Pelham mayoral candidate wants more balance
Pelham mayoral candidate Carla Baxter feels local government needs to do a better job of juggling what the community wants with approving new projects around the municipality.
“A lot of people feel like developers have kind of been running the town instead of listening to what the residents want, and balancing both,” said Baxter in an interview Friday.
The local business owner and former Canada Border Services Agency employee, who was the first female customs officer to work in the interior British Columbia area before relocating to Niagara and working at three of the region’s crossings, is one of two candidates currently registered in the mayoral race.
In the 1990s, Baxter and her husband also founded Fonthill Paint and Decorating — currently operated by their son.
Combined with her time in local business and more than 35 years with the federal government, several of them spent as an auditor, Baxter said she is the right person to lead council.
“That gives me the background and experience to understand the fiscal responsibility required,” she said.
A driving force in her decision to throw her name into the hat is the “negativity” she said local residents are tired of, and that she wants to make the community “united, not divided.”
Communication between town hall and local taxpayers and businesses is an area that needs improvement, she said.
“I think the most important thing is that we need to listen to the residents — and that’s not happening.”
Asked about specific projects around town like the soon-to-be complete $36-million community centre, Baxter says it’s part of that balance that’s needed in town — also stressing the importance of using existing assets to their fullest potential.
“We can’t change the past, but I’d like to take what we have, try to enhance it and build on it,” she said.
Also registered in the race for mayor is former Ward 1 Coun. Marvin Junkin.