Corey Gingrich is running for district council.
Gingrich, who works as a purchaser at Apollo Forest Products, is one of seven candidates in the running.
He has a lot he would like to see happen in Fort St. James, but says the main reason he’s running for council “is because of the passion I have for the town. I’ve lived here forever.”
Born and raised in Fort St. James, Gingrich wants to create a better environment for small business owners, see more initiatives on behalf of young families and children, and work more closely with the Nak’azdli Band to better the community.
“I think there’s only a few small businesses that have really prospered in town in the last eight years or so,” says Gingrich. “So I’d like to see that change.”
As someone with a young child of his own, he would also like to see the arena opened to events year round, instead of just five or six months a year. “I’d like to the ball diamonds fixed up,” he adds. “[Base]ball used to be really big in town, but it kind of went down hill.”
Along with a few others, Gingrich helped start minor ball in town, and he says he would like to see the district eventually put in some work on the baseball diamonds and host a few tournaments to bring some money into the district.
Gingrich would also like to see more opportunities for kids to play outside, for example building a skate park or outdoor arena. “A while ago we used to have a few little outdoor rinks that are non-existent any more,” and he’d like to see something like that happen again, although he recognizes that it would also take the work of many volunteers.
He’d also like to look into getting something like the aquatic centre that is currently under construction in Vanderhoof.
Although he knows that it’s going to take quite a while for the district to get where it wants to be, he believes that a mixture of hard work and teamwork can get the job done. “I know what the town wants, it’s just a matter of getting it. If everybody works together, I think we can,” says Gingrich.
Along with a teamwork-oriented council, he would like to work more closely with the Nak’azdli Band. “I know council there pretty well and I think we could do some pretty good things together.”
Another key issue to Gingrich is re-paving residential roads in the district. He says many need to be re-done, as they are in rough shape.
A family man and lover of the outdoors, Gingrich would like people to know: “I’m just dedicated to the job at hand.”
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