Nichols wants area to have ‘a strong voice’

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This article was published 05/10/2018 (2856 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kevin Nichols hopes his second run for City council will prove to Charleswood-Tuxedo voters that he’s serious about the job. 

“I’m not a flash in the pan, I’m not in it for myself, I’m in it for the people,” he said. “I’m a concerned citizen just like everyone else.”

Nichols, 54, lives in Charleswood with his wife of 26 years and three children. He first ran for council in 2014 because he felt the neighbourhood was underrepresented at City Hall — a platform he maintains today. 

“The area doesn’t have a strong voice and I’d like to provide a strong voice for the residents,” he said.

Nichols runs his own off-grid solar product business and has worked as a safety technician with the City of Winnipeg for 32 years. He said his experience as a municipal employee gives him a good understanding of the City’s administration structure and the issues facing council. 

“From the inside looking out I know what’s going on with the city and where it can be fixed,” he said.

He is running on a platform of fiscal conservatism and would like to see more transparency at City Hall and a better use of taxpayer money. Nichols said residents are concerned with the cost of reopening Portage and Main.

“They feel it’s a waste of money to open it up and they feel it’s not going to be beneficial to open it up,” he said. “I’m with them… we don’t have enough money to say, go with our wants rather than our needs.”

Within the ward, maintaining greenspace is the primary concern for Nichols. In that vein, he is against the proposed development of condominiums at the former Chapman School site on Roblin Boulevard.

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“With (Charleswood) being, I’ll say for all intents and purposes, being fully-developed, they need all the greenspaces they can get,” he said. “It’s not that I’m against development, I think that we do need some development, but it should be responsible.”

He is also opposed to the extension of the William R. Clement Parkway and would instead like to see Route 90 and Wilkes Avenue widened to alleviate traffic congestion and save the dog park and field along Grant Avenue. 

Nichols’ platform also includes lowering transit fares to $2, purchasing electric buses, disbanding City Hall’s executive policy committee and changing the way the City manages community centre leases. 

“I want to make sure people are getting the best bang for their buck without increasing the taxes.”

Nichols is president of the Charleswood Broncos Football Club, has sat on the Roblin Park Community Centre board and was president of the École Dieppe Home and School Association.

Eva Wasney
Reporter

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

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