Quesnel, B.C. – Strong leadership.

It’s something Quesnel Mayor Mary Sjostrom says her city needs and it’s why she’s decided to run for her third consecutive term as mayor.

“We need someone that has strong leadership, that’s consistent, and is going to be steady at the helm. It’s what we need at this particular time to move our community forward.”

Quesnel Mayor Mary Sjostrom – photo courtesy City of Quesnel

She’s hoping voters will give her that chance based on her record which she says includes raising money for West Quesnel Land Stability and last June’s successful arena referendum.

Sjostrom says construction on the $17.5 million West Fraser Centre will begin next spring and calls it something “that’s long overdue.”

She’s also really proud of a commitment she made during the last election to form a sustainability plan.

“We’ve done that. We didn’t have any consultants, we did it with the community and we’re going to use many of those strategies.”

Sjostrom says her goals moving forward include raising money for phase two of West Quesnel Land Stability and “to continue to fundraise so we don’t have to go to taxation for what we’ve been asked to borrow to build the arena ($7.5 million). We’re hoping that we can deplete that amount.”

She says the city should continue to look for “any and all resource opportunities as a community that is transitioning,” and to establish a Mayor’s Task Force on community safety.

“We’ve done quite a bit over the past three years but we need to do more. We’ve got some concerns – some serious pan handling issues and other safety issues.”

But Sjostrom is careful not to make any promises.

“I’m not a fan of making promises because you’re only one of seven.”

And ultimately she says her reason for running was her love of the city.

“I really care about this community and I’ve had a great council and many of them are running again – I wish them the best of luck.”