Klein wants to bring business experience to council

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This article was published 05/10/2018 (2857 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kevin Klein wants City Hall to get back to basics. 

The former publisher and chief executive officer of the Winnipeg Sun is one of four candidates running for council in Charleswood-Tuxedo. 

Klein, 53, lives in Tuxedo and has a blended family that includes his partner and six kids. He is running for council because he’s frustrated with the current state of the City and wants to give back. 

“I think that we’ve lost touch with the constituents and that’s what civic politics is about,” he said, adding that he believes council should be focused on improving roads, ensuring public parks are clean and improving community club services.

Klein is campaigning on a promise of accountability and, if elected, he says he will increase residents’ access to City Hall by appointing a “constituency prosperity agent;” personally returning phone calls and emails; holding town halls and creating three advisory boards made up of residents from Charleswood, Tuxedo and Westwood. 

He has also announced that he would add Westwood to the ward name if he becomes councillor. 

“You run into a lot of people who don’t realize the ward changed, that’s a communication issue,” Klein said. “I think it’s respectful for the people that I’m asking to hire me, that they be included.”

Another concern he has heard from residents is an increase in crime in the area. 

“It’s minor, petty theft as they call it, but my fear is what does that become in a long time?” he said, adding that he doesn’t think more police patrols in the ward is a feasible solution. 

Instead, he would like to see officers assigned as liaisons to neighbourhood watch groups that are already established. 

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“Make sure there’s a connection with an officer so that they can have somebody they can talk to or if they see something,” he said.

Back on the topic of accountability, Klein said assessing City spending is one of his top priorities.

“It gets down to people wanting to know where their tax dollars are spent and why,” he said. “I’d like to see us sit down as representatives of the tax base and ensure that we’re allocating the dollars properly.”

When asked why he’s the right person to represent Charleswood-Tuxedo at City Hall, Klein points to his experience in the media and in business as a former divisional president with MTS. 

“I have experience negotiating, I have experience attracting business — we need to be open for business, we need to bring more jobs and opportunities here to keep our kids here,” he said. “I don’t have an agenda, I don’t owe anybody anything, I’m going to go there because I want to make a change.”

Eva Wasney
Reporter

Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva.

Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.