Cal Crawford has decided to throw his hat into the political ring.
Crawford has announced his intention to run for a council seat in the upcoming 2018 municipal election in October.
Crawford, a long-time Mission resident and former real estate agent, has been involved with countless community groups during the past three decades.
He is currently the chair of the Mission Hospice Society, a director of Mission Community Services Society, a director of the Mission Seniors Association and member of the Mission Midday Rotary Club.
Public service is important to Crawford, who feels it’s something everyone should do.
Now he is hoping to serve the community as a local councillor.
“I’ve always had an interest in municipal council and the affairs of the district. I’ve always been involved in different groups. I like doing that; it makes me feel good. I’m a strong believer that you’ve got to participate. If you are going to take from a community, you have to put something in,” Crawford said.
He said he would have run for council earlier, but his career as a local real estate agent made it difficult to commit the time needed to do a councillor’s job properly, and he didn’t want to appear to have a conflict.
“Personally, I’ve never been involved with developers. Most of my real estate was done with individuals. I stayed away from any real estate investments locally so there would be no conflict.
“But now I’ve been retired coming up two years, so I think it’s time to take some of my enthusiasm and some ideas I have and put them to good use.”
While the election campaign is still months away, Crawford has already created a website (calcrawford.ca) for people to visit to learn more about him and what he stands for.
“I moved to Mission about 30 years ago and at that time there was a lot of talk about development in the downtown core, development in the flats next to the river, development to the west, recreational development, tourism and employment. Those issues, I believe, are still issues in the District of Mission.”
Crawford believes those issues will continue until a council is elected that will develop a long-term vision for the district.
“That really forms the basis of what I want to achieve.”
Crawford said he decided to announce his intention to run for office now in order to give citizens ample time to get to know him, ask him questions and learn about his platform.
“I hear, quite often, in other elections where people say they wish they had more time to meet the candidates and find out what they are thinking.”
Crawford said he has plenty of time to talk.