Formidable election forum

Times Contributor

 

Close to 150 residents filled the Strathmore Civic Centre on October 3, to familiarize themselves with the extensive line up of candidates running in the 2013 Strathmore municipal election. 

Current Mayor, Steve Grajczyk is facing off against Michael Ell. Current Councillors Bob Sobol, Rocky Blokland, Dave Hamilton, John Rempel and Pat Fule are running again, while new candidates for council are Allan Auger, Doug Clarke, Mark Giesbrecht, John M. Whieldon and Brad Walls. Telisa Tebbutt and Denise Peterson are the two women candidates running in this election. Currently, the council has all male members.

The credentials of all candidates range from local business persons, to educators, career professionals, financial experts and trades persons. Many have been raised or lived in Strathmore for many years and have families growing up in the community. Most of them have served with community service groups and social agencies. Several have a police background. During the forum, they all expressed their love for the community and desire to give back as a reason for running in the election.

The evening started with a one minute madness, with candidates admirably trying to dispatch as much information as possible in a one minute time period. The content was fairly consistent across the board with candidates touching on their accomplishments, advocating curbed financial spending and taxes, encouraging development of commercial and industrial development, advocating residential development with upgrades to roads, promising attention to senior’s issues, health care and hospital protection, and developing recreational activity. 

This was followed by questions delivered from the audience. Due to the large amount of content, summaries of answers are as follows:

Civic revitalization and taxes: Ell recommended improvement of curb appeal and offering tax incentives for business development. Antonisse thought strategic road signs would increase business downtown. Tebbutt advocated improving communication use by marketing and using technological media to promote Strathmore. Clarke proposed graduated scales of taxation for different income levels of businesses. Sobol indicated that change would be supported by changing attitudes towards the project. Fule said increased residential population and events in the downtown core would stimulate the downtown. Whieldon disagreed listing denser population statistics indicate greater crime rates. He countered heritage buildings and a change to commercial taxation would bring benefits.

City vs Town: Candidates that answered whether Strathmore’s should move to city status were proportionally split between the positive and negative. Grajczyk agreed it should, but deferred to the majority of voters who didn’t want it. Ell said the town could grow without being a city and there were advantages to maintaining a warm and friendly town atmosphere. Giesbrecht thought city status had economic development advantages, which would increase jobs and growth. Peterson said there were pro’s and con’s that needed to be weighed and a plebiscite should be conducted on the issue, questioning things like the cost of policing and providing social services. She said Drumheller and Hanna tried it and it didn’t produce results. Brad Walls said keeping traditions and rural roots alive was important to Strathmore residents and the ramifications of moving to city status needed to be considered.

Recreation officer vs Economic Development officer: There was debate over which was a more valuable asset. Those currently serving on council supported the recreation officer position, based on the significantly increased events in town that provide something for residents and bring money in for businesses. Ell, Giesbrecht, Auger and Walls said an economic development officer would be effective by having focused time to develop business, commercial and industrial growth partnerships.  

Water and utility costs: Auger suggested a second meter for outside watering, so extra sewage fees weren’t charged. Whieldon informed the public of a home tracking bud that could be installed in pipes to measure sewage use. Rempel indicated that Council should invest back into the residential irrigation line. Grajczyk said the town has invested in the plant and the water lines and there isn’t much that can be done to reduce costs. He said town residents are essentially paying double for future users cost.  The town is locked into various utility contracts and many thought there were no solutions to high rates. Brad Walls said there needs to be some creative thinking to examine possible solutions and a tax base developed to defer costs.

Collaborate efforts: All candidates asked said that more collaboration was needed between all levels of community, business, organizations and political entities. Antonisse said damaged external relationships could be restored.  

Library expansion: There was general support for a library expansion. Gracjczyk said they need it, but there is no money. Ell suggested fundraising efforts and securing community grants. Blokland said to work with owners of suitable empty buildings downtown and modify them for the library. Fule agreed with Blokland, but said more money was needed, and could be gained through increased provincial funding and increased per capita funding. Peterson said there needed to be a shift in mentality, as literacy was the great equalizer and she advocated private-public-political partnerships. Clarke said a new library could be designed as a part of a community recreation centre, or City hall. Walls said libraries build educated families, who in turn build strong communities. Whieldon also supported the library’s role in child development initiatives.

Several more forums are being planned prior to election. Watch for announcements in subsequent issues of the Strathmore Times.