1. Share one specific personal or professional accomplishment that you believe qualifies you to represent Airdrie residents on Airdrie City Council.
For your first question my answer might be a little different. I believe my understanding of finances and debt is excellent. A lot of people will say they have a business degree, a master’s degree, an engineering degree or a law degree so they understand money. I am not calling anybody out with this, but what I want to know is how are their personal finances doing. To me personal finance matters a lot because if you have your personal finances in order, you will also have a better understanding of finances in government.
For me one of my proudest achievements is that with an average salary in the trades and my wife working as a nurse, we have been able to do well. Not because we are wealthy but because we have been disciplined. We paid off not one but two houses in our 20s, we carried zero debt, and we managed our money carefully. Even paying off what people “call good” debt gave us a chance to see how much better life is with no debt at all. I believe financial literacy is extremely important and I am proud of what my family has achieved. I also believe it will help me understand finances at the council level.
2. What are your top three priorities and why?
For your second question, my top priority would be an internal audit. Right now, almost half of every tax dollar goes to salaries. I understand we receive services for this but in every industry including municipal government there is always room to cut waste. Even a 10 percent reduction, while ambitious, would free up significant money for services in the city.
Alongside that I want to find new revenue streams. One idea is to expand our industrial park. If we lease land to developers or companies, they can build here, and the city can generate revenue while also creating jobs. That means both good paying jobs and entry level jobs.
My third priority is sports tourism. We need facilities and I believe we can partner with developers to build them. When the city takes on these projects directly, costs often double or triple sometimes even more. If we find the right partnerships we can get rinks, courts, pools and fields built in a way that makes sense. Once we have those facilities, we should be hosting major tournaments every month. Indoor and outdoor soccer, basketball, pickleball, volleyball, football, hockey, curling and more. Right now, people leave Airdrie on the weekends for sports and events and that hurts our small businesses. Restaurants rely on weekend traffic and too often it feels like if you open a restaurant here you are bound to fail. That should never be the case. My goal is simple. Let us keep people in Airdrie, give them things to do, and make sure our city can thrive. My slogan is ‘Let’s stay in Airdrie’ and I want people to always say that.