CHARLEEN MALLORY (2014 election)

I was born and raised in Fort Frances, and my family were early settlers in the district.
I have left Fort Frances many times but something has always called me “home.”
In May, 2013, my partner and I purchased our retirement home in Fort Frances and came back to stay. I never realized—until I came back home—how much I missed living in a place where people know me by name.
I have a grown son and three adult step-children.
My employment history includes the initial development of the local cable TV studio for Norwont Cable in the late 1970s. In that position, I was forced to think outside the box and step out of my comfort zone to encourage our community to utilize the facility.
The parent company of Norwont Cable asked me to relocate to B.C. and develop cable TV studios in the four communities they served.
After the birth of my son, I made a career change and returned to college, where I studied business administration. A few years later, I chose to attend Lakehead University and morph my business diploma into a Bachelor’s degree in business administration.
After graduating I was employed by Matawa First Nations in their Economic Development Corporation. While with Matawa gained valuable experience as a construction accountant and property manager.
I helped in the acquisition of a building, for their head office, then served as property manager/accountant. I also delivered training in the computer accounting package to individuals involved in the accounting for the community-based construction companies.
In 2000, I chose to relocate to Minneapolis, Mn., where I was employed by a real estate company that also was involved in development and management of commercial real estate.
I moved from there to a real estate investment firm that specialized in residential investments, where I gained valuable experience in budget development and administration.
I realize that, with the drastic reduction of the tax revenue from the mill, Fort Frances is going to face a dramatic budget shortfall.
Until I have the opportunity to analyze the present spending, I cannot make any comment on the subject of service cuts or tax increases. I will not make any promises I cannot keep.
The unfortunate reality is that there will be a budget shortfall, and the new council will need to exercise a great deal of ingenuity to balance the budget while keeping the adverse impact to the community at a minimum.
Economic development is vital to our community. Fort Frances is located almost dead centre of the continent, we have road and rail access, and we also have two international airports in the area.
There are many “widget makers” out there who want to locate a facility right here. We just need to find them and convince them that Fort Frances is the place to be; that this is the place their employees want to settle down and raise their families.
I think experience has taught us that being a “one-industry town” no longer is an option. We need to encourage a diversity that has been lacking in the past.
We live on the shores of a beautiful water system that if the world knew was here, they would beat a path to our door. We are a culturally-diverse community and need to take advantage of this, and use our cultural differences to create a vibrant, lively tourist destination.
We need to remember that what we do here in Fort Frances will affect all of Northwestern Ontario, as well as northern Minnesota.