HAY RIVER - The first president of the recently-created Hay River Ratepayers' Association has a last name closely associated with leadership in the community.

Kathleen Groenewegen: first president of the Hay River Ratepayers' Association. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

The president is Kathleen Groenewegen, the daughter-in-law of Jane Groenewegen, the MLA for Hay River South and now also a director of the new ratepayers' association.

However, Kathleen said her new leadership position with the ratepayers' association is not the beginning of a political role for herself.

"This is more of a community service," she said, noting she also serves on the executive of the Hay River Playschool.

She welcomes the involvement of her mother-in-law on the board of the ratepayers' association.

"Jane is a great person to work with and she provides critical thought and brings a lot of experience to the table, too," she said. "So she will be a very valuable member of the ratepayers' association."

Kathleen, who was acclaimed to a one-year term as president at the May 26 founding annual general meeting of the Hay River Ratepayers' Association, said it is an honour to lead the organization.

"Working with my colleagues, I think I'll be able to do a good job to work with council to bring issues to the table in a proactive, positive way," she said.

Kathleen said she joined the ratepayers' association because she realized that, in order for there to be change, a person needs to become involved.

"The overall objectives of the ratepayers' association will be to work with council in examining key issues of concern to ratepayers and we'll be striving to establish a working relationship with the town and assist council by bringing to the table perspectives that may not have otherwise been presented to the town," she said. She added, it allows citizens to discuss issues as a group and bring them to town in a collective way.

Ratepayers' associations are not designed to create an us-against-them situation, she noted. "It's really more of a productive way of providing a feedback mechanism and a sounding board for council, too."

The group's constitution states it will represent ratepayers on taxes, levels of municipal services, zoning and land use, and other important issues.

Hay River residents who are not ratepayers can become involved in the association as non-voting members.

As a resident of Vale Island, Groenewegen said flood prevention is another area of concern for her, along with retaining Paradise Valley as part of Hay River and reviewing proposed bylaws.

Groenewegen was born in Vancouver, but moved to Resolute Bay, Nunavut, with her family when she was just an infant.

"I'm a Northerner. That really instilled in me a love of the North," she said of her childhood in Nunavut.

After attending high school in northern British Columbia, she went to university to earn a Bachelor of Science in physical geography and a Master of Science.

She currently works for the GNWT.

In the North, she has also lived in Norman Wells, Yellowknife and Enterprise before moving to Hay River almost eight years ago.

"Hay River has always felt very homey to me. It's a comfortable, relaxed setting and I find it's a safe place to raise a family," said the mother of two young children. "It's a great place to live."

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