Cory Adams didn’t even know there wasn’t Sunday bus service in Whitehorse until he started talking to customers in his video rental store in Porter Creek.
“This is why it’s great working with the public,” he told the News on Oct. 2. “You get their ideas straight away.”
Adams, who moved to the Yukon in 2001, is running for Whitehorse City Council this October. He moved north to manage the McDonald’s, but got back into video rental because of his background having worked for Rogers and Blockbuster Video.
In the last 17 years, he said he’s seen the city expand, but the infrastructure stay the same.
Buses are just one piece of the problem, he said, noting bus service needs to increase, especially with Yukon College becoming a university.
Adams said he recognizes that there’s not enough ridership to cover the expenses associated with increased service, but he thinks smaller buses would help with the problem. That’s the kind of fresh idea he wants to see coming from council chambers.
“I honestly believe the city needs change and that’s one of the big (reasons I ran),” he said.
After speaking with his Sunday-bus-service-seeking customers, Adams said traffic is his major concern going into the election.
Living in Riverdale, he said he spent much of last winter sliding through the roundabout, which was unsalted. He’d also like to see the sidewalks cleared. He said road-sharing between cyclists, pedestrians and motorists would be safer in winter if the roads were widened to make more space.
“It comes down to simple maintenance,” he said, adding that something should be done about traffic congestion, particularly coming out of Riverdale.
“I believe they need another bridge out of Riverdale,” he said.
At the same time, Adams said he thinks spending is getting “out of hand” in the city, so he’d want to plan a bridge build in such a way that the city wouldn’t go into debt (he did not specify how). His own taxes keep going up every year, he said. The city is getting more expensive for everyone. Again, he said that’s evident in speaking with his customers.
Many of them live in trailer parks, he said, and struggling to pay rents there. The price of housing has also gone up. When he moved here, he said you could get a house in Copper Ridge for $125,000. Today, that same house costs $450,000.
“You have to look at where the problems are and start with the most important and start working down. You can’t put all the money into one area … every problem has a solution you just have to find the right one.”
In the next couple weeks, Adams said he doesn’t have a campaign plan. He hopes to speak to people in the street.
“I don’t believe in going door-to-door,” he said. “It’s just so invasive.”
Contact Amy Kenny at amy.kenny@yukon-news.com