It's been almost three years since Clarence Wood was acclaimed mayor of Inuvik.

At the time, he promised to take the town's case to the rest of the country. He told NNSL Media in an exclusive interview he feels he's delivered on that.

"I think I'm helping in this community," he said. "I've done a lot of lobbying work in the past SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½” I want to see it through. There's things coming in the future I've laid the groundwork for.

"I want to see a military base here like we used to have."

Pointing to new construction around town, ranging from a series of new building projects spearheaded by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation to the Gwich'in Tribal Council's project to erect 25 homes SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½” on top of the town's plans to construct a solar array power generation station SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½” Wood said there is a lot of money being invested in the community right now.

He's further encouraged by plans to construct a remote sensing station at the Canadian Satellite Station and the NORAD forward-operating base at Mike Zubko Airport. He said he's been lobbying the federal government for a greater military presence locally and was happy to see the federal defence minister visit recently and affirm the town has the capacity to play a larger role in Canada's defence grid. Wood said he had a meeting with NORAD officials in October and will be hosting U.S. ambassador David L. Cohen this month.

"I actually invited him to Inuvik about eight to 10 months ago, so it's nice to see him come," said Wood. "I invited Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the leader of the opposition as well. I got no response from either one, which I didn't expect.

"I enjoy going out and attracting people to this town. I want to see Inuvik grow."

Another area Wood said he's tried to focus on is minimizing tax increases. The municipality was able to limit property tax increases to one per cent this year, he noted.

Balancing Inuvik's budget is a tricky business, with the town's utilidor system still undergoing an $80-million repair job. Wood said the unique sewage and water system cost the town roughly $10,000 per metre to repair or construct.

He added that the town had seen $4.7 million in land sales in the last year.

"The town is growing," he said. "We're positioned to be a hub for innovation in the Arctic and I think that's important. It will not only create jobs but it will also give Inuvik visibility, so maybe more people would be interested in moving here."

Highs and lows

Wood has been a resident of Inuvik for 37 years and has sat on town council for 26 of those, in addition to his last three years as mayor. In that time he's witnessed the highs of the oil booms to the lows of the oil busts.

He asserted that Inuvik is enjoying an economic surge right now. The next step is to pry more infrastructure funding from the GNWT to support the current growth, he suggested.

"Right now, Inuvik is going through a mini-boom as far as construction goes," he said. "I want to be part of that SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½” anything that I can do to help improve Inuvik, I've always been willing to do. Inuvik is my home and I have no intentions of leaving.

"Even with the difficulties over the years, I've enjoyed every minute."

Wood encouraged anyone in town who is interested in municipal affairs to consider putting their name forward for election, either for his job or a council seat. But he cautioned people should make sure they know what they're getting into before spending money on a campaign.

"It can be a very rewarding process or a very painful one depending on whether you do your homework in advance or not," he said. "Research everything, so you know exactly what you have to do, including how much research you have to do before every council meeting, what's involved in a council meeting SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½” you should know the rules beforehand.

"Make sure you can attend every meeting SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½” we've had issues in the past with councillors not showing up or showing up at the last minute, not reading their packages and asking questions which are already answered."

Councillors can expect to spend between 10 to 30 hours a week researching and reading, he suggested.

"It's the type of job where you're never off the job," he said. "It's 24/7. When I was a councillor and even now as mayor, I'll get calls sometimes at midnight, from somebody who is either not happy about something or thinks something should be done.

"As a representative of the town, you have to be prepared to answer their questions, whether you're half asleep or not."

Election Day is Oct. 21. Nominations are open until Sept. 23 at 3 p.m.