Town of Stettler councillor Sean Nolls announced his intention to run for mayor in October’s municipal election.
With Stettler’s current mayor, Dick Richards leaving office this fall, the door has been opened for someone new to sit in the top chair.
During an interview following the town’s August 1 council meeting, Nolls indicated that he felt ready to take the leap from councillor to the mayor’s office.
“This is a really inspiring community” he declared.
“With the mayor stepping down, I’d like to step up my involvement and become more involved in the community, with the people, the organizations and community groups.”
One of the most important things he has learned during his term as councillor is the concept of responsible growth.
“Going into this, I thought, growing this town, doubling the population, going full speed ahead would be a really great thing to do, but it turns out that’s not that responsible because there’s costs attached,” revealed Nolls, adding that he has learned responsible governing involves moving forward while appreciating how important services are to the people and understanding all the things that local government does for the community.
“Working with these guys and learning everything from this council has been a great experience,” states Nolls and he is proud of having played a role in the council’s achievements over the past term, especially the joint projects with the County of Stettler.
“I didn’t know how much we did with the county or how important that relationship was.”
According to Nolls, finishing off the Stettler Recreation Centre was one of the biggest collaborative successes of the town and county, but there are other successful shared efforts such as Waste Management, the Housing Authority and the Public Library to name but a few.
Nolls would like to continue to grow that relationship even further.
Motivated by the accomplishments during this past term in council, he would like to continue to serve and elevate his involvement to the next level.
Linda Stillinger,
ECA Review Reporter