An experienced member of the Estevan board of police commissioners has decided to run for Estevan city council.
Lyle Yanish filed his nomination papers on Sept. 21, which was the final day for candidates to do so. He is one of nine people running for six councillor seats on city council.
“I figured I wanted to step up to the plate and help the community more by serving on our council,” Yanish said in an interview with the Mercury.
Yanish has been a member-at-large on the police board since 2013, and he believes the experience will be beneficial should he be elected.
“It gives me an understanding of how some of the ins and outs work within the city,” said Yanish. “It’s a good training ground to learn to sit in meetings this way, because you have to follow protocol, too.”
Yanish is taking a similar path to that of Councillor Kevin Smith, who is wrapping up his first term on city council. Smith was a member-at-large on the police board for several years before he was elected to council in 2012. The two have been part of the police board for several years.
Yanish has had a chance to talk to Smith about the adjustment Smith experienced when he went from the police board to council.
“Any of the boards in our community, that’s a good place to start, because you give back that way,” said Yanish.
During the next four years, Yanish would like to see council continue to be transparent with the taxpayers. He’s looking forward to seeing more public meetings.
“There’s always room for improvement on that front. It is way better than it used to be in previous years,” said Yanish.
He also wants to see a continued emphasis on beautification. Yanish is pleased with the work that has taken place on the boulevards and the Souris Avenue North medians.
“The city does look really nice and clean now,” said Yanish.
Debt repayment has also been a positive, and he hopes it will continue in the next four years. He hopes council will keep the public informed about their debt repayment efforts and the overall financial picture of the city.
“If you don’t tell them how things are going, they get mad, they get upset and they expect this to be done and that to be done,” said Yanish. “If you don’t keep the transparency open, nothing’s going to happen.”
Yanish wanted to run in this election, in part, because of the direction that council has taken in the past four years, and he thinks he could work well with any members of council who are re-elected this fall.
He recognizes that council would represent a significant time commitment. It would affect the amount of time he would have with his family, and he knows he would have to juggle work, family and council commitments.
But he’s confident he would be able to do so if he’s elected on Oct. 26.
