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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Many changes in the city have taken place since Bob Brooks was first elected to city council in 1991.

Now seeking his seventh term, Brooks adds his name among the number of city council candidates placing the revitalization of the downtown as the city's top priority.

"Every term I go into, I usually have a top priority or major goal that I want to achieve," said Brooks. "The reason I see downtown as my number one issue is that over the years, we have seen the downtown deteriorate. Some say to just let the market decide. Well, the market has been deciding for the last 20 or 30 years. What we need now is some assistance from the city and co-ordinated growth to make it happen in the way that the citizens have asked for through the Smart Growth consultations."

Brooks points to past achievements on council - the completion of the Multiplex arena, coming to the aid of Northland Trailer Park with its failing water and sewer infrastructure - as evidence of his effectiveness as a city councillor.

If re-elected, Brooks wants to continue chairing the Smart Growth implementation committee, which he views as a critical instrument in revitalizing the downtown core. Another term on the committee will mean "spearheading" and organizing consultations with other levels of government, non-profit organizations and other partners to come up with a better plan for the downtown core. He stresses the downtown challenge is different from past goals in that the problems are always ongoing and that there is "no silver bullet."

"I continue to stress that this will take hundreds of initiatives," he said.

Better use of space when it comes to housing and parking has been a consistent part of his focus, said Brooks.

Brooks also chairs the city's special core grants committee, which provides seed money to community organizations for volunteer work.

Other priorities include finding ways to lower the cost of living and ensuring fiscal responsibility at city hall. He also wants to address complaints from developers about the availability of land for housing and other red-tape barriers.

"I think we tried to fix the roadblocks that developers have said there was and we are now going to see 900 more units being built in the next three years," said Brooks.

The next term calls for city repairs and replacements of infrastructure, such as roads, sidewalks, and sewer and water lines, that will be partially funded by council's decision to borrow $20 million for a new water treatment plant earlier this year.

"That money will make a huge dent in our infrastructure deficit over the next five years, which is at about $75 million," he said.

Who's your pick?

Over the next couple of weeks Yellowknifer will publish profiles of city council candidates so readers can get to know who's in the game and where they stand on the issues. Today we continue with incumbent city councillor Bob Brooks.

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