Jack Mussallem seeks a return to the Mayor's chair

It shapes up to be a two man fight for the Prince Rupert mayoralty this election season, as former Mayor Jack Mussallem included his name for consideration as the next Mayor of Prince Rupert.

Mussallem, joins Don Scott who declared his intentions last week, making for an interesting re-match of former Mayors who seek to bring their ideas and hopes for Prince Rupert to the electorate on November 15th.

The closing of nominations brought an end to the Herb Pond era of municipal politics, as the current Mayor and former councillor sits out this years municipal election. By Friday afternoon, there were still no details on why the Mayor had decided to not seek re-election and the residents of Prince Rupert will surely be interested in his thoughts on the campaign now underway and what his future plans may be.

With the race now out of the starting gate, the city's electorate will have a choice of two mayoralty candidates some fifteen names declared as seeking the six positions on council and ten candidates hoping for your vote for spots on school board.

Friday's Daily News outlined the background behind Mr. Mussallem's return to political office and his quest to resume his duties as Mayor, picking up from where he left of late in 1999 after Mr. Scott claimed the Mayoralty in that year's election.

Former mayor wants job back
Jack Mussallem adds his name to the list of declared candidates
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Friday, October 10, 2008

Pages one and three

It's been a while Jack.

Jack Mussallem is back in the mayoral picture as he announced his candidacy for the upcoming municipal elections.

Mussallem was last involved in Prince Rupert politics in 2000 when he was defeated in the general election by Don Scott, who has also announced his candidacy for the city's top post.
And Mussallem is not holding any punches.

"One of the reasons I am running is that on average I get six-to-eight people coming up to me per day telling me to run again, that they will support and contribute to my campaign," said Mussallem.

"Over the last year, the direction that the mayor and council have taken us is not where we need to be going. The council has not lived up to Rupertite expectations."

Mussallem listed several concerns he has about the way the city has been run since the last municipal election, citing issue that are of concern to him going into this year's election.

He noted that the direct awarding of contracts; problems with the city's accounting and the various alleged perks offered to city employees; and other ways the city accounts have been handled were key issues.

"People believe most of the city staff are doing a good job but everyone would like a free recreation pass and that's just not possible," said Mussallem.

Mussallem wants the city to not be as economically reliant on the Port of Prince Rupert for jobs and prosperity, though he does want to help the port grow and prosper too.

In a platform unveiling of sorts, he also mentioned that he would like to divest a certain amount of city-owned property as a way to generate revenue.

"For example, we could sell off Pillsbury House, set up a covenant that says that the outside of the house must be treated as a heritage building and kept to its historic look," he said.