Victor Lind

BLOOMFIELD/HALLOWELL WARD 2

Ward 2 candidate Victor Lind believes that a critical issue for the next Council is getting full value for tax dollars.

“Certain items in the budget are necessary, like road maintenance,” he says. “But not all roads need to be or can be maintained to the same service level. We have something like over 1,000 kilometres of roads in the County and we as a Council will need to be vigilant that a fair and reasonable system is in place as budgets are reviewed. Road infrastructure remains the single largest expense for the County.”

On the issue of taxes, he says he wants increases to be capped at the level of inflation. “This will mean a fair degree of hurt from agencies that expect ever-increasing grants and residents who believe that their pothole is more important than someone else’s.”

A founding director of Save Picton Bay, Mr. Lind says a Wellington-to-Picton water pipeline should be halted until Council reviews “all the assumptions made in the previous cycle. For example, I would like to consider a new water plant in Picton in a new location (perhaps beyond the cement plant) that takes advantage of deeper and cleaner water where Adolphus and Long Reaches come together.”

With his background as an urban development planner, he says he understands the friction between the building industry and ratepayer groups. “I believe I can bring the right skill set to move us forward. I am also, professionally and, at heart, an environmentalist and strongly believe that the environment and growth objectives do not have to be at odds with one another. They can co-exist and development done right only makes the County stronger and more desirable.” But he says he is not convinced that the County should be in the housing business. “We need to encourage development in the already serviced towns where a modest density increase on or near main street will provide more housing options and make our towns more sustainable.”

On the issue of strong mayor powers, Mr. Lind believes it should only be used in extreme circumstances where a council is totally dysfunctional. But he does think that even though Mayor Steve Ferguson withdrew his intent to use such power, the mayor would have been right to use it “because I believed he wasn’t making a decision which was binding the next Council on spending, and staff were looking for direction to continue discussions with the development community. Nevertheless, it wasn’t used and this debate on water/wastewater will obviously carry over to the next Council agenda.”

He feels the biggest challenge facing Council in the near future is the size of Council which he would like to see reduced by half. “Spreading the same budget for salaries over fewer people means more qualified candidates can afford to run in the next election and support their families. This means we will likely see more young people run with fresh ideas and that is positive for the future.”