I have a deep desire to create positive change in Airdrie and beyond because of my belief in democracy which by design is meant to unite the people. I want to revive people’s faith in the system and build structures to enhance engagement, transparency, and accountability. To connect our community as I envision is a full-time endeavor and that is why I am running for Mayor.

I remember the sentiment of not wanting things to go back to normal after the pandemic because normal wasn’t working. The opportunity we have right here, right now is to create a better normal and that will take making progress in inches not miles to start. I was talking with Lore Perez today about events, and she mentioned a conversation with a person from Calgary that recently put on an event here and he was surprised we didn’t have an event coordinator at the City to guide him and provide the resources he needed. If we made it easier to put on events, common sense would dictate that it would be very likely more people would take on putting on events. Which in turn would increase our arts and culture, attract more people to come to Airdrie and better connect our community. I’m planning a political rally Sept 19th for people to meet candidates and enjoy a live music concert. We have great venues and we need to encourage using them more.

There are many, and the one that I am focusing my attention on during the election is to increase voter turnout and engagement. Why? Because voter turnout is the baseline for engagement for the next 4 years based on the mentality if you don’t vote you can’t complain. I believe we need to bring consistency to the expectation of engagement from the council to have a leg to stand on to request more engagement from citizens. We need to meet people where they are at and I want to introduce quarterly town hall meetings that are 2 hours long and a recap of the last quarter and an introduction to what is coming up. Give people direction on how they can access resources and contribute their voice to the process.

I want to introduce a structure that will provide both transparency and accountability of the council, it’s called PAR the Politician Accountability Record. Along the lines of what a report card is, that is a live document that ongoingly records what committee and boards a politician is on, their attendance record, the pages of required reading, their attendance to community at large events. This record is meant to increase the public’s confidence that indeed their elected officials are there to serve them, even when they don’t see them.

Who I am is someone who wants to be the change I want to see in the world. I am an outspoken, community minded and politically engaged person, who believes we can have difficult conversations with civility and respect. I believe being willing to have the conversations about the subjects’ people are divided about, will require someone willing to wade into the discomfort. My commitment is to lead myself with integrity and serve the people of Airdrie to the best of my ability.