Entering a four-year relationship shouldn't be taken lightly, so undecided voters got to test their compatibility with city council candidates Wednesday night.
Twenty-five of the 27 candidates for mayor and city council spent the night going on two-minute "speed dates" with voters at the Prince George Public Library's Candi-dating event, co-hosted by The Citizen. Frank Everitt and Donald Roberts were not in attendance.
Walter Shelest was concerned about development cost charges, which he said are not being properly collected by the city by those who want to create new subdivisions.
"I have no intention of paying out of my property taxes for people who want to live up in College Heights or University Heights," said Shelest, who was looking to hear candidates' views on the issue.
Another long-time resident, who identified himself as Stephen, said he was already well aware of most candidates' backgrounds and - as with every election - was looking for a balance of backgrounds and personalities for the various local government bodies.
"To look at the school trustees and have three-quarters of them ex-school district people, to me is not good," said Stephen. "You need a balance of some parents and maybe you need a little bit of a business presence."
Jim Rosenau said he was looking for candidates to differentiate themselves to pick up those last few spots on his list.
"The things that's kind of frustrated me... most people have the same priorities - snow removal, potholes, infrastructure. But when it comes to implementation it's very general," said Rosenau.
Also on his two-minute interview list were specific candidates who didn't have much of an online presence.
"I figure in this day in age, in 2014, you've got to have an Internet footprint. So that made me suspect of someone who wouldn't at least endeavour to do that," Rosenau said.
At least one person had already cast their ballot before heading to Wednesday night's event. Heather Lamb took advantage of the advanced voting opportunity earlier in the day, but still wanted the chance to express her concerns directly to candidates about accessibility issues.
Weston McGee got creative with his two minutes and asked the candidates for their views on the addition of dihydrogen monoxide to the city's water supply.
"Some thought I was being sneaky," McGee said, "but it also was a test to see if they would admit to not knowing something and tested their knowledge of chemistry."
Dihydrogen monoxide is water.
McGee said his argument was also that perhaps the new council shouldn't be entirely deferential to the referendum question about continuing to add fluoride to the city's drinking water, given that the majority of the population is not likely to be informed or are misinformed.
