BOWDEN ñ Coun. Earl Wilson is the second candidate to run for mayor in the Oct. 16 municipal election.
He joins incumbent mayor Robb Stuart in that race. Earlier, Stuart announced plans to run for a third term as mayor.
Stuart has been on council for 13 years, seven as mayor. Wilson, a Bowden resident for 22 years, has served on council for about six years.
Like Stuart, Wilson says he'd like to see more competition for seats on the seven-member council, although he concedes it's pretty tough for young people who are busy working to feed their families.
"By stepping up and running for the Bowden mayor's position, it will give the people of Bowden the opportunity to elect their mayor," Wilson wrote in a prepared statement.
In the last election in 2013, the entire Bowden council was chosen by acclamation.
During an interview with the Albertan, Wilson agreed that by putting his hat in the ring for mayor, that would free up a councillor's seat to be contested this time around.
"We've had too many acclamations around the country and the people aren't getting a chance to vote," he said.
Wilson, 75, is a retired automobile warehouse manager. He said he did not think his age would be a factor in the race, saying he managed five major warehouses in Canada at age 65.
Wilson declined to lay out his entire platform going into the race, saying there'll be time to do that as the election gets closer. However, he did outline some ideas of what he'd like to see done.
"What we have to do is get more housing development area because as you know, we have some new businesses coming to town that are going to employ more people and basically, we ran out of lots to build (on)," he said.
Wilson said recently approved annexation of land by the town is part of the answer to that problem.
He also noted that a company has expressed interest in buying the Bowden Rest Stop land.
If that occurs, he said money obtained from that sale could perhaps go toward "developing something."
Wilson said the provincial government has hinted that if it undertakes improvements to Highway 2, it might close the southbound off-ramp from Highway 2 that leads to the rest stop.
"To me, if they close that off-ramp, it's going to hurt. It's really going to hurt the business. It's going to hurt ñ in my estimation ñ the golf course as well, because if they do that, the people are going to have to go off that off- ramp, (Highway) 587, make a left, go through a school zone, find their way up to the diner or ñ they're just going to keep going, as far as I'm concerned," Wilson said. "I fought pretty hard to convince the council."
He's hopeful that if the rest stop is purchased, that closure won't happen.
"If we can get a company to come in and invest in that area, I'm sure they're going to be smart enough not to do it without some guarantees from the province (to keep the off-ramp open)," he said.
"We've had too many acclamations around the country and the people aren't getting a chance to vote."EARL WILSONBOWDEN TOWN COUNCILLOR
