The candidates of Ward 11: Who will you choose?
MRU Hosts Alderman debates
Kassidy Christensen
Contributor
With the municipal election approaching on Oct. 21, candidates are campaigning throughout the city to promote their views and why they should be elected.
For Ward 11, three candidates are going head to head to earn the peoples’ vote. Brian Pincott, current alderman, James Maxim and Wayne Frisch have been going door to door to promote their respective platforms.
The following highlights what each candidate hopes to bring to Ward 11 if elected.
Brian Pincott
As the returning candidate, Pincott, if elected, hopes to bring more community elements to ward 11.
“At the end of the day that’s the kind of stuff I absolutely love doing and look forward to doing more of,” Pincott said at a debate at Mount Royal University on Sept. 30.
One of his primary focuses is on housing and says there is a real problem in the City of Calgary.
“It’s quite frankly a crisis situation and we have to address that,” Pincott said.
“We need to work with the other orders of government, provincial and federal, and how we can support more affordable housing in our city and making sure that we look at the whole spectrum of housing available for people,” Pincott said.
Alongside affordable housing, Pincott hopes to put more transit systems in place.
“We’ve got a great transit plan, and we have to find more funding for it,” Pincott said.
What it all boils down to, for Pincott, is giving the people of Ward 11 more choice.
The returning alderman plans on working for and with the people and continue asking the question: “What is it that you want to get done in your community and how do we get it done,” he said.
“Looking for solutions at the administration level is truly the way that I work to find real solutions that we can get on the ground,” he said.
Pincott has been alderman, or councilor as he refers to himself, for the past six years, or two terms. Prior to him working with the city, Pincott worked as a light designer in a theatre.
Pincott moved to the City of Calgary 17 years ago from Nova Scotia.
James Maxim
Calgary native James Maxim’s first objective for Ward 11 is to, “offer effective leadership and greater representation for the voters,” he said.
“I view this job as working for the voters of Ward 11,” Maxim said. “At the same time their issues are my issues.”
Maxim plans on enacting change within the ward by maintaining direct, open lines of communication with voters and having an open door policy for people who want to meet with him to discuss the issues of the ward.
“What I would like to do is obtain as many contact points for residents (when they call me), and keep them advised appropriately. Not only on the issues coming up, but also by what I call electronic door knocking by sending messages out, keeping them informed for what may be going on in Ward 11,” Maxim said.
Along with having an open door policy, Maxim hopes to start a town hall meeting held roughly every three to six months to do, “a kind of report on constituency,” he said.
If elected, Maxim plans to look at the development and densification of Ward 11 and the intended and unintended consequences associated with those issues.
“The next big issue that needs to be looked at is parking, and the next issue is in regards to traffic,” Maxim said. “With transit being a part of that and access to it.”
Secondary suites are also an issue Maxim hopes to tackle if elected, and that there should not be a blanket policy throughout the city, he said.
Prior to running for city hall, Maxim worked in the oil and gas industry in both private and public sectors.
“At one end there is the Prime Minister that represents an area of the ward, and on the other the Premier represents it,” Maxim said. “So this is a very unique ward. It also has a university, a place of higher education, and I would like to have a very close working relationship with that. I want to take charge and try to solve those problems.”
Wayne Frisch
The third and final candidate, Wayne Frisch, finds his biggest attribute he hopes to bring to Ward 11 is that he has a strong community background.
“That comes from not only being a member of the community association, but I’ve also been involved in numerous events, planning, infrastructure, and I’ve really been involved with the city,” Frisch said.
Something that Frisch sees needs to be changed is the, “delivery of actual initiatives that are started or bringing initiatives in that are important to all of the individuals of the ward, not just a small group,” he said.
For his second time running, Frisch hopes to shed light on aging infrastructure, sewer lines and roadways.
“One thing I want to change the most would probably be the Glenmore/14th Street SW/Crowchild Trail corridor and working on infrastructure and bringing in something so that we can get traffic moving,” Frisch said.
Also, Frisch sees a big need for more recreational facilities.
“There needs to be more recreation. That doesn’t mean it all has to be in ward 11, but there needs to be affordable recreation,” Frisch said. “I think we need to keep user fees at a level where everybody can actually go swimming, rock climbing, or put their kid in gymnastics, and we have to be mindful that not everybody is making six figures.”
Frisch has lived in the City of Calgary for the past 20 years and has owned a number of furniture stores, furniture design and software companies.
“(If elected) I hope to get on some committees that have to do with some of the causes I’m in to,” Frisch said. “One of them being public safety and also public development because I think it’s huge the amount of development that is going on in our ward.”
Municipal elections will be held Oct. 21 at various locations depending on where one resides. Visit http://www.elections.ab.ca/ to register to vote and to find the polling station nearest you.