Fule reflects on 2023
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Mayor of Strathmore, Pat Fule, reflected on 2023 as a positive year for the town, with a host of accomplishments having been made to be excited about.
Fule put an emphasis on the implementation and practice of council’s strategic plan having been of significant benefit to the town overall.
“(Our) strategic plan guides us for our four-year term, and we are focused on six priority areas for the town … all of our decisions are guided on trying to meet those (principles) within our community,” he said. “Council and the administration, the senior leadership team, all of our staff are all working for those things. We are also really happy we are able to approve our 2024 operating and capital budgets.”
Fule explained it was a goal for the current council to keep tax increases as low as possible, while being able to maintain a high standard of services for residents.
The total operating and capital budget for the town was approved at $44,718,700, being a 5.2 per cent increase over the 2023 budget.
“A highlight of 2023 was the Lead By Example Powwow that was a cross-cultural community celebration. The whole town was involved; schools, residents, and people from all over North America came to a celebration and a full-contest powwow in honour of Kristian Ayoungman,” said Fule. “Mar. 18 and 19 we welcomed people from all over Canada and the US to see and experience world-class Indigenous drumming and dancing … we had over 645 people participating … 52 vendors, 40 sponsors, and over 3,000 spectators.”
Fule added he was excited to see the revenue generated for Strathmore through the event, as well as the media spotlight on the town both locally and nationally caused by the occasion. In 2024, the Lead By Example Powwow is scheduled for June 7 to 9 to be hosted at the Ag Society grounds.
Regarding improvements for the town and priorities that require addressing, Fule wants to see more local housing development in the upcoming year.
“More rental housing is really important in Strathmore, and I don’t mean just affordable housing or low-income housing. We just need more housing inventory so that hopefully with more inventory on hand, people have more choice and selection and that rental costs may start to stabilize and come down and become more reasonable,” he said. “We definitely are working hard on … some rental housing that we can bring to the to the town. We also know that the De Haviland project, which is going to be huge for Wheatland County and the Town of Strathmore, it is moving along nicely and we know that is going to (require) a lot of housing as well, as they try to house their employees and upper management people.”