Mayoral candidate Mike Martin, in his own words
By Contributor
I came to Trail as a young engineer 42 years ago and like so many, when you come to Trail, it gets in your blood, and you stay in Trail… that is exactly what happened to me. I met my wife Debbie and next thing I knew, I was part of a large Italian family with deep roots into the community.
I worked my entire 40-year career at Teck holding a number of engineering and management positions. The last five years were as General Manager. I worked with unionized employees, management and many complex groups of stakeholders. With my proven business background, I led a multi billion-dollar business providing strong leadership through some very challenging times and landing on successful outcomes. It will be this experience that will allow me to lead this great city toward a long-term vision, so together, we can move forward with a progressive growth strategy. My management style is one of collaboration, transparency, accountability and teamwork but mostly I am known as being a keen listener and with treating everyone with respect.
Since my retirement, three years ago, I have dedicated my time to leading activities to improve the economic health of our region through the Lower Columbia Community Development Team Society and the Downtown Opportunities and Action Committee. In doing so, I have brought regional partners to the table to advance initiatives dealing with transportation, healthcare, affordable housing, and the recruitment and retention of skilled workers. Our success to date has been achieved through building strong relationships, being accountable and getting results.
My platform is simple; Growth, Vitality and Pride. I believe economic development is the engine that will drive a thriving community. I want to see us build on our regional hospital status and address some of our key social issues such as our homelessness. We need to develop opportunities around our river, expand our housing stock and aggressively explore opportunities to fill our empty commercial spaces. I will work aggressively to attract investment from community stakeholders and external investors.
It is also time to put more focus on our youth and our recreational issues. We need to work collaboratively with our neighbours to resolve the recreational issue that is being so disruptive to the whole region. We need to find new solutions and I am prepared to lead that process.
Through active participation in local, regional and provincial matters, I have a good understanding of the issues within the Mayors office and I am ready and prepared to take on this role.
I have never backed down from hard work and I am willing to roll up my sleeves with you and work together to grow a vibrant city – one in which we can all take great pride.
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