By Greg Nikkel
A number of members of Weyburn city council will be running for their seats in the municipal election on Wednesday, Oct. 26, while some councillors have not yet decided if they will be going for re-election.
The call for nominations opened on Sept. 1, and will close as of Wednesday, Sept. 21, with the municipal election to be held on Wednesday, Oct. 26.
Mayor Debra Button will be putting her name forward once again, for her fourth term as mayor and sixth as a member of city council.
“I have a pretty good council that’s wanted to see development go on in the city. We’ve seen new investments in city parks, such as the new spray park on South Hill, and the new accessible playground we just opened at Elks Park. We’ve put a lot of investment into these projects,” said Mayor Button, adding these improve the quality of life of the community.
“It’s imperative we continue that and keep the community going in that direction. That’s been the vision of council in this last term,” she added.
A major project she wants to see completed is getting federal funding in place for the new reservoir needed for the city, an infrastructure that is “shovel-ready” and has been waiting for a while for the funding so it can get done.
“We have one day of treated water. We’re on a bit of a crunch with the province, as they’ve told us we need that reservoir before we can do anymore development,” said the mayor.
She is currently serving as the president of the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA), and serves as well on the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), and feels the connections she makes with federal and provincial government officials is invaluable for the city. “Weyburn is front and centre all the time when I’m working at SUMA and FCM,” she said, noting she wouldn’t have had the opportunities to meet with provincial and federal ministers if it weren’t for her positions in these organizations.
“If I want to speak to them about Weyburn, it’s easier because of the relationships I’ve built with them, and it’s easier for them to make a decision if they know me,” said Mayor Button.
Coun. Nancy Styles, who along with Coun. Laura Morrissette were the first two to file papers with City Hall, will be going for her fourth term on council.
She is the chair of the city’s Parks Board, which is a labour of love for her as she loves the parks in Weyburn, and is proud that the city was able to do a number of improvements in the parks, including the second spray park opened in River Park for the residents of South Hill, the new accessible playground opened in Elks Park and the frisbee golf buckets set up in River Park.
“We’d still like to have the Tatagwa Parkway go right around the city. One of the things we’re going to have to do is the pathway needs to be repaired on the South Hill. That will have to go to the Parks Board,” said Coun. Styles, adding that the city will have consider how best to maintain the parks now that the provincial government has cut funding for the Tatagwa Parkway.
Another project she would like be a part of is to redo the bylaws for Weyburn’s urban forest.
“I love the quality of life in Weyburn, and parks are one of the things that boosts the quality of life,” she said, noting in a survey by the Chamber of Commerce, residents named the Tatagwa Parkway as the feature of Weyburn that means the most to them.
In terms of tax levels, Coun. Styles noted the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) annually does a survey of tax levels, and Weyburn comes out very favourably compared to other cities in the province.
Asked why she enjoys being on city council, Coun. Styles compared the role to her vocation as a registered nurse. “I’m a caregiver. I think of us as taking care of the people of Weyburn. In my way of thinking, that’s exactly what we’re doing, and trying to make wise choices. When you’re a city councillor, you don’t always get things right, but you work to make things better.”
Coun. Morrissette is finishing her first term, and is looking forward to a second term, if she is elected.
“I’ve learned so much, and it’s given me a different perspective on the city, so I would love to have another term,” she said, noting one of her committees was the Environmental Resources committee, which is currently taking in proposals for a recycling program for Weyburn.
As one of the two councillors on the committee, “it’s something I definitely want to see through, whether we’re going to have a mandatory recycling program or the bins, it’s something I want to see done before the end of the term. I think recycling will be a living project.”
She learned a lot over the first three years of her first term, and it took her that long to find her voice and to feel confident in putting her views forward in discussions with the other members of council. The veteran members of council and administration have been very helpful to her as well, she added.
As one of three women on council, and as a young mother, Coun. Morrissette feels she is able to bring a perspective to council that the others don’t have.
Veteran councillor Dick Michel will be running for his fifth term, and is looking forward to continuing to learn more about serving the city.
“I’ve been doing it for 16 years. It’s in my blood, and I enjoy it. I’m still learning, and I still have a passion for the City of Weyburn,” said Coun. Michel.
He feels the city has made some good strides in working with developers, and said he wants to make sure that sites are clean of weeds and refuse when developers are looking for a new place to build.
Noting Weyburn’s new second spray park, he said he’s received many grateful calls from South Hill residents for having the park built and opened for this summer, enabling children to use it without crossing the highway and the tracks to go to the other one.
“It was good vision by the city to build it,” he said, adding, “I’m open-minded. Am I always right? No, but I try my best for the residents of Weyburn.”
The other members of council, Winston Bailey, Rob Stephanson and Mel Van Betuw, have not made a final decision about running for council for this next term.
For Coun. Stephanson, he was just re-elected as the president of the Canadian Association of Police Governance, plus he has some work commitments to consider as he decides whether to throw his hat into the rin
