Name: Rosmy Jean Louis
Age:
Occupation/background:
As part of my service to the Cedar community where I reside with my family, I have been a trustee and the chair of finance for the North Cedar Improvement District over the last seven years where I oversee a budget of more than $2 million. I have, with other members along the way, made a valuable contribution to the area by taking the district to a path of financial viability and sustainability, but much funding is needed to do works.
Why are you running for public office?
I am standing for the great peoples of Cassidy, Cedar, and South Wellington because I believe if elected as RDN director for Area A, I will be in a better position to promote sustainable economic development for our area by allocating available scarce resources efficiently. We have economic problems that need real solutions.
What three priorities are important to you and how do you plan to tackle these issues, if elected?
The people of Cassidy do not have a community centre; their only place of gathering is the pub. While it is good to have a conversation over a beer, a pub is not an ideal place for community events such as birthday, marriage, and town hall meetings where things that matter for the community are decided. If elected, I will make sure that the people of Cassidy get their gathering place and the best arrangement for their kids to go to school.
Recent water study for the Cedar area estimates that actual ratepayers need to find almost $12 million for a reservoir, water treatment plant, new wells, and water mains upgrade among others. Developers who contemplate investing in the area need to find almost $5 million as part of their share of the almost $17 million capital expenditures required. The Cedar area has been under a water moratorium since 2010, which prevents existing residents from developing their lands and taking advantage of the secondary suite bylaw recently adopted by the RDN. Above all these, the residents have seen their elementary school, which was one of the more important consumers of water, shutdown thereby leaving a hole not only on the budget but also on the heart of the whole community. If elected, I will use the money from the Union of BC Municipalities that have been assigned to our area to partially fund the water reservoir and will closely work with and support the North Cedar Improvement District’s application for UBCM funding for capital projects through the Regional District of Nanaimo to reduce the tax burden of current ratepayers.
If elected, I will revisit the contentious Morden Colliery trail bridge and the feasibility study for the suitability of our area to be a municipality. I will sit down with all interested parties to discuss the issues extensively to find a way forward that would be beneficial to the entire community.