After some consideration, Bruce Whittington has decided to let his name stand again for councillor.
Whittington said he had made a decision that he would do the job if he could see some progress happening in town.
“That’s the case during my time being on council. I’m beginning to feel like I can actually be somewhat useful. It takes a while to sort of get the hang of local government works.”
Whittington added there are still a number of initiatives he would like to see through and is well-equipped to do so.
Of the things council is working on currently, Whittington said revising the OCP to best reflect the community is an important issue to him.
He was first spurred to run after the last Visioning Process in 2008 and 2009 and wants to see the ideas circulated put into the OCP and used as a guide.
“People are still very much of one mind in terms of how they want Ladysmith to look and feel as a place to live.”
Whittington said he is pleased to see council moving ahead with the protection of the local watershed and notes he wants to see the town do more than just the bare minimum with its waste.
“We need to think about a new town hall at some point” Whittington added, noting town staff are currently spread out and crowded into their offices.
A new fire hall is also on the list of infrastructure the town needs to look at, said Whittington.
Recent projects like Lot 108 and the High Street building were somewhat surprise projects that the town was able to do, but Whittington now wants to see some time and money directed to other initiatives.
“I would also like to see some environmental initiatives getting underway.”
Taking an inventory of Ladysmith’s natural areas and the eco-systems they contain is one project Whittington would like to see completed.
“I’d like to see a tree-protection bylaw ... and a cat-control bylaw.”
In terms of projects that may expand beyond the next term, Whittington said council is starting to get a clearer picture of what Ladysmith residents want from the waterfront.
“It’s a real challenge on how to proceed on that due to multiple stakeholder interests.”
Whittington said his long-term dream would be a cleanup of the harbour.
“It’s been pretty badly degraded over the years. I would like to know what it looked like 200 years ago and try to return it to that. Could we harvest oysters there again?”
Looking back Whittington said he has enjoyed his first term as councillor and working with a diverse group of people.