People are frustrated because no-one is listening, people want change because no-one is listening. I promote change because no-one is listening. I am not a slick politician, I haven’t learned the moves, I don’t have billboards on several corners and I am still honest.  According to the Mayor, I am not enough of a challenge to run a real campaign against, so he will depend on only expensive advertising and his record. The funny thing is councils record is what caused me and many others to run against them.  I started the campaign with positive solutions, but lots of roadblocks have been placed in the last few weeks. The mess called DARP which led to many other issues including the distress the seniors face about having to basically lease or rent space in a new facility which started out as theirs and has somehow evolved to a mini servus place. The people of Akinsdale who spoke so well for their community last evening and then received a reply as if nothing was spoken at all. The Mayor talking of the services we all expect but not being accountable for providing them at an acceptable cost. The plans to infill, the plans for high-rise buildings, all the plans without asking or listening to the people. This is the time for change. I will work hard at making it happen. I will work hard to elect only those who should be elected and only those who are still not above listening. Then we will focus on a positive plan going forward.

This weekend artists of Alberta were celebrated throughout the province. As, I have mentioned previously, art is an all encompassing term to me and does not just represent expensive art pieces. It is all of the gifts and talents many people have to offer and share. Art can be as simple as the kindergarten finger painting to the most complex form of , music, dance, writing or art itself. Art is what describes history. Long after generations have past, their buildings stand and their art lives on. The purpose of Arts days is to allow all people access to many forms of art by free admissions and open participation. There were extensive volunteer efforts throughout the province and many joyous tears for the successes of many. Congratulations to all.

St. Albert desperately needs a city council that will put the best interests of the city as a whole at the forefront of their efforts. Currently St. Albert is separated into many different pods it seems. When you have a leader focusing on their own vision quest and ignoring the people, the people are forced to group together in defense of their own rights or wants. We are currently a city of indifference, protest, unhappiness and now a law suit and yet still no-one seems to be listening. For a city to flourish there must be a cohesive effort, and the effort must start from the top. I am proud to see many St. Albertans becoming passionate about what is going on in their city and I hope there is a huge voter turn-out. In the same sense I am disappointed that there is so much discontent. St. Albert needs a cohesive effort to get back on track as the amazing city it can be.

Decisions concerning the Habitat for humanity plans for Akinsdale are once again coming up in just a few days. If the head of Habitat cared as much for people as he claims, he would focus on helping individuals in St. Albert with much needed renovations that they cannot afford. There are many houses and suites in St. Albert that could use some work to bring them up to standards in safety and energy efficiency(and they happen to be in the so called affordable price range as well). To be intent on destroying green space and repeatedly insulted those who want to protect it is just wrong no matter which way you look at it or how many times.

It is my hope to work with the citizens of St. Albert in many areas. There are some great and creative ideas coming to me from the public already. People of St.Albert care very much about their city and should be entitled input on the way in which the city grows or changes. The people need to be kept in touch and informed. There are currently so many issues in St. Albert of which the public has next to no information about. Many people want to contribute but many feel left out by council or the process. It is time to start engaging the public.

Mayor: One who has the responsibility of representing not only those who elect them, but all citizens. A resource for citizens to go to for solving problems. One who presides over public welfare.

It would seem to me that our current Mayor does not represent many of the citizens of St. Albert. It would also seem to me that the current Mayor is more often a contender than a resource. It would also seem to me that the current Mayor is not presiding over the public welfare of the people of St. Albert but is on his own agenda making . The public is often having to try and defend itself against the Mayor paired up with outside interests. The Mayor is not a suitable representative of what the core of St. Albert is.

Some would argue the importance of experience. I would argue the importance of remaining true to the term. Experience has no meaning if it is only used in pursuing ones own agenda.  Experience at doing a job is of no value, if the job is not getting done. It is my intention to honor the term, Mayor.

There are rules in place for land-use, there should be common sense courtesy in place for land use, there used to be a committee that monitored these rules and maintained courtesies. In all reality at this point in time no land without a building  is safe in St. Albert and now there are even plans to build on top of existing buildings. By the simple stroke of a pen in a routine weekly meeting, peoples lives and neighborhoods are changed without the slightest regard from those changing the rules. There are many who have a lifetime invested in St. Albert yet it is outsiders that seek direct control of what they do in St. Albert. By allowing direct control, Council removes all control from it’s own citizens. Only fools give up control of their own land, only fools stop protecting their citizens interests and only fools can be fooled.

Every week with most every new Bylaw there comes a cost to the residents of St. Albert. Visionary ways to rob the people of their hard earned dollars. Each week many people work harder yet get further behind. Most are working while Bylaws are being made.It is beyond frustrating to watch a council dictate one bylaw after another to a city that they are just not listening to. Oh my, the repair work that will have to be done. Taxes, ever increasing garbage collection fees, fees for building recreational facilities and then more fees to use them. Fines for riding your bike, fines for starting your car, fines for having a bon-fire in your own back yard, fines for speeding, fines for stopping, fines for noise and it is still not enough(they need more). They want to fine us more. One would think, that if you stayed locked up inside your home( although you could not avoid the taxes), you could avoid the fees and fines. This is still not a guarantee, for you should check your property daily in the case of graffiti, or they will get you with a fine. The costs are not slowing down, they are masterfully reproducing. On the plus side, fee and fine bylaws can be adjusted or eliminated. What I am deeply concerned with is council giving away the farm to considered builders/ slash developers. There are some things that you just can’t get back, but I won’t even go there at this time.

Today I will ad some substance to working together for positive solutions. Consulting with established communities before planned development, communicating with the public more readily with regular question and answer(not only at election time), gathering more public opinion and working for what the people want rather than telling the people what they want. Council meetings, community meetings, development debates, and growth planning has all become very negative. Council is most often working against the community and positive solutions are never found. Every issue seems to be about someone winning and another losing(usually the regular citizens).  If council was in tuned with what the people want, positive solutions for St. Albert could be established from the get go. No protests, no consultants, no pressure, no anger and no wasted time and money. I see the Mayors responsilbility as more working with the people(working together). There are always outside influences and at this point in time I see more outside influences controlling what goes on in St. Albert. This does not have to be the case. We all know what we would like St. Albert to hold onto and we all know what change we would see as positive. There is a huge amount of sustance in St. Albert, known as its citizen’s. There is a whole lot planned for St. Albert that I would call negative as well as band-aids, not solutions. We need a positive solution for Servus place panning out, we need a positive solution for clean-up of St. Albert, we need a positive solution for affordable housing where someone else isn’t paying a price for it, we need a positive solution for addressing our tax issues,we need positive growth planning. One Mayor and one council not working together with the people of St. Albert will never find positive solutions.

The Capital Region Growth Plan is quite a plan. I see a lot of good in the plan but I also see a lot of guesswork. 35 years is a long way down the road and with technology moving as it is, I’m sure we truly have no concept of what will be. There is a plan in place but just as all other plans it has a lot of ifs and what ifs in it. My thought is if you are working within a plan you would first select the parts of the plan that are best for your community. I see the opposite happening in St. Albert. We are choosing to give up things we do not have to and are not taking advantage of the benefits the plan includes. Our DARP plan for one violates many of the good intentions of the Capital Plan which in my eyes makes us look silly. The point of teamwork is not to be directed by another, but to be assisted. I believe the population growth plans for St. Albert are too steep. I also believe that St. Albert is not taking care of its natural resources as intended as well as the health and happiness of its residents as intended. The Sturgeon River should have also been identified as an environmentally sensitive area within St. Albert. My thought once again is we are not keeping our vision within view.