Sy Murseli, candidate for councillor, Town of Osoyoos. (Richard McGuire photo)
With the 2014 municipal election set for this Saturday, the Osoyoos Times wanted to give all of the candidates running to become mayor and town councillor the opportunity to make one final impression with eligible voters.
We have decided to ask each of the candidates four questions.
1. What would be your top priority during your first year in office if you are elected mayor/councillor following the November 15 municipal election?
What we need in our town is a qualified engineer with municipal planning and public works expertise. For the past several years, previous councils and now the current council have failed to save taxpayers hard-earned dollars. For the record, True Consulting was paid $854,000 between January of 2011 and the end of December. The amount paid to True Consulting by the town in 2012 was more than $866,000. For 2014, according to the official budget document, the town will pay fees and contingencies to the True Consulting of almost $1.46 million and this is without the proposed fire hall as the cost for engineers and consultants it not known.
2. How can you make a positive difference to the Town of Osoyoos and the residents who live here?
What the Town of Osoyoos and residents need are four honest councillors and a mayor who will put the interests of the community before their own interests or those of their relatives, friends and associates. I am running to be an independent voice on council and speak up for the public interest. My loyalty will be to the taxpayers of Osoyoos, not the mayor and not to the councilors and absolutely not to the administration. Unfortunately, the mayor, councillors and administration don’t care about taxpayers’ money, especially fiscal responsibility, openness as well as accountability.
3. What in your background qualifies you to be a good mayor/councillor?
I have lived in Osoyoos for more than 30 years. I have gotten to know a great many of its citizens over this time. I have a good understanding of the wants and needs of the average person on the street, but have no allegiance to any group or clubs. This leaves me free to listen closely to taxpayer concerns and speak honestly. Since 1996, as the “council watchdog”, I have done my part to hold mayor and council to account in the past as a private citizen and I would like the opportunity to do it as your elected representative. I will be your voice on council.
4. What is the most important issue, in your opinion, facing our community and what will you commit to doing about it?
I feel that the Town of Osoyoos has too many non-essential management positions. We are top heavy with a disproportionate amount of administration as opposed to front line workers. I would like to see eliminated all non-essential management positions. Saving tax dollars, fixing potholes and leaking sewers is town council’s first mandate and should not come at the cost of higher taxes. The most important issue is the proposed new fire hall and it should not be built because it will cost taxpayers of Osoyoos over $10 million. In the upcoming referendum on November 15, I will be voting “no” to the new Osoyoos fire hall construction loan authorization bylaw.Murseli told the Osoyoos Times that he wanted to state on the public record that he has not endorsed or supported mayoral candidate Doug Pederson during the election campaign, as stated by Pederson in his campaign literature and advertising. Murseli said he believes current town councillor Sue McKortoff is the best and most qualified candidate for the mayoralty in Osoyoos. Murseli has ran six times to try and win a seat on Town of Osoyoos council over the past 30 years and is hopeful the seventh time is the charm.
