Mac Gordon is running for council because he said he is exasperated with what is happening in Kamloops.
“It’s not my duty or my calling,” he said. “I’m just annoyed and fed up with how the situation, how things have come about. I’m not happy for my hometown.”
Gordon — a North Kamloops resident and former high school teacher who is semi-retired, doing odd jobs like building fibreglass boats — believes the city is run poorly.
He attended city council in person when Coun. Denis Walsh presented a motion exploring the feasibility of a recovery centre. He noted it was rejected, with some on council pointing to the issue being beyond its jurisdiction.
He questioned why council then backed another motion to lobby the federal government to allow international students to work more hours per week. He called it the “last straw,” prompting him to run for council.
“We have no authority over that [international student working hours], we have no pull over that, yet they want to discuss that issue? But when actual issues come into town, they don’t want to deal with it. They just want to push it off and point fingers,” he said.
Gordon said he is playing catch-up on the campaign, having decided to run later in the game than most, and that he will be posting ideas via video on Facebook in the near future. He described himself as “the Elizabeth Warren of Kamloops politics,” and invoked Theodore Roosevelt.
“Any time a decision is made, the best decision is always the right decision,” Gordon said. “The second-best decision is the wrong decision and the worst decision is no decision at all. At least do something.”
He said city hall does nothing but spend and criticized staff salaries, the new dike at McArthur Island and renovations to Riverside Park.
Gordon has not previously run for public office, but said he has remained in touch, having taught social studies.
