After helping lead the Ridge Meadows Minor Baseball Association for 10 years along with serving on the board of Ridge Meadows Sports Field Association, Mark Kauhane now wants to step up to the Maple Ridge council plate.
Although he’s got a background in business and experience in coaching and leading community sports, the latest council candidate wants it to be clear – he’s not running on a sports agenda.
“I want to definitely take a broader approach to council,” Kauhane said.
Generating more business activity and improving transit are two of his top priorities.
“Maple Ridge needs to be “open for business,” he said in a news release.
“We would benefit greatly if we were to promote business and retail growth in our community, from a tax-revenue base perspective and with the creation of jobs locally.
“We have two new bridges that are currently taking consumer dollars out of town and we need to retain those dollars in our community as well as attract new spending. It’s time to market Maple Ridge and promote our brand.”
He also says it’s possible to find the “delicate balance” of furthering business and retail growth without “upsetting” the Agricultural Land Reserve.
Kauhane has lived in Maple Ridge since 1998 and has coached baseball, soccer and martial arts, and if
he had to name a sports project he’d like to see achieved, it still would be getting a showcase stadium built to bring in sport tourism dollars and raise the profile of the community.
Kauhane was involved with the proposal to do just that in 2007, although the plan to build a 2,500-seat Hammond Stadium never received funding approval.
He said he’d be a good choice for council because of his leadership and volunteering experience, “and because of my passion for our beautiful community.
“I believe in people and the ability to work together as a team to achieve goals and, in this case, be an effective council.”
He supports Ernie Daykin as mayor. “He has the ability to bring people together.
“That’s what I want to see on the next council … looking how we can work together to come up with solutions for the community.”
In his news release, he says it’s the role of council, “to have the well-being of the community at heart and to offer guidance in terms of achieving the community’s vision and goals.”