St. George's mayoral candidate, Mariea Caisey, JP, answers questions posed by the Royal Gazette's Beverley Causey-Smith. Ms Caisey is assistant vice president operation compliance manager at the Bank of Bermuda.

On November 6, a new mayor will be elected for St. George's, along with three Aldermen and five Common Councillors which comprise the body of the Corporation.

What are your current roles with St. George's and exactly what do you do?

"I have a few roles in St. George's. Apart from being Alderman and Deputy Mayor on the Corporation I am also on the membership committee of the St. George's Foundation, I represent the Corporation on the St. George's Chamber

of Commerce, I sit on the St. George's Preservation Authority, I am a committee member of the World Heritage Committee and Secretary of the St. George's Dinghy and Sports Club."

In terms of leadership describe yourself.

"As a leader I listen to what people have to say. I have an open mind and believe in the majority rules, even though I may not be in favour of the results."

What motivates you to want to be mayor?

"I am motivated to be the mayor because it would be a challenge, an honour and a privilege to work along side of the dedicated staff of the Corporation and the people of St. George to make our Town a place that we all can be proud of and work together as a team to make it one of the most successful World Heritage Sites on earth. I am not sure everyone realises just how important having the status of World Heritage is, but if successful as mayor that will be one of my goals to inform everyone starting with our children."

Do you have specific dreams for St. George's?

"My dreams for St. George's are that we all work together for our Town. I would like to see more residents participate in town meetings to express their views when it comes to the running of the Town. I will not make any promises because I do not have total control. I feel that without the input of everyone we can not truly work on their behalf unless we know what is on their minds.""I would like to see the old Club Med on the hill knocked down or renovated. Only the engineers know what can be done with the building, but we need that place opened. Our visitors need more accommodations in St. George's and it would make more jobs available and contribute to the Town's tax base."

" I would like to see an agreement made with Government that the Corporation gets the increase in tax revenue to run the Town efficiently on our own so that we don't have to keep putting band aides on things that we don't have the money to replace. Everyone has heard before our infrastructure is crumbling under us and we need to put a great deal of money into this

town to get it running like a well oiled machine."

"I could go on, but right now I just want to tackle what is on the books to be done today and then go on from there."

What are you ideas and hopes for another bridge to link the East End to the rest of Bermuda?

"I am somewhat torn between leaving the Causeway as is and having another bridge. We don't get hurricanes of that magnitude all the time and to spend millions of dollars on a bridge for "just in case", in my opinion, would not be wise. I am a

banker, I don't have the expertise. If we could have engineers look at what we have and maybe include some steel and arches so that the water will flow through and under, instead of beating against the walls, perhaps that could possibly work."

What are you thoughts on keeping a viable Police station in St. George's?

"As long as we have a bridge separating us from Southside we need to have a police station in St. George's. The one that is there now needs a lot of work to make the working conditions for the police constables comfortable and that should be first on the list. If we keep them happy then we will be kept happy and safe. There should be one patrol car with two PCs left in St. George's at all times that do not cross the bridge."

Why do residents of St. George's pay extra for hedge trimming and garbage collection?

"I believe your question should be, why do we pay Corporation Tax and the answer is because we are a municipality and we need the taxes in order to run the Town, which has included paying Government for some of their services."

Do you have any environmental thought on resolving the asbestos problems at South Side?

"Government should get the asbestos off of the island as safely as possible. They also should have all asbestos removed from around the Island and give some sort of aid to assist those people that can not afford to have it replaced themselves. They need to get rid of it for once and for all."

What personal strengths or talents prepare you as the best candidate for mayor?

"I have been on the Corporation for the past five years. I have worked in the Bank of Bermuda for 32 years of which 20 years have been managing staff, at present 19. I have taken many managerial courses and Dale Carnegie which gave me the tools needed to speak publicly."

"I have been the Deputy Mayor for the past three years - filling in when needed for the Mayor. I am

aware of what the Corporation has on it's agenda and what is needed to accomplish them. I have a great working relationship with all of the Corporation staff." " Lastly, I was the first female Commodore of the St. George's Dinghy & Sports Club which has a membership of 250 plus, with close to a 100 yachts passing through our Club a year, which I ran successfully for two years."

Will you push to keep the ferry services to and from Hamilton?

"I would like to think Government will listen to the people. If the demand is there I would hope they would supply the services, everyone will win."

Due to hurricane damage done to Town Hall, the polling station will be held on Ordnance Island at the Cruise Ship Terminal from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. on November 6. The candidates will be there during the voting hours.