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Terrace city council candidate: Lynne Christiansen

City of Terrace: Christiansen, Lynne - Council Candidate
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Lynne Christiansen is seeking re-election as a Terrace city councillor in the 2014 municipal election.

Lynne Christiansen is running for a sixth consecutive seat on city council. First elected in 1999, she is the longest serving person on the current council.

“The year I came on council was the year the mill went down and we were struggling to figure out how we were going to get a town to work on next to nothing,” said Christiansen of her first term on council when the city’s then major employer, Skeena Cellulose, fell into receivership and eventual bankruptcy.

“You need continuity and someone who has a feel for the history of the community,” she continued, saying that being born and raised in Terrace gives her “a feel for the history of the community.”

Over her past term Christiansen, 58, served as city representative on the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine and the North Central Government Association.

Currently she sits on the city’s housing committee, Terrace Public Library committee and the healthy communities committee.

A crafter, Christiansen was also president for the Skeena Valley Farmers Market for many years and is currently vice president.

Her professional career, which was put on hold while she overcame a serious illness two years ago, has involved work at drug and alcohol treatment centre and working with people with disabilities through the Northern Health Authority.

She said the biggest breakthrough by the council now ending its three-year term was the progress made in securing, developing and now selling portions of the city’s Skeena Industrial Development Park.

“I think our biggest accomplishment and our biggest drive is the airport lands and striving for that industrial base,”she said.

She cites the inability of council to make inroads with major transportation upgrades or to convince the provincial government to help out with affordable housing as areas where the current council fell short of its aspirations.

“Our biggest frustration is to try to get some support from the provincial government for housing,” Christiansen said.

In her opinion cracking that nut will involve continuing to promote regional interests through a proposed and promoted revenue sharing agreement with the provincial government based on potential tax revenues large industrial projects.

Christiansen was nominated by Colleen Davis and Elizabeth Williams.