Zurowski In Race For Mayor
Don Zurowski speaks with reporters following his official announcement that he is seeking the Mayor's chair- photo 250News
Prince George, B.C.- It’s official, former City Councillor Don Zurowski is going to take a shot at becoming the next Mayor of Prince George.
The rumour about his possible entry into the Mayor’s race has been buzzing in the Prince George community even before the current Mayor announced she would not be seeking re-election.
His campaign will run on the theme of "Our Community -The Future is Now".
Zurowski says that as mayor, he will "ensure that the city is ready to benefit from the unique opportunities that surround it."
"We need to focus on economic development, and on delivering basic services such as roads, water and sewer to allow us to take advantage of economic opportunities as they present themselves."
Zurowski believes the most important things a city government can do are to provide the civic and economic infrastructure to support local residents and businesses; to promote the city to major businesses and investors; and to work in collaboration with other communities for the benefit of the whole region.
He says the city needs to focus on needs, not wants. So where does that put the Performing Arts Centre? "It will put it in the future. I beleive the Performing Arts Centre is the next major recreational facility the city needs to build, but we need to be able to share that with more taxpayers, and we need to address that issue after we get in front of the infrastructure investment deficit."
His campaign will focus on:
- creating a business-friendly climate region-wide,
- building city services based on needs before wants:
- improve roads,
- ensure water and sewer infrastructure is kept current, and
- that families have the facilities and services they need
"I am committed to doing my part to make Prince George the best possible place to live, raise a family, make a living and retire."
Zurowski served as Councillor from 1999 to 2008, when he took a shot at the job as Mayor of Prince George. He was up against fellow Councillor Dan Rogers in that race. Rogers beat him by nearly 3,000 votes.
Zurowski was a favourite among the voters. He scored the second highest number of votes in each of the Council races in which he ran, behind Dan Rogers. In 2005, when Rogers took his first shot at the Mayor’s chair,(against Colin Kinsley) Zurowski collected more votes (9,937) than any other Council Candidate, and more votes than any candidate for Mayor in that year. (Colin Kinsley would win with 8,650 votes).
Zurowski is a Director on the Board of the Prince George Airport Authority, Director on PavCo, chair of the BC Passenger Transportation Board, and the International BIOENERGY Conference Society. He has served as the GM and CEO of Community Futures Development Corporation of Fraser Fort George, chair of the Northwest Transportation Development Corporation and past president of Tourism Prince George.
Comments
â¢ensure water and sewer infrastructure is kept current, and
â¢that families have the facilities and services they need
Hart Highland residents -TAKE NOTICE- put your sewer on hold – Don will fix it for you!
i don’t know if i’d vote for don, but i hope we get more qualified candidates lie him that toss their name in the race. i’m looking forward to this mayoral race!
sorry, ‘like’ him…
Curious to see what his commitment is to put in services in Haldi Rd. area.
Don is going to tell all of us whatever we want to hear. Just like all the other mayors.
Question??? is the big construction job on th big hotel going to be completed for the winter games???? Its a bit quiet down there these days. Maybe there all on holidays, it is summer you know.
I am thinking that a huge part of my voting decision will be based on the candidates position on the PAC. Last election they all said they’d make infrastructure a priority, and I would expect the same this time.
It will be interesting to see who else is in.
I am going to vote for Don. He is a person who isn’t a smooth talker – he means what he says. He also has the capacity to bring together a group of councilors (whoever they may be) and get them to work toward a common good.
Unlike our current mayor he will respect the opinions of others and disagree without being disagreeable.
I think there will be other quality candidates coming forward and this is good news for the voters. I happen to have made my decision early however, no matter who you support just get out and vote in November.
Good for you Don! I was disappointed when you never ran for mayor in the last election. I really hope we get a Mayor and Council this fall that works together, than the current group that seems so dysfunctional. The citizens of P.G. deserve a better managed city.
Don is funded by the same group that Shari was. So he will be the new puppet. Status quo will continue, with the same decisions that are great for a select few but to hell with the average taxpayer. Will Don take the muzzle off the Mayor’s office and open himself up? Answer peoples questions and let us not rely on Bill Gaal and the like. City Hall operates on a pass the buck mentality and there seeems to be no place for the buck to stop.I will be listening very carefully to the platforms each councillor take a stand on.
Don is funded by the same group that Shari was. “
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This should be illegal!
Then it should also be illegal for unions to contribute to campaigns and pay the legal bills for candidates.
Where are you getting your first hand information from 4seasons? Oh wait you don’t have any and are blowing smoke out of your a$$. Don will tell you straight up how it is and he’s not doing this for personal gain like Sheri Green was. It took a lot for him to come out of retirement and decide to commit 4 years to the people of Prince George.
If Don Zurowski is anything, he is a man that will tell it like it is. No hidden agendas, no double talk, and no wimpy leaf in the wind. Don tends to say what he means, but more importantly, means what he says.
I’ve known Don for going on 25 years, voted for him against Dan Rogers, and was disappointed he didn’t run last time. One last thing, Don will not be anyone’s puppet. He didn’t run a successful business and Community Futures by being someone’s yes man.
We’ll see superdave, we’ll see. I sincerely hope I don’t have to say “I told you so”.
It will be interesting to see who funds his campaign! No doubt in my mind there will be a few of the same names we saw fund Green! I for one would like to see Lyn Hall run for mayor. He handles the Green/Stoltz team of wing nuts quite well. Lyn would get my vote.
If he wants a PAC will determine whether he gets my vote!
So Don = Gus?
Other than Community Futures which is a paid job what’s he done? sitting on a stack of Boards means what can’t find a full time job? on well will have the backing of the Green team for sure.
4seasons, do you have proof that he is being supported by this group, or are you saying this just to get a bit of attention.
I think Don gets to start with a new slate since he has been away from it for a while.
Don Zurowski is Pat Bells Puppet!
Dance for Pat Don….Dance…Dance.
It won’t matter who wins the Mayors race. The left will dominate council and Mayor Don will get nothing done.
Nothing.
Now Lets see if Hall has the parts……..
No Gus is not Don. Gus only got 1700 votes when he ran for council. I would vote for Gus before ever voting for Don. Don was the heir of the Kinsly dynasty. I think he is running because he sees the opening, but it remains to be seen what his aganda is. I suspect bringing value to land for speculator with infrastructure build out useing city tax dollars… like what happened with the North Willow and Boundary Road fiscal fiascos.
I used to really like Don Z. but after his work with the Community Futures, he seemed to become less of an everyday kind of guy. More arrogant, I thought. If he goes back to his roots, I think he would make a good mayor.
Too bad Dan left town, maybe Colin could come out of retirement
Colin is the reason our roads are in such a mess !
Maybe a new face will run! Getting tired of the old ones.
Maybe another Moffat, if they can run a business for a hundred years….
I agree with Eagleone, too much similarity between Kinsley and zurowski. I met him years ago when he was at cfdc and as a person I really liked him, as a mayor, not so much. He has already stated he is pro pac, but only after infrastructure is maintained. Depends on the definition of maintained.
Zurowski and Kinsley served together from 1999 to 2008. When Kinsley left I guess Zurowski was to be the replacement, however he only garnered 6505 votes against Rodgers 9272. So a fairly substantial loss. He was not too happy about the loss and mumbled something about returning to Alberta.
He stated he did not want to run against an incumbent Mayor (Green) as incumbents usually win the Mayor’s chair. However since Green decided not to run, there is no incumbent so he decided to take the plunge. Hmmmmmm. Is he the replacement for Green??? Some would think so.
Green won the Mayoralty with 6969 votes, so if Zurowski could get the same amount that he did the last time around he could get close to winning. It all depends on who runs, and of course the platform.
Hall got 9529 votes as a councilor in 2011 which was the highest number for either a councilor or mayor. So if he runs and holds on to his base, he will be a strong contender.
“Hall got 9529 votes as a councilor in 2011 which was the highest number for either a councilor or mayor. So if he runs and holds on to his base, he will be a strong contender.”
Unless people wake up an realize that the guy hasn’t done anything of any substance. He is the consummate political opportunist.
Another stupid comment axman.
When my wife contacted council members by email about
an issue, a couple responded by email. Lyn Hall took the time to phone her and discuss the issue.
He is a hard working councillor.
Fetterly for mayor.
Palopu: “Zurowski and Kinsley served together from 1999 to 2008. When Kinsley left I guess Zurowski was to be the replacement, however he only garnered 6505 votes against Rodgers 9272. So a fairly substantial loss. He was not too happy about the loss and mumbled something about returning to Alberta.”
Yup. People have short memories. The other major knock against Zurowski was that he was a Kinsley clone.
I’ll wait and see what he says over the next few months, but he may be the best choice, unless some other candidate comes out of the woodwork.
NoWay: “So Don = Gus? “
It appears so.
I expect that Donny will be a shoo-in for the Mayor’s chair.
Steph99: Long before CFDC Don Z. was a successful businessman, worked at Auto Magic early ’70s as a pump jockey, bought the business from his boss, and proceeded to build it into a multi million dollar enterprise, then sold it. As far as I know, he does not need to work. As a matter of fact, as a fellow who does not have a paying job or a business to maintain he would probably be a very effective mayor.
metalman.
No vote here for Don , and if he gets in I feel very sorry for any senior in this town . I didn’t waste a vote on him before . Please Fetterly run again for mayor . Show them what a real amn is not some arrogent push over .
Don’t know how we go from a loser in 2008 to a shoo-in in 2014. He lost by a wide margin in 2008 to Rodgers.
Axman. Zurowski is the political opportunist at this point in time, not Hall.
Posted by: Palopu on June 13 2014 8:21 AM
Axman. Zurowski is the political opportunist at this point in time, not Hall.
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They both are but at least Zurowski seems willing to take a stand unlike Hall who just sits in the background waiting to sneak in.
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