He wants to make a difference in his home community. Owen Hopfner, who farmed in Lake Lenore for about 20 years, moved to Humboldt four years ago and is trying his hand at politics by running for Humboldt City Council in the municipal election set for October 24.Hopfner worked for the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool for a number of years after leaving Lake Lenore before semi-retiring back to Humboldt. "(My wife and I) said if we were going to relocate, we would want to relocate to a place we could retire," said Hopfner. When they moved to Humboldt, Hopfner worked as the regional manager of Saskatchewan Crop Insurance before deciding to start his own commercial property landscaping company. Hopfner decided to run for City Council because politics is something he has always been interested in. "When I was farming, I was very involved in the community of Lake Lenore," said Hopfner. He was involved in building the community hall and rink centre in Lake Lenore. He was also on the school board for 16 years where he helped influence the building and renovations of the school. "That whole period - I gave it a thought at that time whether or not I wanted to take a public office," said Hopfner. "I had a young family and thought maybe when I'm older and the kids are grown up and I'm not working as hard." Hopfner believes in accountability, communication and service. Throughout his years at the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool he said he noticed, "people don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." "That's important," added Hopfner. "People need to know they matter and that's where I think communication with our fellow citizens is important." There are a number of priorities Hopfner believes are important in the city. "On infrastructure, there is no doubt," said Hopfner. "We have street, sewer and water problems that need to be dealt with and at the same time, we have got to expand the infrastructure to meet this growing need." Another thing Hopfner would like to work on is helping with the changes that will be facing Humboldt in regards to growth. "When I was with Sask. Wheat Pool and Crop Insurance, we went through a lot of change," said Hopfner. "I think I will be of value to Humboldt. There is going to be a lot of change coming and there is going to be a lot of opportunity. It is to find that opportunity and use it to develop efficiencies in your planning to go on forward and in turn providing value to the taxpayer." Although the city already has a good base of amenities, Hopfner would like to see the city expand the cultural side, including maybe a cultural facility in the future. "We have a great community here, great people and have a lot going for us and we need to build on that," said Hopfner. He would also like to see a highway bypass put in place for the semis. "I will work with city council and the Department of Highways to see if they could increase the budget to maintain the highways going through the city," said Hopfner. "If we could work to get the semi-trailers out of the city as much as possible it would be a great benefit to the flow of traffic."
