Paolo Gallina has thrown his hat into the ring for this year’s upcoming municipal election in Whitehorse.
Some Whitehorse residents will know Gallina as the former Liberal MLA for Porter Creek Centre.
He represented the riding from 2017 to 2021, before being replaced by current MLA, the Yukon Party’s Yvonne Clarke. Gallina announced his plans to run for a seat at city council in an email to local media on Aug. 28.
Gallina is currently working with the Arctic Winter Games as a sponsorship and marketing manager. From 2021 to 2024, he worked with the territorial cabinet office, primarily with Jeanie McLean, who is minister of Education and responsible for the Women and Gender Equity Directorate. He has also worked with Northwestel, the Outside the Cube marketing firm and the Canada Winter Games.
Gallina said when he was an MLA, he spent a lot of time managing casework for citizens. He said a lot of the issues which were brought to him as an MLA were about municipal matters.
“I feel good about taking my experience and working with constituents and applying that to the broader city, and working for all residents of Whitehorse,” Gallina told the News.
If elected, Gallina said he would make citizen safety a priority.
“I will work to ensure that people are feeling safer in our community, businesses and residents, at the end of the term, four years from now,” Gallina said. He said he will work for the city to have an active role in community safety, working alongside other stakeholders like the territorial government, Yukon First Nations and RCMP.
He said he will seek to help Whitehorse businesses be more productive, and community service providers be more effective.
John Glynn-Morris occupies a variety of roles in the Whitehorse community, but spoke to the News as a citizen and resident. As a friend and former colleague of Gallina's, Glynn-Morris said he encouraged him to run. Glynn-Morris said he has known Gallina for eight years.
The pair worked alongside each other with the Whistle Bend town square master planning.
He also occasionally goes skateboarding with Gallina at the Riverdale skate park.
“He's actually good, and I just fake it because I've got teenagers and I'm like the old guy on the longboard, trying to be cool,” said Glynn-Morris.
Glynn-Morris said Gallina has a strong sense of integrity, and that he would be a constructive addition to city council.
Glynn-Morris said he’s not usually comfortable making public endorsements.
“But for Paolo, I want to take that risk, because I really believe that he would be a very great contribution,” said Glynn-Morris. “He's purposeful. He cares.”
Contact Talar Stockton at talar.stockton@yukon-news.com
