Two new names have been added to the ballot for city council.
William Gomes, a budget analyst in the territory's Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Robin Williams, a managing partner at Roy's Audio Video Unlimited, are each vying for one of eight seats on council.
Gomes is an accountant with Environment and Natural Resources and on the side, provides tax services to Yellowknifers out of his home.
Through his tax business, Gomes talks to residents and conversations regularly involve issues in the city.
“I take those things very seriously,” he said on Thursday.
“I have lived in the North for eight years and the North has offered me so much,” said Gomes, who lived in Montreal before moving to NWT where he has since raised his family.
“I would like to give something back to the city, making sure that the city gets something out of my knowledge and my skills.”
Gomes says he is not entering the race with an agenda, rather, he is vowing to act according to the will of people.
“I want to hear people's voices, their words, they're concerns, how exactly they want to see the city in the future,” he said.
“My agenda is my people, their concerns and their goals.”
In addition to co-managing Roy's Audio Video, Williams is the vice-president of community theatre company Ptarmigan Ptheatrics.
In an interview Wednesday, he said the idea of running for a seat on council crystallized after the recent birth of his second child.
“Your priorities tend to change and you start to think about community and you start to think about giving back in a bigger way,” he said.
“A council job spoke to some of those needs so I decided to go for it.”
If elected, said Williams, he will be a champion for the tourism sector and throw his weight behind investments in tourism infrastructure.
“Northern tourism is something that's exploding on the world stage and it's Yellowknife's opportunity to get our foot in the door,” he said.
Williams isn't shy about possibly becoming a public figure in town.
“I've always kind of been in the public eye,” he said.
“I don't think it'll be that surprising to Yellowknifers that my name is in the running for city council.”