Iris Booth
Schofield, 54, has worked for Nova Scotia’s department of transportation and infrastructure for the past 17 years, and his campaign concerns reflect that. “The number one thing for me is the local infrastructure,” says Schofield. “Sackville’s got fairly good infrastructure but no one’s maintaining it. It's literally falling apart, so I want to look into getting a maintenance plan in place.”
The 46-year area resident has developed work relationships with various city officials, something he says could be useful to him once in council. Voters have told him they’re concerned about speeding, and would like to see more traffic-calming measures in place, so he is taking that into account in his campaign.
Another campaign concern he’s passionate about fixing is the lack of resources for seniors. “Right now the seniors have to go out-of-area to really do anything,” Schofield says. “There’s nothing really local for them to do, so I’d like to work with the seniors to see what we can come up with for some programs.” Likewise, he wants to see youth programs expanded. “I’d like to help them out with things like job training and putting together resumes.”
When it comes to getting things done in council, aside from having years of experience working with the city behind the scenes, Schofield also helps train people in the industry, so he’s not afraid of public speaking and structured planning. But whether it’s issues like infrastructure or even defunding the police, Schofield says being informed is the key to solving issues.
“They need to be informed. If your residents aren’t informed they can’t give you an informed decision,” he says. “Ultimately I’m the voice of the residents, and if they tell me ‘no, absolutely no, we don’t want that’—well, regardless of what my opinion is, it’s their opinion that matters.”
