The residents of Telkwa can get out and vote for their newest council member on Feb. 27.

There are three people vying for the seat previously held by Rick Fuerst, who stepped down in September 2020.

Eric Jacobsen, whose main concern is land development in order to "help this great community to move forward," is the only candidate with previous council experience. Jacobsen wants to see the village build an overpass on either side of the highway to keep traffic from building up on the main road in Telkwa. A major proposed project for Telkwa is the Telkwa Coal Project, which Jacobsen believes to be a fruitful opportunity for economic and housing developments in the village.

The Telkwa Coal Project has been publicly challenged by locals who formed the group What Matters in Our Valley. Their concerns are environmental (the detriment to the caribou range, in which the metallurgical mine is proposed to be built inside of), but also the sound and disturbance to the residents of the village. If you want to learn more about this project, CICK News covered this in May of 2020.

Dave Livesey, a newcomer to the council scene, has been a Telkwa resident for about 20 years.

"Telkwa with a lot of opportunities for people to get what they need" but he would like to see more people support the village and for Telkwa to become more self-sufficient," Livesey's main platform states. "I would like to help Telkwa grow in the future and we definitely need more stores or services like doctors or veterinarians or services for farmers."

Livesey wants to "help out the village" and he finds the ins and outs of running a local town to be interesting. He doesn't think there needs to be too much change too quickly, but would like to see growth like "the improvements on the dyke system" which could "help foster new growth in the Tower neighbourhood" and to bring more diversity in housing to the village like senior's, special needs, and affordable housing.

Klaus Kraft, the third candidate, was not available for an interview. Kraft is a retired BC Hydro employee and Electricians Union member.

Take a listen to the CICK interview with Dave Livesey below.