Municipal election season is upon us. Barring any pandemic tragedies, on May 10 Sackville will be heading to the polls to cast votes for the next group of people to sit around the town council table, even if it is a virtual one for the time being. In an effort to help inform you about who your candidates are, CHMA news plans to speak with all 12 council and two mayoralty candidates in the coming weeks.
This time we speak with council candidate Keith Carter:
Check out all our local elections coverage here.
TRANSCRIPT:
CHMA: Keith Carter, thanks for joining us. Can you start off by telling me a bit about yourself?
KEITH CARTER: I’m a lifelong resident of Sackville. And I’ve been in businesses, and I farm, and other things… Real estate in the town of Sackville and in Moncton.
CHMA: So you own some properties in Sackville and Moncton. And you’re saying you’re also a farmer? What kind of a farm? Can you tell us a bit about it?
KC: I just have a beef farm now. I used to have a dairy farm, but I just have a beef farm, a few beef cattle.
CHMA: Now, do you have a history on council? Have you ever run before or had any other previous involvement in council?
KC: I ran for mayor, four or five or six years ago. And I’ve always been interested in what they do in the town, because it affects my bottom line, when they do things that I don’t like. [chuckles]
CHMA: So what was it that made you decide to run this time?
KC: Well, the thing is, the reason I ran was, myself, I’ve asked enough questions in town over the years, and they wouldn’t give me any answers. That was why I ran for mayor before. And I figured as mayor, you could ask, you could sort of point people in the direction and say, is this the direction we should be going in the town? But I found out after that it’s the councillors that make the decisions. So I sort of backed away from it for a while. And now I’m back at it.
My reasoning for running was accountability, transparency, representative government, and much needed change, and some common sense at the town hall.
CHMA: Okay. So that leads into my next question, you mentioned much needed change. Do you have issues that you are hoping to highlight in your campaign?
KC: No, I’m gonna just let them go. Because anybody that knows me knows that I will ask the questions that are good for the town.
CHMA: Okay. So when you say there’s much needed change, can you give us an idea of what kind of things you think need to change?
KC: What needs to change is the council have to start asking the town managers what they’re doing, instead of letting them tell the council what to do.
CHMA: Okay, so you feel that there needs to be more staff accountable to council, and council should be taking more of a lead?
KC: Yes, that’s what I say.
CHMA: Can I ask what are your favourite and least favourite things about Sackville, life in Sackville?
KC: The least favourite things in the town of Sackville is the fact that they don’t want any jobs here. That’s the least thing, because if you don’t have young families staying in the town, the town gets old. And the next place is the graveyard, it’s not bringing on another family.
And one of the things that I like about the town is it’s a small town, and you can walk around town and not feel pressured by anything like in a big city. In a big city, you’re always in a rush, and this and that. It’s a little quieter here in this town.
CHMA: So is there anything else you would like people in Sackville to know about you, people who are you know, looking at the candidates in this election?
KC: Oh, I don’t know. I think most people know me. Or a lot of people know me.
The biggest thing that I’m looking at is what’s best for the town. And I’m not a supporter of doing things that benefits a few. If everybody has to pay town taxes, it shouldn’t be just good for a few. If we’re going to do something it should have a broad benefit for the whole town.
There’s a few people get there and they have a small agenda. Well, you can’t you can’t pacify everybody. And you have to decide what’s good for the town. And like I said, if I figure it’s something that’s not worth looking at in the town, I will say no. I’ll tell you right up front that ‘No, I don’t think we can do that this time.’ Not tell you a story and you just keep hoping that it’s going to happen.
CHMA: All right Keith, thanks very much. I appreciate you taking the time.
KC: Good. Not a problem.
