A local property manager affiliated with a new municipal party called Squamish First is running for mayor.
Mike Young is known for his work as the owner of Dynamic Property Management, which specializes in strata and rental management.
Speaking with The Squamish Chief on Sept. 6, Young said that his experience with Dynamic — as well as his time serving on boards for organizations such as Sea to Sky Community Services — would be an asset for the municipality's top job.
"We deal with…rentals, strata corporations in town, we see what works and what doesn't with regards to building," he said. "I've got a lot of governance experience with my background on the various boards, as well as strata, corporations. It's all about governance and getting things done."
Young, along with two candidates seeking seats as councillors — Adrien Byrne and Rajan Hans — form a group called Squamish First.
The group's platform is based on three points — investing in infrastructure, smart growth and housing for the middle class, Young said.
On the first point, he said that Brennan Park is an aging facility that needs to be completely replaced with a centre that has two sheets of ice and a new pool.
He also was in favour of a second entrance to downtown Squamish and a parkade.
"It's currently unsafe," said Young. "There's only one way in, one way out. If the Cleveland Avenue and Buckley Avenue [entrance] was to shut down, there's no way to get emergency services downtown."
Secondly, smart growth, by Young's definition, is looking at each development and getting proponents of those projects to pay what he deems to be their "fair share."
He also said this could result in adjustments to the community amenity contribution policy, which is expected to go under review in the near future.
Young said if he has things his way, developers should be the ones footing the bills for a complete replacement of Brennan Park, a downtown parkade and a second entrance to downtown.
However, the particulars of how that would happen still need to be worked out.
"We'll need to discuss that with staff and the departments that are put in place," said Young.
Regarding the platform pillar of housing for the middle class, Young said that he would like to see more missing middle housing forms.
These include duplexes, six-plexes and multi-level townhomes, he said.
"So right now we have, you know, apartment buildings downtown, that are going up," he said. "They're a nice entry point for people moving to the community or people downsizing. But we need to fill that middle."
When asked whether affordable housing would fit in with that pillar, Young said: "Affordable rentals isn't middle class, right? We're looking at everyday people that earn incomes and qualify for that type of housing. I think we do need to work with the new housing society and look at some sort of ownership share, like they do in Whistler, and that would certainly help as well."
The municipal election is Oct. 15.
