An incumbent councillor says Nanaimo city council has built a strong foundation the past four years, and he thinks the next four years can be about seeing the work through.
Coun. Ben Geselbracht is one of eight current council members trying for re-election on voting day next Saturday, Oct. 15.
The 41-year-old said he’s encouraged with how campaigning has been going, as he said people seem to recognize the work that council’s done and receptive to more of the same.
“We’ve done a lot of work laying a strong foundation, with a lot of initiatives that are in the works,” Geselbracht said.
He said some of council’s biggest accomplishments have been restoring “community tables of collaboration” such as the protocol working group with Snuneymuxw First Nation, the city’s environmental committee and accessibility and inclusiveness committee, the mayor’s leaders’ table, the health and housing systems planning organization, the Downtown Business Improvement Association and the Nanaimo Prosperity Corporation.
That sort of foundation built through collaboration will help, for example, with challenges around homelessness and social disorder, he said.
“We’re definitely now in a much better place to be able to address it with the level of co-ordination that we need around the upstream issues and downstream issues,” said Geselbracht. “We’ve got this co-ordinated health, housing and community safety approach to make the community safer and healthier for everybody.”
He said as council tries to tackle those challenges and others, it is bound to face some criticism, but he said citizens generally recognize that the issues are complex. Councillors are working hard and making decisions they think can improve things, and that’s what’s important, Geselbracht said.
“I have a strong track record of leadership and bringing innovative ideas to the council table and moving important issues forward and I think as an incumbent, that work is recognized and there’s a strong base of support…” he said. “Of course there’s people out there that don’t appreciate some of the decisions and you hear that from the community as well. I just take it as feedback to continually improve my approach to make sure that we’re serving the needs of the whole community.”
If re-elected, he’s looking forward to implementing the Reimagine Nanaimo city plan, including a health, housing and public safety response to homelessness and social disorder; climate action and environmental protection; and other initiatives that improve liveability. He’s hoping, next term, for even “bolder action” to address the city’s challenges and to achieve goals.
“I’ve been very grateful to this community to serve it and would like to continue working for a safe and thriving Nanaimo that’s liveable, environmentally sustainable and full of opportunity for everyone,” he said.
For more information, visit http://bengeselbracht.ca.
ELECTION 2022: Candidates in Nanaimo, Lantzville, RDN and SD68
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
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