Seventh candidate enters race to be Regina’s mayor

Sandra Masters, a former three-term board chair of Regina Exhibition Association Limited, has entered the race to become mayor of Regina.

Masters launched her bid Wednesday morning at the Cathedral Social Hall, where a crowd of about 30 gathered in a dining area adorned with campaign signage.

If she wins, she would be the city’s first elected female mayor.

Masters is currently employed at Richardson Agriculture as the company’s manager of credit in the prairies, having worked in commercial real estate and banking in the past.

A Regina resident since 1999, Masters has held leadership positions as vice-president of Hockey Regina and as president of the Parent-Teacher Association at Lakeview Elementary School.

“Through these experiences I’ve come to realize that our city has so much potential but we need a vision and a strong voice to fully realize it,” Masters said.

“For too long now, we’ve accepted the status quo as good enough … I believe we can realize our potential to be one of the greatest cities in Canada and I want to be part of that plan to get us there.”

Masters has four policy priorities.

The first includes support for the Regina police and their work in areas like proactive policing, harm reduction and better community relations.

That includes tackling the root causes of crime, including poverty, addiction and mental health.

A first step, she believes, would be a poverty reduction strategy.

“That would be kind of one way that we can immediately, out of the gates, start to deal with that, in conjunction with other human service providers,” she said.

She is also calling for more value for tax dollars, saying property taxes have increased more than 110 per cent since 2007.

“As a single mother, I can tell you the strain of that on a family household is enormous,” Masters said.

Her platform states city budgets need to be more predictable and she said the city should be “bold” in exploring multi-year budgets, as is practised in other cities.

“We need to focus our priorities, and what I know for sure (is) everything can’t be a priority,” she said.

When pressed by reporters on which priorities she would put first, Masters said that’s a judgment she’ll make once she’s in the mayor’s chair.

“I think that’s a question that can only be answered once you’re in the seat and once you have access to the information that is available from administration and from council,” she said.

Masters is also running on building a vibrant downtown and spurring new economic development, with a plan on how to best employ public and private investment in the area.

Her three goals — safety, tax value and downtown — depend on economic development, she said.

She said opportunities will present themselves but also need to be “found and maybe even made.”

“The competition for people and resources is greater than ever and there really is an entrepreneurial spirit in our city and we’ve only scratched the surface,” she said.

Masters joins a list of candidates for mayor that also includes incumbent Michael Fougere and fellow challengers Jim Elliott, Tony Fiacco, Coun. Jerry Flegel, Mitchell C. Howse and George Wooldridge.

The municipal election is set for Nov. 9.