Jim Taylor is taking his wheels and deals to a new level as he runs for city office.
He was born and raised in Lloydminster before leaving for post-secondary. He then had a decision to make on where to go next.
“When given the opportunity to come back to Lloydminster or make a choice of where me and my girlfriend at the time, wife now, were going to end up, we decided to come back to Lloydminster,” he explained. “Family, friends, an amazing place to start a business or join in with a business or take over.”
Taylor is a small business owner as the man behind Grindin’ Gear’s Bikes and Boards. His involvement in the community reaches much farther than just his time with his business.
“I’ve served as a coach with Border City basketball and basketball locally, hockey, I’ve been a volunteer with the summer games and every year at the ATB triathlon,” said Taylor. “I volunteered to the schools that have their school biking programs.”
He says his first real experience on a board was with the Lloydminster Community Youth Centre prior to their merger with the SPARK Foundation of Lloydminster.
“I sat on that board for quite a few terms and then ended up being the chairperson, I got to learn a lot about the inner workings of a governance-style board,” said Taylor.
He said there’s a wide range of issues he wants to bring forward to council.
“The rising costs of taxes, house taxes, business taxes, seeing the growing expenditures has driven me to want to get involved in city politics,” said Taylor.
He began getting involved with the city through Your Voice events.
“I started really getting involved with your voice nights and going down and filling out surveys, especially with this major project, Cenovus Energy Hub being built,” said Taylor.
He was also invited to be part of an engineering study regarding traffic in the city and moving people around the town as the bike path expert.
“I tried to stay current on it and I haven’t ever really got a full answer on where they’re at with the project,” he explained.
Taylor said as a resident, he’s seen what’s been happening with the downtown and how there hasn’t been a lot of progress being made. He says all the issues made him realize he didn’t just want to have chats behind the counter of his store, but to take the concerns to city hall.
He says it’s important the city considers its identity long term and begins to plan farther into the future rather than being reactionary in its decision making.
“I think anybody that’s spent a lot of time in Lloydminster is the history of the city, the identity of Lloydminster and what we want Lloydminster to be going forward,” said Taylor.
Even with forward thinking and planning, Taylor says it’s important to look at what we have and learn from our past.
“I think the biggest thing is getting involved, growing the community back and taking what we learn from the past and trying not to repeat those mistakes,” he said.
Taylor explains people should be able to come into the city and see the direction the city’s going.
“Whether you’re a developer, a house builder or home builder, family member you should feel like you’re coming into a community, and you have a sense of where they are going with the town and what they are doing,” said Taylor.
He says it’s important to learn from the old buildings and embrace what we currently have.
“Everybody likes a new shiny building, but we’ve got old ones we have to take care of as well,” said Taylor.
He says people should vote for him because he is looking out for the community.
“I’m not going anywhere, a small business owner, I’m looking out for the families, I’m looking out for the small business owners,” said Taylor.
He says he wants to grow and he wants to see people grow around him and be successful.
“If people want to give me their vote, I think that would be great, and just know I’m going to go in with integrity, honesty, and heartfelt thoughts on all aspects, not just my personal business. I want people to succeed along with us in the city,” said Taylor.
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