Janna Sylvest is running for one of six seats on Castlegar City Council.
She sees it as a responsibility to manage a broad range of issues that impact the community, both local and national in scale. “I see Castlegar at a crossroads regionally, provincially and nationally. Climate change, the impact of NAFTA, to our forestry industry, demographic change affecting critical services in health care, education, infrastructure, and revenue, and Columbia River Treaty talks are just a few examples of the global events a city councillor is called upon to manage at the local level.”
She says it’s important for a city councillor to be able to best represent the community and build alliances within the larger Columbia Basin region.
She says she doesn’t have any single priority she’s focused on and sees the role of city councillor as a much larger in scope. “We are the closest eye on what is important to the local community and where the funding gaps are and what the priorities are and what the future of the community looks like.”
Sylvest was raised in Castlegar and left to pursue a varied career which includes work in business and law. She is now retired but has made Castlegar her forever home and is active in volunteering her time as an economic development professional.