STRATHCONA COUNTY

Vote . Ward 5 Council . Elections 2021

My Decision to Run for County Council

My decision to run for a council position within the County of Strathcona has definitely not been an easy one. I believe that elected officials are placing their names and reputations into the public over decisions that will not be agreed upon by everyone, but are required to do so in order to have (what should be) the best interest for our County at hand.

This is my home and where my family will be residing for years to come, and I am concerned that some of the decisions made by the current council will negatively impact our future. These concerns are not only my own, but many others have voiced them to me on numerous occasions to the point of being brought up almost daily. A few of these examples include our high-grade farmland being allocated to industrial sized projects. Its estimated 10 thousand acres of prime farm land has been allocated for the Bremner and Cambrian Crossing projects alone. Another such project example is the AG facility named Pointé-aux-Pins Acres that has been approved, yet no one can show any comparable project of this size within a similar region to be financially capable of sustaining itself. The estimation is upwards of $90M for this AG facility at a time when materials and labor cost are higher than they have ever been. This means our tax dollars will be funding this facility with no “realistic” end in sight. There is ANOTHER $70M-$90M project being considered and listed as the “Indoor Field House”. I am having serious problems understanding how this facility will be financed let alone how it will be supported without increasing our taxes. I simply don’t believe it can.

As one of 3 RURAL councillors with an acreage and farming background, I have ongoing concerns about the back seat that agriculture has now taken in this county. There was an Agriculture Master Plan that was approved by council in 2016, yet there has been no support shown towards it. It states that prime farmland should only be developed as a LAST RESORT. Yet current and previous councils have completely ignored this principal.
While we all understand that change, regardless of what is being considered never comes easily or quickly, I believe that a policy of open-door communication with the residents of Ward 5 is an essential first step. I also believe it is imperative that residents’ voices are actually heard. Current council far too often seem to dismisses resident concerns, insisting that the “silent majority” agrees with them. Representative democracy doesn’t mean that council “knows best.” Council should not be allowed total freedom to make decisions that residents must then simply accept.

The county’s slogan is “Your County. Your Voice.” Does council respect/acknowledge that concept?

If you, as a resident in the County of Strathcona, have any concerns or would like to have a conversation about what is happening within our region, please reach out to me any time.

Council decisions impact us all.

Information

Voicing Feedback

Statistics

Accountability

DIRECTION

One of the main projects I will be working on is the ability to direct and receive “relevant” information to and from our Ward 5 Residents regarding the decisions being made within our county. If something is about to have a direct impact on you, I believe you have the right to know about it before it gets to the approval stage.
  • This will be done through an online platform that will allow you (as a regional constituent) the ability to answer and ask simple questions, along with a general understanding of what is happening within our Ward.
  • A few examples would include; If zoning in a specific area is tabled to be changed, transportation uses changing on specific roads, an industrial sized project being considered, or even if a present road is designated to be resurfaced. *Questionably* This could be done as a survey/ voting style or simply a resource for general information
    • There have been many instances within our region where approvals have been made at what seems to be prior to informing most of the affected people, and I believe there is a way to have this ongoing problem addressed.

These are some of the requests I have been listening to, along with additional interests and concerns. I believe we all understand how this list will continue to grow and change as to what our regional Ward 5 residents find important enough to request looking into.

TAXES

  • Support Lowering of Property Taxes
    • We all know this is not a simple solution, but if our spending commitments are overburdening our budgets, maybe we should be reviewing some of our present policies to address this problem.
    • Rural property taxes without proper representation seems to be a patterned concern as well. I have been asked many times to explain what we actually receive for our taxes living in rural Strathcona County.

SPENDING CONTROL

  • Reduce and Lead by Example
    • From Pay cuts to salary reductions. There are many places to open this conversation to and we should all be willing to listen to options.
  • Review Prioritize Spending
    • Police – Fire – Health / Safety – Road – Infrastructure etc.

Approving to the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars on multiple projects that may not become sustainable is another problem I believe that needs to be addressed.  A few of these examples include; – Cambrian Heights, The Bremner Project, The Multi Purpose Agricultural Facility, The Field House Sports Complex etc.

(The financial numbers on these are staggering, yet limited regional residents fully understand what is being approved without true constituent involvement)

To make it clear. I am not either for or against projects like these being tabled. However, I believe the decision to move forward on these types of larger projects need to be looked at, listened to and agreed upon by the constituents of our Strathcona County far more than they presently are.

Supporting Senior’s Programs

  • I have been asked by a number of our Ward 5 seniors to look into some of the programs presently available for them, along with if there is any additional support that may be available to help keep our senior community healthy and active. Our region has quite a large number of seniors now and I can see how this demographic will continue to grow, this is why I believe there will always be a need to show some focus to these needs on an ongoing basis.

Internet Speed & Reliability

  • The number of residents working from home, along with the required access of high-speed internet within our daily lives has grown year over year. I have seen and heard just how imperative it is that we ensure our residents are able to access this “Utility” without many of the problems and outages we have seen over the last number of years. We need to continue making sure we are on track to offering solutions to all rural residents sooner than later.

Trail System / Biking, Hiking & Walking

  • Another topic of conversation I have come across is the request for looking at the possibility of laying out a stronger network of trail systems for Biking, Hiking and Walking within the Ardrossan and Rural area. I really can not say weather this would be possible or not at the moment, but this does have my interest as I do believe we have the foundation in place and this may be worth looking into.

Youth Services & Programs

  • This is a topic that has come up to me fairly recently. To be straight forward, I would like to have a closer look as to what is presently in place along with what our regional Ward 5 constituents would like to see. This is another open conversation that I would be more than willing to support going forward.

Utilize Managed Competitions

  • Are services being tendered where the county should be supporting them?
  • Potential to begin supporting city employees with development towards their own bids

Gain Sharing

  • Reward system / Employee Ideas / Incentives
  • Find savings for the City – % of it goes towards the employee that presented it.

Utilize New Tech

  • Simply continue to move forward with new tech that can benefit the county by keeping an open door to ongoing change.

Of course, these are simply a foundation for “base guidelines” on what many of the constituents of our Ward 5 have brought up to me time and again.  While I am sure there will be more foundational “platform” directions that will come to light, it needs to be noted that while some of these may be feasible, some may not, but at the least, I will commit to research the matter in more detail once I am in a position to do so.

Just A Little About Myself

Born and raised on acreages and farms throughout the region, Direct family goes back to the late 1890s and homesteaded in the Smoky Lake area. Typical country boy with a passion for the outdoors includes everything from ATVs and Skiing to golfing and fishing. Keeping life simple while striving to help others succeed around me has always been a forefront direction in my life.

Business Related

I have a strong business and financial background along with a long history of working with numerous small businesses. Being able to help someone grow their company and guide them through the trials of startups to various stages of growth is something I will always look forward to doing.
I have held positions of Sr. Account Managers to VP of Sales and Marketing within the automotive industry and am always looking to continue educating myself with as many experiences as possible.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

– Volunteered with Santas Anonymous
– Minor hockey league coach
– Small business development coaching
– Working with various charity events
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Part of my “Platform” within the first year of being elected is to build a program where we can forward information and receive feedback onspecific topics going on within our regional Ward and County.


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