Meet the mayoral candidates of Westlake Gladstone - Keith Arthur

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Published on Tuesday, October 16, 2018

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Mayoral candidate Keith Arthur.

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By Penny Rogers

Developing strong lasting relationships, engaging taxpayers, growing the region, initiating cost savings, testing new processes and technologies.

These are some of the important issues that Gladstone’s Keith Arthur promises to deal with if he should be successful in his bid for the Municipality of Westlake-Gladstone’s mayor/reeve position in the upcoming election on October 24. Arthur believes he has no perceived or real conflicts of interest so getting things done, with the trust of the ratepayers should be much easier.

A retired farmer/project manager, Arthur says that the desire to get out and do community service is there, and that “it came back the last couple of years out of frustration because I see so many opportunities that could be chased down and acted on.”

A former Gladstone Chamber of Commerce president, Arthur sees a lot of potential for the region. The immigrant population has increased over the years, most notably the Filipinos, who he characterizes as appreciative and entrepreneurial, “and small business is the key to keeping communities alive and active.” But it’s not just the immigrant community he wants to grow.

“It’s anybody. Any young people or people who show interest in doing business in the region, we have to buckle down and make them feel welcome and help them out. In general, we need to spend a whole lot more time promoting our region and making sure newcomers feel appreciated.”

Engage taxpayers

Arthur also promises to get taxpayers engaged by being more transparent and making them feel more involved in the process. “I want people to be welcomed to come to council and I want them to be heard. I’m going to make sure that what happens in council is in the taxpayer’s lap every day so they know what we’re doing, and that we value their opinions.”

Another long-running issue that he feels needs to be addressed is rural drainage. “I think we must develop a ‘Water Management Plan’ that works for the entire region.

If elected, Arthur guarantees that his first yearly budget meeting will be well attended because he will make sure that taxpayers feel welcome and confident that they are being heard. “There are taxpayers out there that will amaze you with what they know, what they are capable of, what they’ve been through. They have so much experience.” He says people make huge sacrifices every year to pay their taxes so they need to feel engaged and to know they are getting their money’s worth and that their local government really appreciates where this money comes from.

Arthur’s career in project management began with his determination to bring natural gas to the region. As he gained experience it became evident to him that “you have to be out and about and around in the world to see what other people are doing.

In my travels, I have seen many new and different ways of doing projects.” Utilizing these skills and experience, Arthur wants to also focus on cost savings which, in part, he believes can be attained through proper asset management and utilizing new technologies. “A lot of taxpayers point to things that appear to be a waste of money, so let’s look at them a little bit more and maybe we can eliminate some of these things and fine-tune it so we can come up with cost savings and divert that money into other things that will be much better spent, like community development and trying to get jobs and people to the region.”

Upgrading technology can be a costly endeavor, but, according to Arthur, there are cost savings associated with doing it, especially when tasks can be reduced to mere minutes from hours. The same with keeping track of assets for the region. When staff retire or move on to other positions, knowledge and information often move with them. “When you put a new pipe in the ground you establish a life expectancy and a capacity and you know exactly where the location is. That’s all entered into the computer. It will tell you, whenever you want, what assets need to be rebuilt in the next five, ten years. Once established, it will help tremendously with the region’s budget because you can better plan for the future and have the necessary money in reserves.

Strong relationships

Arthur also wants the council to work a little differently, if elected. Aside from his hope that new councillors will bring an influx of new ideas and be able to adapt to new technology, he would like to see fewer in camera sessions. He believes that it is the job of councillors to only bring items before the council that is truthful and verifiable, so “there is not a reason in the world why that could not be open to the public.”

Arthur believes the ability to develop strong lasting relationships is mandatory as well.

“If you use the word I, you are destined for failure very quickly, so once we get working together as a team, you’ll never hear the word I again. It’s WE. We did this. We did that. We consulted these people. We made things happen as a council. We are a team and we are doing what’s best for the region.

“WE can be a powerful word,” and that line of thinking, he states, worked magnificently for the success of the Gladstone Austin Natural Gas Cooperative in 1994.

“WE…can do it again.”