Thursday evening at the Dragon Gate Restaurant it felt like a cocktail party with an appetite for politics.
Tables were crowded, many taking advantage of the buffet dinner offered by the establishment.
Friends greeted friends, adversaries took their opposing corners, hopeful council candidates streamed in and three very prominent mayoral prospects took their seats at the front of the room.
As the campaign sprints to the finish line Nov. 19, every contender will try to win votes based on their platform, consistency, track record and charisma.
South Hills Neighbourhood Association’s Russ Pomeroy introduced Ron Craigmyle, Ron Paull and Mary Sjostrom to the crowd and invited Craigmyle to provide opening remarks.
As he stood to address the crowd, Craigmyle again stated his agenda included the usual suspects in Quesnel, West Quesnel Land Stability, Multi-centre, bypass and his favourite, tough on crime and the ballooning drug problem in Quesnel.
“The time to deal with these issues was years ago,” he stated.
Craigmyle then went on to say he would ensure a strong city council team and assured the audience he was here for the long haul.
Ron Paull opened with a people’s platform, bringing back Health Advisory Board and other services for seniors, a growing demographic in Quesnel. However, he also spoke of feeling stifled and left out from current council operations, citing a exclusive council executive which set the course for the council meetings.
“I believe we need to put people ahead of industry and senior politicians,” he said.
Mary Sjostrom fought back with statements like, “its not always about Quesnel, when the region is doing well, Quesnel is doing well.” She spoke of looking outside the box, looking for other revenue streams and the need for partnerships with other levels of government, especially the CRD.
Pomeroy then opened the floor up to questions from the audience as well as submitted questions.
With the first question looking to each candidate to say something nice about their opponent, it was off to a good start.
Questions covered a wide range of subjects, some specific to area problems, some specific to personal issues of the candidates.
Some they answered, some they sidestepped and one answer from Sjostrom was particularly amusing. When asked how she’d deal with the drug problem in Quesnel, she responded, “I’ll draft Ron Craigmyle to the committee.”
Questions drew heat for all the candidates including queries as to where Craigmyle has been on the multi-centre issue for the past three years, why should voters trust Paull after he accepted a buy-out from the city and then sued the city (Paull said his job was made redundant, therefore the buyout and he flatly denied suing the city) whereas Sjostrom was questioned on the recent muck-racking (she responded it was misinformation and she has chosen to take the high road.)
The evening wrapped up just short of 9 p.m.
The next forum takes place Nov. 12 at the Legion Hall, 2 – 4 p.m.
