OLIVER PAIPOONGE – Lucy Kloosterhuis has been the mayor of Oliver Paipoonge municipality since 2003 and she says she hopes to retain that mayor’s seat because she enjoys the work she does and the challenges it brings.
“Every day it’s something different and, you know, [we] try to help the local residents when they have problems, we try to figure out what the province wants us to do sometimes and love working with the staff, the volunteers,” she said.
“They're all really good people and they do their best for the municipality. And I enjoy that it's just solving problems and trying to figure out how we're going to accomplish what the province wants us to do every year.”
Kloosterhuis says that she hopes to see the community continue its growth over the next four years.
“Our municipality is growing; a month ago, we were at the point of having $15 million worth of construction happening in our municipality, which is double of what it was last year,” she said.
“Our residents are enjoying some of the things that are going on now between the racetrack, the museum, the hockey: The Fighting Walleye at our local arena. We see a lot of families enjoying those and I'd like to see that carried forward and maybe someday, in some cases, expanded to some other events for the families.”
Kloosterhuis says she hopes that the residents of Oliver Paipoonge will vote to allow her to continue her work for the community but that she has respect for both candidates running against her in this year’s mayoral race.
“I haven't heard a lot from them other than to see some pamphlets and some ads,” she said.
“They do have a different way of approaching some of the items, and again I respect their way of doing things and I'd like to continue doing it the way we are and if the residents are happy, I hope we can.”
