Hear Colleen Tatum’s media scrum after announcing her candidacy here:
[audio:http://pmd.country933.com/audio/tyler-news/colleen-tatum-council-run.mp3]
A fifth candidate has entered the Wood Buffalo council by-election.
Businesswoman Colleen Tatum says she wants to make commercial development easier for the local community.
“What I personally have found as a business owner is that communication could be improved,” she said after announcing her candidacy at Borealis Park. “The land is coming, but nobody knows when, nobody knows quite how they can get their hands on it, so what happens is it goes to a developer from outside our community, and the business owners that are here, that need space, they’re having a hard time getting access to it.”
She says her platform is straightforward.
“I’m just a real person from Fort McMurray,” she says, adding that her three main campaign planks are making the city more livable, sustainable, and remarkable. “I think Fort McMurray is on the right track, and I just want to help us get the rest of the way.”
“We [shouldn’t] have to go so far to get everything,” she suggested. “I’m having my son’s birthday party on Saturday, and I have to plan eight months in advance to make sure that I can get red plates; because we just might not have them at the store when I go to get them. It shouldn’t be that difficult.”
Tatum owns MXC Racing and Off-Road in town – it won the 2011 Small business of the year award from the Chamber of Commerce.
Published May 23, 2012
