Totally Taylor

Q: What are your goals for this mandate?
A: "I would like to see the civic centre come together. One of the big things there is it's a co-operative effort with the Town of Truro ... I felt it was quite an achievement after a year or so of nothing happening. I think it opened the doors to future projects. I think it's very important that we strike up a better relationship with the towns and also with our MLAs.
"One of the big things I think is not only attracting new business but good support for the businesses we have and one of the biggest problems they have is attracting skilled labour. One of the mandates I have is to see about having a trade school back in the Truro-Debert area ... The community college has these facilities throughout the province but ... I think we lose a lot of people that don't have the ability to travel. If you train them here they're more liable to stay here."

Q: Where do you stand on amalgamation?
A: "I don't think there's an immediate need as long as we can work together. The big savings with the two towns and the counties is going be in the sharing of services. I think we do a real good job of it now."

Q: How will you encourage young people to either stay here or return here to raise their families?
A: "One of the biggest things is quality of life ... A new civic centre or new recreation complex, that's very attractive to people... other facilities ... our trails, all that is appealing to people. I think when we live here we probably don't appreciate what we have."

Q: What are the three biggest challenges for the municipality going forward?
A: "One of the biggest challenges is to attract and retain business. I would say that's No. 1. We've been very fortunate to attract companies just because of our location but I think we have to do a little better than that. The other challenge we have is we have done a lot on waste water treatment and recycling and so on. I think we have to take that another step further ... It will always be a challenge keeping the tax rate affordable. We have to, as we go through this, plan well. One of the things we've been able to do over the last few years is create reserves for all our capital expenditures."

Q: How tough will it be going forward to balance taxation with requests for services?
A: "I think proper planning will address that. We have reserves for everything from the liners for our landfill to replacement of our service vehicles. When a new piece of equipment is due to be replaced we should have money in the bank to pay for it."

Q: There has been some discussion recently about the potential for commercial expansion in Bible Hill and the potential of the Debert Air Industrial Park. Where do you see these two projects going in the future?
A: "First the Debert Air Industrial Park, we will be working on improving and further developing the infrastructure ... One of the big things with Debert is the improvement with the airstrip. There's been money made available provincially for that. I think that's going to be a big part of the development of the air industrial park ... There are still opportunities for some air freight business and one of the big uses of that park will be as a distribution centre where we have the air, rail and road transport there ... (For Bible Hill) what it will be is mostly light commercial, it won't be an industrial park and should not be. The concept will be to have a commercial node that will have a strip-mall look ... (Both projects) provide employment and improve our tax base. You take a hit doing the infrastructure but again that's an investment and the payback will be increased assessment which will help keep our tax rate down."

Q: Being mayor means you represent 35,000 residents from Five Islands to Tatamagouche and Kemptown to Stewiacke. How will you lead the municipality?
A: "I have been a business owner/manager pretty well all my life. I started with my own business when I was 22. It seems each time I get involved with a community project or a community organization sometime along the line you seem to end up in a leadership role. You have a passion for these things and you go in and try to make them work."

Q: How will it be different representing the entire county as opposed to just your district?
A: "I don't see it being different. I've always thought regionally."

Q: Do you consider your age a benefit?
A: "I should have said I was a young 69. I don't feel 69, very few aches and pains. I've worked hard all my life but it hasn't hurt I guess. I think you draw on your experiences and hopefully you're not forgetting more than you learn. I think you'll know when you come to the (time) you're not interested in serving any more. I am very passionate about everything I've mentioned to you. With the experience and the drive I think we're good for a few years."

Q: Does Colchester County need a full-time mayor?
A: "I'll tell you in a year's time. You could make it a full-time job, I can see that. It has to be at least a good part-time job."

Q: The relationship between the county and town has had some rough spots during the past few years. How important is it to you to foster and improve relations with the town?
A: "I think it's very important. I'll refer back to the civic centre project. I don't think I have to tell you where that was and where we are now in a very short time."

Q: You have been a member of the municipality for 11 years. How and why did you get involved in politics?
A: "I thought I could make a difference. I served 8.5 years with the village commission. When the opportunity came to go to the election for county council, I thought I could make a difference for Bible Hill ... It was the same running for the mayor."