Helen Geisler wants to put her experience working for the City of Whitehorse to good use, in council chambers.
A former employee for 28 years, she’s running for a seat on city council in the upcoming municipal election.
She also ran in the 2012 election, receiving 660 votes.
Geisler said she’s running again in support of many of the issues she championed three years ago, including accountability, affordable housing and keeping the public informed.
Whitehorse residents, especially seniors, don’t really know what’s going on with city issues, she said.
A lot of seniors don’t have computers and they don’t want one, she added.
She said she’d like to see the city bring back its weekly ads in newspapers that used to highlight upcoming events.
“If there was anything you wanted to know about what was going on at the city, it was on that page,” she said.
“I think it’s better than going to the website. By the time you’re on there to find something, you’ve forgotten why you were there in the first place.”
Rolling ads on WHTV (Cable 9) would help too, she said.
Geisler didn’t have any specific examples to demonstrate the city’s lack of accountability over the past three years, other than to say, “Some things have happened in the past, and they haven’t been as transparent as they could have been.”
If elected, Geisler said she would do “whatever is in council’s power” to bring more affordable housing to low-income families and seniors. But she wasn’t quite sure how to achieve that.
Her parents, who have been seeking affordable housing for five years, were denied because they didn’t want to give up their dog, she said.
“That’s such an issue in this town,” she added.
“I have three dogs myself, and I’d never do that.”
Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Geisler followed her mom and stepdad to the territory in 1980.
She worked for the City of Whitehorse as a receptionist, administrative assistant and purchasing clerk, before switching over to the Yukon government in 2011.
The municipal election takes place tomorrow. For a round-up of candidate profiles, visit the Yukon News website.
Contact Myles Dolphin at
myles@yukon-news.com