Hello, all.
Well, it has been quite the learning experience these past few years. For the first year you sit with your mouth open. Actually stunned, scratching the top of your head feeling like Laurel and Hardy, as you listen to all the rules and regulations and quietly wondering what you got yourself into.
The second year you're getting the hang of it and now comes the time to fight for what you believe in and then realize why you ran for council.
Third year, you know what has to happen; the time for change is in the air. You're almost finished with a list of projects that has been on the table for the past few years with still a few more to go.
Now is the time to prepare for the upcoming projects for the next few years, to move ahead with ideas that are going to help this community.
Tourism is on the rise! We had a very good year with more visitors to this island than the previous year. Alert Bay is getting talked about. We will work on more beautification projects for the core area; eye appeal goes a long way.
Taxes! I, for one, will always stand up for no more increases for services we already have. We have such a small base. Enough squeezing. We need to focus on attracting new business, not discouraging them.
We need assisted living quarters on this island. Another fabulous way to get people moving to Alert Bay, which in turn creates more jobs as we all know. So many people have gone to school for this type of training; now is the time to start working on this.
Sincerely, Kim Mercer.