Aldergrove resident Kurt Ruginis has dropped out of the mayor’s race in Langley Township.
His nomination papers were withdrawn just before the cutoff date on Sept. 14.
ORIGINAL STORY BELOW
Newcomer Kurt Ruginis is joining the race for mayor of the Township of Langley against incumbent Mayor Jack Froese, and Libertarian candidate Alex Joehl.
A lifelong Aldergrove resident, Ruginis is a self-titled “blue collar worker,” who has held many jobs ranging from automotive and painting, to truck driving, construction and DJing.
As a teenager, he was active with the Cadets program in Aldergrove, and over the years has been involved with Toastmasters and the Nicomekl Enhancement Society.
This is the first time Ruginis has ever run for political office. He said he felt compelled to throw his name into the hat as “no one else has stood up.”
“I’m going to be the one that stands up and represents equal opportunity for more people than what’s been happening in the past,” he told the Times.
When asked about the issues he sees in the Township of Langley today, Ruginis said:
“The major issue is we need to acknowledge the problems that have been arising instead of ignoring them and hope they will just go away. We need firm leadership in a direction that benefits people that need our support and our guidance. I believe in profit. I believe in financial stability, but I also believe in equal opportunity for our children, for our troubled youth. Incentive programs for the homeless, giving them opportunities. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. I’ll be able to lay guidelines out and the ones that benefit from it will be the ones that are working to achieve the success. It’s not just a handout, you know, nobody rides for free. You have to be given opportunities so that they can rise above the obstacles that they face.”
Specifically, those arising problems are suicide rates and water, he said.
“The facts stand for themselves. We’ve got suicide rates that we’ve never had before, we’ve got water problems that we’ve never had before. And these are things that we need to address and rectify and try to get back on track.”
The best approach to do this is to find common ground and to work together, he said.
“People are going to call each other names and what benefit is that to our children that are looking up to us for guidance?” Ruginis said. “This infighting is not doing anybody any good. We have a situation, deal with the situation and not the people that are trying to rectify the situation.”
Ruginis said that if elected, his ability to work hard will make all the difference.
“I’m used to working hard, I’m used to taking a situation from beginning, to middle, to resolution. I feel really good at the end of the day that I’ve produced and I’ve accomplished something,” he said.
“I know very well, honestly and sincerely, that I am the best candidate for mayor. And that’s for sure.”
Ruginis said a website, photo and more information on his campaign will be released in the coming days.
miranda@langleytimes.com
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