Name: Leon J. Cake
Age: 59
Occupation/background:Co-owner of a family business Four Star Waterworks Ltd.; fundraising chair of KidSport Nanaimo; president of Nanaimo Oldtimers Hockey League; technical committee member of the Colliery Dam Park Preservation Society.
Why are you running for public office?
As a business owner, I know the importance of maintaining cost efficiency without sacrificing quality. In the City of Nanaimo we have ongoing expenses as well as some areas which will need our considerable attention and our tax dollars in the near future. I would like to be part of the process in which council determines how and when to proceed with these critical issues.
What three priorities are important to you and how do you plan to tackle these issues if elected?
We need our taxes and spending brought under control. When we commit to spending our taxpayers’ money, we need to remember that each dollar comes from someone’s pocketbook, and we need to be continually evaluating whether our expenditures are reasonable and necessary. Tax dollars are not the property of the city council. Rather, the council is entrusted with using those dollars to best benefit our city. That is a huge responsibility.
Asset management is important to me. We need to assess future needs in order to properly plan for the funding of upgrades and improvements, which can prove to be very expensive. Proper planning will avert costly emergency repairs to aging infrastructure.
Regarding policy making, encouraging, listening to and acting upon public input is a priority to me. I think that is simple common courtesy. Listening to and honouring the opinions of others (even though they may differ from mine) is crucial. The people of Nanaimo need to be heard.
How do you plan to manage taxes and spending?
With long term planning of fiscal management and resources. Prepare a reasonable budget and stick to it
What do you think it takes to lead Nanaimo? Describe your leadership or co-working style.
It will take open-minded, independent councillors who are not obligated to base their decisions on the wishes of special interest groups. I will value the opinions of citizens and do my best to represent their ideas within the Nanaimo city council framework.
I would work to end the secrecy of in-camera meetings, and do my best to conduct council business in full view of the citizens except where in-camera is a legal obligation (land, litigation or labour issues).
I would work together with fellow councillors in a respectful manner to guarantee the best outcome for the people of our beautiful city.
I am quite familiar with council meetings, having attended many of them over the years. However, I have much to learn about the business of being a councillor. I would commit to learning as much as possible about the job so I could be most effective in the job entrusted to me by the voters of Nanaimo.