or Al Greir waited almost to the deadline to decide to run for a second term on council.
“I was waiting to see who else was going to run,” he said.
He didn’t want to name names in the middle of a campaign, but said it’s nice to see some younger people and people with business experience running.
Greir has lived in Parksville about eight years, but he’s been on Vancouver Island and doing business in the area off and on for 40 years.
He admits some of his first three years on council were frustrating, especially around finances.
“Governments have been over-spending and over-extending themselves, 42 of 52 states are bankrupt or insolvent,” he said, stressing that “those problems will come to Canada if we’re not careful.”
He said commercial property only provides 24 per cent of the city’s tax income and he’d like to see that go up to at least 35 per cent through expanding the commercial base while keeping taxes down.
He said that while it was a “very difficult decision to run again,” many people asked him to run again and he did have enough gratifying moments to want to keep going.
He said he’s proud of getting the fire hall addition built for $3 million, without borrowing $5.7 million, spearheading the region’s first Habitat for Humanity house and his work with the GJJS Foundation developing the city’s youth ambassador program “under the watchful eye of Joe Friede.”
“It has literally changed lives and saved the city thousands in vandalism, getting some troubled youth off the street,” he said.