been edited for length when necessary.
Candidates include John Dempsey, Sean Whelly and Darlene Sibbeston.
Advance polls closed Oct. 5 at 5 p.m.
On Oct. 19, voting is scheduled to take place at the recreation centre.
John Dempsey
Profession: Store manager
Political experience: None
Why are you running for mayor? To bring my extensive business experience and consensus-building skills to the service of the community of Fort Simpson.
Name the top two issues you think face the municipality. How would you like to see these handled?
The first issue is transparency. From my experience, there is insufficient insight into the activities of the village administration. I would like to see televised council meetings and improved financial reporting on village matters. The second issue is the partnership between the First Nation and the village, which appears to need a lot of work. Listening to the needs of the people leads to a greater understanding of the issues in this wonderful community we live in and call home.
Name one thing, if any, you think village council should have handled differently in the past term, and why.
The issue of bulk water delivery to out-of-town customers was a very divisive one and the optics were very poor. The perception of bias toward an outside company over established business was established early on in the process.
Name something you feel village council got right in the past term.
The issue the village faced over unpaid property taxes was a very sensitive process but a necessary one. In the end, the village did the right thing by the people of Fort Simpson.
Sean Whelly
Profession: Business development officer
Political experience: Councillor (2001-2003), Mayor (2009-2015)
Why are you running for mayor? I would like to use my political and business-related experience to continue to work on improving the quality of life for people in Fort Simpson.
Name the top two issues you think face the municipality. How would you like to see these handled?
Two bigger issues which will need to be addressed are a variety of land issues and major infrastructure improvement projects, such as a new fitness centre and chipseal on village roads. Both of these require a lot of resident and stakeholder involvement to come up with the best solutions. I would like to see more tri-council discussion on what is important for Fort Simpson and how to meet community challenges.
Name one thing, if any, you think village council should have handled differently in the past term, and why.
I would have advised council to hire a local senior administrative officer much sooner.
Name something you feel village council got right in the past term.
The successful completion of the $3.4 million sewer treatment plant project, on time and on budget, was a major accomplishment. The village is no longer under a Department of Fisheries and Oceans compliance order and we have the only fully functional, bio-mechanical, high-tech sewer treatment facility in the NWT.
Darlene Sibbeston
Profession: Probation officer
Political experience: Previously sat on Village council, currently sits on the Fort Simpson Metis Nation board of directors
Why are you running for mayor?
I didn't think it was fair for our community to have the position acclaimed.
Name the top two issues you think face the municipality. How would you like to see these handled?
Riverbank erosion. This is a huge feat to take on but if we continue to put it off we are going to lose millions in infrastructure. We need to do something now and keep the momentum going. The second issue is water and sewer infrastructure. We need to do more lobbying to replace the old piping infrastructure, which is decades old. We are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on water breaks and we continue to do the same things over and over.
Name one thing, if any, you think village council should have handled differently in the past term, and why.
Transparency. The community is finding out about issues after the fact. Nowhere are council agendas posted prior to meetings, nowhere are the budgets, capital plans and other committee meeting minutes posted online.
Name something you feel village council got right in the past term.
Construction of the new library. It's nice to know we can still maintain "library" status in the community and it promotes continued learning.
