Election Day is Monday, October 18, 2021
Below are your candidate profiles for Councillor with the Village of Carmangay.
Sue Dahl
Hello Carmangay!
For those of you who don’t know me, I am Sue Dahl. I have lived in Carmangay (and area) for close to 30 years. I raised my two children here.
I’ve been on the Fire Department for 20 years, 17 years as the Fire Chief. I am a member of the AG Society, the Curling Club and I recently became a Library board member.
I worked at the Grange Hotel for almost 20 years, and it was heart wrenching when it burned down. I also worked in the Village office for 3 years, which was a great learning experience.
My reason for running for council is simple. I love Carmangay.
If elected, my hope is that Carmangay council will be an open and honest group. I want open dialogue between Council and residents, with questions asked and answered. I want transparency. I want fiscal responsibility. It is important for me that this Council understands that it is not about “us” but about “Carmangay” as a whole. We have to be doing what is best for the Village.
My priority is…
- The Village… Everyone working together to make Carmangay a better place.
- Getting the water fixed! Maybe it’s because I’m on the Fire Department and I know how bad the water problem is… and it’s worse than people think.
What experience do I have? Working in the Village office for 3 years, I was able to learn quite a few things about everything. It was my job to make up the Council packages, so I know what to expect. Also, it was my job to do minutes for the meetings, so I went to every meeting and listened and learned.
I’m sure it will be quite a challenge, and I am up for the battle. Put your trust in me, vote for Sue.
Doug Fraser
Hello, my name is Doug Fraser and I am running for Village Council in Carmangay.
I have lived most of my life in Carmangay and raised my family here. I belong to the Lions Club, was part of the volunteer Fire Department for a number of years, currently sit on the board for the Community Center, and have put in lots of volunteer hours to get our community center to the completion stage. I have sat on Council for close to a year and am still learning. My background has been in retail and wholesale sales but I also have my ticket as a plumber.
Besides continuing to make Carmangay a desirable place to live, I plan on continuing to explore ways to thrive and grow our village.
I plan on working with the various clubs in Carmangay to work together to come up with ideas to make our village thrive.
Previous council has started the motion to upgrade our water plant and I would like to continue that so our water supply is secure and we can fight any fire in the future.
Tourism is getting to be an important part of our culture and working with different organizations to work on ideas to get people to visit our village is going to always be a goal of mine.
As I have sat on a couple of boards like Southgrow and Twin Valley water I have learned a few things on how things happen and nothing is quick, but I want to persist in trying to improve our village.
Thank you, Doug Fraser
Kym Nichols
My name is Kym Nichols and I have lived in Carmangay most of my life. My husband and I have 3 incredible children, one still in high school and 2 pursuing their dreams. I work as postmaster at the post office here in Carmangay.
I am very passionate about Carmangay and I volunteer on several community boards such as Carmangay & District Historical Society, Carmangay Community Centre, and Horticultural Society,. I was on Village council from 2004-2017 and served as deputy mayor and mayor.
My vision for Carmangay is to:
1 – To bring the community together and continue to make us a viable and thriving community. Even though our population may seem small, we have a tremendous amount of community groups who have made Carmangay the great place that it is to live. I would like to work with these groups and come up with ways to make our Village even better.
2 – To be fiscally responsible. During my previous 10 years on council we were able to get out of the red and operate in the black while investing in our village. I believe as a council it is our duty to be good stewards of the Village’s finances. I believe we need to address aging infrastructure, utility rates, and above all else we need to be transparent with our finances.
3 – I would like to see more business attraction and the selling of our industrial lots . By adding more industry and business, it will add to our tax base and make us more viable.
4 – We live in a great community with an exceptional view and I would like to capitalize on the area through tourism and recreation.
I believe communication is essential and a huge part of communication is engaging those around you. I think council needs to be transparent, open and approachable. If elected I can promise that I will listen to your concerns. I can be reached at 403-892-8682.
I am excited to be running again for council and I would respectfully ask that if you have a village concern, you contact me and we can discuss outside of my business hours at the post office.
Sheila Smidt
Thank you for taking your time to read my ballot issues. Hello, I’m Sheila Smidt and I’m asking for your vote on October 18. Here you will get a better understanding of what I intend to tackle if you choose to elect me. I did serve on Council four years ago, and for the last four years I’ve been very closely following Council and their methods of decision making and subsequent actions.
I am asking you to allow me to be part of the team to bring a welcoming open door policy, transparency in all things and a fiscally responsible attitude to our Village. There must be an end to secret meetings and meetings with unnecessary “closed” sessions. The Municipal Government Act states that Council may only act by resolution (motion) or by-law. We depend on these motions shown in the minutes for all to reference. The CAO takes direction from Council. Let’s bring back meetings with discussions and a sharing of ideas to build on and to finally make thoughtful decisions that are of a benefit to the community.
Firstly, we need to open up the finances along with the supporting documents as evidence of accuracy. After that we can establish how to move ahead with necessary infrastructure projects because we know for sure that without adequate infrastructure, water pressure and high speed internet, we cannot increase our residential nor our industrial tax base.
We need to show respect and work with the volunteers who keep us safe and the service groups who beautify and enhance our village with their purpose, skills and goodwill.
We need to investigate the campground future and the viability of the solar installation for good or bad.
Natural gas prices have been rising and the prediction is that gas will be going up substantially due to market price. With the addition of the carbon tax and the cold weather coming, this will be another strain on our budgets. Currently we pay a franchise fee of 15% to Fortis and a fee of 15% to Atco for gas. I will work towards removing the fee on the gas you pay for to heat your home. It is much easier to manage your electricity use than to deny yourself a warm residence.
Our water expenses are too high and user pay needs to be investigated. Repairing ongoing leaks will help to reduce the amount of water Carmangay needs to order each year. We need to start valuing water as a precious commodity and stop the waste.
Emergency protocol must be clearly outlined and numbers listed in each home. A muster station must be established so residents know they have somewhere to go to for direction. A data base must be compiled so that each residence can be informed when there is new information to be distributed by the Village office. Not everyone subscribes to Face Book.
I believe in transparency in all Council actions, inclusion and social justice for all.
This has been a long and troublesome four years. Let’s all look forward and do good things for this village together. Let’s bring back humanity and inclusion. Again I’m asking for your vote to allow me to be part of this new Council. I have the experience, the passion and the compassion.
I am available at 403 862-0621 for any courteous and sincere questions or comments. Everyone has an idea and opinion. Thank you.