Long-time engineer, business owner and former City of Prince George senior executive Bob Radloff announced today that he will seek election to Prince George city council.
Radloff is launching his campaign around Building a Better Future. At the heart of the campaign is a perspective Radloff says few candidates can bring: he has spent his career building things that work and has experience doing so on both sides of the City Hall counter.
“I’ve spent my career building things that work,” said Radloff. “I’ve spent years inside City Hall, helping manage the organization and understanding how decisions get made. Then I spent years on the other side of the counter, working with City Hall and local governments as an engineer and business owner, helping people get projects built. I know what the system looks like from both sides.”
Radloff previously held a senior leadership role with the City of Prince George, giving him first-hand experience with municipal planning, development, infrastructure, operations, budgets and how decisions move through City Hall. Since leaving the city, his engineering and business career has given him the other perspective – what it is like for residents, businesses, builders and investors trying to navigate those same systems.
“That matters,” Radloff said. “When you’ve been on both sides of the counter, you understand why City Hall does some of the things the way it does, but you also understand why people on the outside can get frustrated. I think that perspective can help us build better processes and deliver better service.”
“There are a lot of great people working for the City of Prince George,” Radloff added. “This isn’t about blaming employees or tearing down City Hall. It’s asking whether we have the best systems in place to let great people do great work and provide the services residents expect.”
If elected, his work at City Hall will focus on practical improvements to City processes, responsible infrastructure planning and making Prince George a great place to live, work and invest.
Radloff also recognizes that the social disorder on city streets represents a barrier to a better future – for residents and for people struggling with mental illness and addiction. He says it must be addressed. While he does not claim to be an expert, Radloff has seen this issue from both sides as well: as a downtown business owner and taxpayer, and through first-hand family experience with mental health, addiction and homelessness. He says that experience has taught him there is no easy fix, but also reinforced the importance of listening and acting. Radloff believes expanded involuntary treatment must be part of the response.
“The people of Prince George want their city back,” Radloff said. “People struggling with serious mental illness and addiction need treatment, and they’re never going to find it on George Street. We don’t need 72 beds for involuntary care – we need 300 if we are serious about helping people and restoring safety in our community.”
“The province benefits greatly from the resources of the North,” Radloff added. “It’s time for the province to make this investment in the North.”
Building a Better Future
Throughout the campaign, Radloff will use the Building a Better Future theme through a series of videos to talk in plain language about the City of Prince George, how it works today and how it can work better in the future.
“People hear a lot of promises during an election,” Radloff said. “I want to do something a little different. I want to show people how the city works, why certain things happen the way they do, and what Council and others can do to make things better.”
“I’ve seen it from both sides of the counter, and I’ve spent my career building things that work. I’d like to put that experience to work for Prince George.”