Eastern Charlotte Ward 5 Candidate: Jordan Holmes
1. As candidates, what would be your key priorities over the next four years in your community?
For Eastern Charlotte Ward 5: I’m focusing on protecting the rural lifestyle of our ward, enhancing access to parks/trails, and advocating for local non-profits and businesses. For all of Eastern Charlotte: supporting council on the Blacks Harbour/Beaver Harbour water system, attracting young families and professionals, enhancing/adding parks & recreation spaces, and attracting investment across the community.
2. How would you achieve those priorities within your mandate?
By ensuring that the new municipal plan that’s due in 2028 respects the unique needs of rural residents and urban residents alike, and working within that framework to lift barriers to developing rural housing, farming, and small business in my ward as a means to attract investment into the area. By applying respectful pressure with provincial/federal governments to secure funding for critical projects. By advocating for residents and businesses in respective industry associations.
3. How will you ensure transparency and accountability in council decisions and communication with residents?
I want to ensure that residents of Ward 5 have multiple ways to reach me. By telephone, email, or in-person at a location suitable to them. It’s important that everyone have an opportunity to be heard, and while we may not always agree, it’s important that I provide residents with opportunities to understand my perspective as well.
4. What is your approach to managing growth and development while preserving the character of the community?
Engaging residents and organizations should be the beginning of the process when exploring development opportunities. It’s important to weigh the benefits of a new development against any downsides. Decisions like these may not please everyone, but the overall well-being of the community must be a factor in these decisions as well. Having an open mind towards opportunities as they come is integral. Creating jobs and housing are important, but they must be done thoughtfully.
5. What is your position on property taxes, and how would you balance affordability with maintaining servicesWhy are you the best candidate to represent your ward, and what experience do you bring to the role?
There are two ways to increase the municipality’s revenue (and therefore its ability to provide services): Increase property taxes, or increase the amount of taxpayers. Affordability is already a major issue these days, and increasing property taxes, especially in rural areas, would not only cause further strain, it would be received poorly. Rural wards don’t always see as many immediate returns for much of the services their property taxes pay for. My focus would be on increasing the total amount of taxpayers in a sustainable way.
6. Why are you the best candidate to represent your ward, and what experience do you bring to the role?
Each candidate was provided with the same six questions and equal limits on response length and time. Candidates who did not have publicly available contact information through Elections New Brunswick were required to contact The Courier in accordance with its Municipal Election Coverage Fairness Policy. Candidates who did not respond or declined to participate are noted. Failure to participate will not result in additional coverage elsewhere in the newspaper.
