Talking with People

I spent some time talking with people around town this afternoon and at the regular Wednesday night supper at the Senior's Drop-in. During the course of these conversations I heard about the nuclear power plant (one person being "pro" due to the need for energy in the future and the safety and pollution performance of nuclear compared with other energy production he'd seen; another hoping that if the plant is built, the town will do adequate planning for infrastructure). Several other people I've spoken with are wondering about the situation with the Town's CAO contract.

Peace River Museum, Archives and Mackenzie Center Public Consultation

Last night I attended the evening session of the public consultation undertaken by our museum. The museum staff and advisory board will use the public feedback to develop a new 5-year plan.

I think this is an exciting initiative, inviting community members to participate in the planning, and the large attendance seems to be an indication that people want to have a say in the direction of public institutions.

After introductions, an historical overview of the museum, a briefing about museums today, and comments from Gerry Osmond, Executive Director of the Alberta Museums Association, facilitator Larry Stewart led us through activities that helped us generate discussion and ideas and then organize those ideas.

Our museum has recently been designated a "Recognized Museum" by the Alberta Museums Association new accreditation program, becoming one of only 76 facilities in the province with that designation. Congratulations to all those who were involved with obtaining the designation!

It's election time!

On September 17, I submitted my nomination papers to run for Town Council. To my surprise, 11 other people also did the same, so 12 of us are in the running for 6 positions. Since 5 incumbent councillors are running, and incumbents can be hard to beat, the competition for the one empty spot could be intense (as intense as small town politics gets, anyway!).

But how great that there will be a real election this year after everyone was elected by acclamation in the previous election. It's a good feeling to win an election because you know people supported you.

I hope we get a record voter turnout on October 15. All polls are at the Al Adair Rec Centre. Advance polls are on October 9 at the swimming pool and October 12 at Heritage Towers.