Serving as a Whitehorse city councillor has been an ambition of Telek Rogan’s for some time.
In December of 2017, Rogan decided she wanted to pursue a seat on council. Not quite ready for the 2018 vote, she opted to hold off until 2021 when she submitted her nomination papers for the Oct. 21 municipal election.
Born and raised in Whitehorse, Rogan said she has seen Whitehorse continue to grow and wants to contribute to her hometown.
While there are a number of issues facing the city, much of it boils down to income disparity, she said, adding that income disparity leads to housing, transportation and other instabilities for residents.
Knowing it is a privilege to run for office, Rogan said she is running a low-budget campaign that will not include large-scale advertising. She does have a small budget that will be spent on things like buttons featuring Rogan’s campaign slogan “Telek like it is”, but most of her campaign will focus on meeting residents in-person.
While she acknowledges the city has no jurisdiction over things like minimum wage, she noted there are a number of initiatives the city could take that could help address the issue of income disparity.
Incentives for residents to grow their own food or subsidies for local farmers could help make local food more affordable and stimulate the economy, she pointed out.
A number of other issues are also important to Rogan and also relate to her broader issues.
“For me, transit is a huge issue; housing is a huge issue,” she said.
On her campaign Facebook page, Rogan described the lack of Sunday transit service as “unacceptable,” stating that if elected she would work toward Sunday service.
Rogan was born and raised in Whitehorse and grew up in the downtown core. Over the years, she’s been involved with the Guild Hall, both as a performer and as a board member. She also works as the office manager for Walker Home Construction.
Many may also recognize Rogan’s name from the 2017 Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous’ festival Quest for the Crown where Rogan was named Rendezvous Queen.
Rogan said she brings with her experience working as part of a team that will be an asset inside council chambers. She also has experience dealing with financial documents like budgets. While not a pre-requisite to serving on council, Rogan said she believes it will serve her well as considerations for the city budget are made and financial decisions considered, should she be elected to council.
Contact Stephanie Waddell at stephanie.waddell@yukon-news.com