Three of four current Olds councillors who were undecided earlier this year about seeking re-election in October have decided to run again. Debbie Bennett Dubak said she has decided to run for a second term.
Three of four current Olds councillors who were undecided earlier this year about seeking re-election in October have decided to run again.
Debbie Bennett Dubak said she has decided to run for a second term.
"I enjoyed the challenges and I enjoyed working with the team at (the) Town of Olds and the community members. It’s been a wonderful experience," she said.
Bennett Dubak said there are many items remaining on her to-do list, including speaking up for groups representing children in the community. She said she will be a strong advocate for children’s recreation in the community. Bennett Dubak will also be looking to work with volunteer groups.
"If I am elected again I will certainly do my very best. If they’re looking for assistance or an ear, then I’m happy to hear whatever’s on their mind. All kinds of exciting things are happening for the (community)," she said.
Harvey Walsh has also decided to run for his fifth term. He said there are many projects of interest to the community, such as the completion of the fibre-to-the-premise project and the wastewater line from Red Deer to Olds, that he would like to see completed while he is on council.
"I’d like to see those brought to conclusion. That should happen in the next year or two. These are long-term projects and they take a lot longer than anybody ever imagines when you start getting involved in them," he said.
Walsh said he is happy to see the community growing and that growth is paying for itself, not through higher taxation of residents.
"That’s a positive and I would like to see that continue," he said.
Wade Bearchell has also decided to run for a second term, believing that his first term was a good learning experience.
"There’s so many good things happening in our community. I think I bring an aspect of leadership that is valuable to town council," he said.
Bearchell wants to continue work on a community standards bylaw and to work on encouraging economic growth in the community.
"I think we need to do a better job of our bylaws and how we enforce them. I think there’s work to be done to foster economic growth. I think our current bylaws have too many loopholes in them and there’s a lot of things that are happening right now in our community that actually are basically violations of town bylaws that aren’t being enforced. And I think we need to engage the public," he said.
Murray Ball won’t be running for a second term on council, saying be believes he fulfilled his commitment to the residents of the community. One of his main reasons for not running again is the provincial government’s decision to extend municipal council terms to four years.
"While I do support the four-year terms for councillors, I think they’re very valuable because it gives councillors a greater time to make their contributions to the community, for me I think it would be just a little bit too long," he said.
Ball said he won’t be bowing out of community life altogether. While he didn’t give specifics, Ball said there are several community organizations he would like to contribute to.
"I certainly see other opportunities, places that I would like to continue to make contributions to the community and those will emerge in due time. I will be helping out in other areas in town. It has been a great pleasure to work with the very competent people we’ve had on council in the last term and the administration," he said.
Mayor Judy Dahl and Coun. Mary Jane Harper also plan to run for another term while Arvin Bull has decided against seeking re-election in October.
Newcomers Rudy Durieux and Mary Anne Overwater have also thrown their hats into the ring for a council seat this fall.
Anyone wishing to run for a council seat has until noon on Sept. 23 to file nomination papers at the town office.
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