Alex Joehl, a former Libertarian candidate for provincial office, has announced he will run for mayor in Langley Township.

“Government has a track record of being patronizing to its public, even if it is more benevolent than malicious most of the time,” Joehl wrote on his Facebook page announcing his run. “But city hall should be here to support the residents, not dictate their lives.”

A resident of Langley for the past two and a half years, Joehl had considered running for council, but noted that it was a crowded field.

“I saw that Mr. Froese was running unopposed,” he said, and decided to run for mayor.

As a libertarian, Joehl said fiscal responsibility and accountability are key principles, though he noted they should be for all candidates.

His major issues will be infrastructure and housing affordability.

Joehl said he’d look at whether there’s a different way to build new roads, which at present are funded by fees paid by developers or built directly by developers. The new candidate said other municipal governments build roads as capital investments.

To cut housing costs, he said cutting back on the fees paid by developers and expediting the development process would help reduce the costs passed along to home buyers.

He also wants to review the use of the RCMP as Langley’s police force, and consider replacing them with a municipal force.

Joehl last ran for office during the 2017 provincial election in the Langley East riding that was won by Liberal MLA Rich Coleman.

He previously carried the Libertarian banner in two federal elections in Surrey, in Fleetwood-Port Kells in 2011 and in Surrey North in 2008.

After two high-profile residents – Township Councillor Kim Richter and Fort Langley landowner and developer Eric Woodward – both decided not to run for mayor in favour of running for council, incumbent Mayor Jack Froese had been facing no opponents.

• More to come