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J. Paul Mcleod, small business owner, running for Ward 1 council seat

Last Updated Sep 14, 2017 at 5:00 pm MDT

PHOTO. J. Paul McLeod announced his candidacy for a Ward 1 councillor on Thursday, Sept. 14 in Abrams Landing in Fort McMurray. Melanie Walsh. AFTERNOON NEWS ANCHOR.

Local small business owner, J. Paul McLeod announced Thursday, Sept. 14 that he is running for a Ward 1 council seat.

He made the announcement in Abrams Landing, a developing, under construction community of the city.

“I represent part of Fort McMurray that is construction and trucks, diggers and excavators, but at the end of the day I want to represent everyone in Fort McMurray, whether their rural or urban, whether they’re on a  septic tank or they connect to a sewer that runs to the sewage treatment plant,” said McLeod.

His campaign platform focuses on environmental friendliness, open communication with constituents and fiscal responsibility

“I want to make sure we’re thinking about the environment in our community as we move forward, I want to make sure that we open up our government and communicate clearly with the people of Fort McMurray so they feel engaged by their Municipal government,” said McLeod.

In terms of fiscal responsibility, McLeod says that council needs to give direction to administration so they spend money in a way that is prudent to financial responsibility.

“We got to really focus on how we are spending our money,” said McLeod. “We have to make sure we get the value to what we are spending on.”

McLeod then referred to the council meeting on Sept. 13 and the approval of the 2017 capital budget amendments.

The budget amendment will include a much needed new culvert for the Fort Chipewyan winter road with the cost of roughly $800,000.

“We don’t really know anything about that project, clearly we need that culvert, but there isn’t much information, we’re operating where we want something, we’re given the money.”

McLeod would like to see more data and information on what and how exactly the municipality will be spending money and efficiently communicate that information to the public.

“Let’s make decisions based on hard data and evidence and not a rough idea that may not represent what it’s actually going to cost,” said McLeod.  

The municipal election is on Oct. 16.