For Peter Jickling, serving on city council is an opportunity to give back to his hometown.

The 34-year-old single freelance writer submitted his nomination forms for the Oct. 15 municipal election Tuesday, running for one of six councillor seats.

Jickling has lived Outside a few times to attend school or just to experience another place.

However, he has always returned home and felt an amazing amount of support each time he’s taken on something new such as in his roles as playwright or when he previously worked as the editor of What’s Up Yukon.

“This has always been home,” he said in an interview this morning.

Jickling is now in a position where he can contribute and afford to give back to the community that has given him so much over the years. So, he’s decided to put his name forward to be part of city council.

“I think I can bring people together to get things done,” he said, noting his experience from his former job enabled him to be in touch with the community.

He also described himself as a hard worker with a strong sense of integrity who works well with others, qualities he believes are important in the role of councillor.

Jickling pointed to a number of areas he’d like to focus on, first noting the need to start thinking about increasing urban density.

He noted the Yukon government’s plans to building a 300-bed care facility (beginning with a first phase that would accommodate 150 residents) in Whistle Bend.

Despite numerous objections to the plans due to the site’s locations away from established areas of town, the project is moving forward.

While it is a Yukon government project, Jickling noted, it’s the city that approves the zoning. He argued problems will compound if more work isn’t done to look at urban density.

Jickling also pointed to accessibility issues.

The city has taken a good step forward in incorporating an assessment on accessibility to Softball Yukon’s lease and planning to do the same with future leases for other organizations, he said.

However, there is always more that can be done to ensure buildings have automatic doors and other features to provide accessibility.

“The city’s on the right track,” he said.

Climate change is another major area Jickling would like to see the city focus on.

“Whitehorse has the opportunity to be a real leader,” he said on climate change.

With Whitehorse a northern community with a large carbon footprint, he added, it could be argued the city has a moral obligation to do everything it can to help on the climate change front.

Jickling concedes he doesn’t have all the answers on how the city can pursue taking that leadership role on the issue.

However, he pointed out the way the transit system operates, and that policies around building (such as those that encourage greener standards or more efficient homes) all play a role in reducing the carbon footprint of the city.

Jickling has launched a Facebook page for his campaign. A fundraiser for his campaign is also planned this weekend at the Wood Cutter’s Blanket downtown.

See another candidate’s letter.