Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 04/02) - It's a nine-day-a-week gig.

That's the one lesson Mayor Gord Van Tighem said he learned during his first term in office.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem is confident that by the summer, Yellowknife will be well on its way when it comes to alleviating the housing crunch we're now experiencing.

"This would be a full-time job just doing the minimum required," said Van Tighem.

"But I create," he said.

Van Tighem spent a busy year getting the city's fingers into different pies throughout the community.

He's been involved with the homeless coalition and the United Way's push to set up shop in the city. He also broke Ramadan fast with city Muslims two weeks ago and is still the chair of the St. Patrick's Catholic Church's finance committee.

All this did not wear Van Tighem thin. As the year ends Van Tighem is gearing for next year's biggest challenge -- the housing shortage.

"We have to get some single-family housing in the city," said Van Tighem. "Everything has to focus around making housing more affordable," he said.

The city must co-ordinate with the private sector to make it happen, said Van Tighem.

It is here where the city's mayor feels he excels, drawing on an extensive background in the corporate world.

Over the last few months the mayor has been involved in furious courting of local and Southern developers.

He's played more the role of a chief executive officer of a corporation than a mayor, enticing and placating jittery private developers who know Yellowknife's boom and bust cycles and don't want to get burned.

"I have to act as a facilitator if there is a business opportunity out there and arrange partnerships," said Van Tighem.

Van Tighem predicts that by this summer the city will have new housing.

"At about March there will be an increase in the number of single-family sites under development," he said.

Overall Van Tighem said this past year has been "great."

He sees the arena construction at the Yellowknife Correctional site as a major victory.

City councils have been mulling over a new arena since 1979 and this council eked out a decision that needed the Mayor's tie-breaking vote to push it forward. But it hasn't been all coming up roses.

This past year brought its challenges.

"The most frustrating thing is when you encounter people just playing games and not doing things in the interest of the community," said Van Tighem.

He said the Yellowknife psyche must keep pace with the state of development.

"We're still a mining town on the edge of the frontier," said Van Tighem. "But we need to strike a balance between sophistication and frontier tourism."

"There's still a lot of the old Yellowknife mentality of if you need it you'll pay my price," said Van Tighem.

"We still haven't got to that customer service thing," he said.