A councillor in High River says she won't be running again this fall.

Cathy Couey was among the councillors that came in eight years ago after the 2013 flood.

She says the decision wasn't easy.

"There's been a lot of deliberation over a fairly long stretch of time," she says. "Going into this you never really know how long a haul you're going to be in for and I was just feeling that it was time for me to focus on a few other priorities, in my personal life and just weighing things out, if I'd have run again that would have been another four year commitment and so it just felt like this was the right time for me to step back."

She says it's been the most rewarding work she's done in her lifetime, calling it an honour and a privilege to serve the community and hopes she's leaving it in a better place than when she joined council eight years ago with a great team of councillors.

Couey calls the first four years on council a whirlwind where the staff and council were in uncharted territory with no playbook to go by coming out of the flood.

After seeing things coming at them at lightning speed, she says, things started to return to normal in the second term and they were able to catch their breath a little and get to work on the Town's strategic plan.

"I think we have a fantastic Strategic Plan and a really meaningful one, and I know that our council and our staff always revert back to that with things that we're doing and making sure we're aligning with that. The Strategic Plan is obviously one highlight, the Land Use Bylaw that I was able to work on and as much as it's a document in progress and it's so new and out of the box that we are continuing to work through that process and find the kinks in it and in the end I think that we will have a really good, uniquely High River program."

But those plans aren't her only highlights of her time on council.

"Obviously downtown, as much as it has been controversial, I don't know how you can't love it and hear time and time again people love it and they move here because they love it or they film a movie of a (television) series because they love it and the list is just endless, but being able to work with the citizens and the staff are obviously highlights as well."

Couey says she's not going anywhere and plans to remain active in the community, just in different ways.

She says her time on council's been incredibly worthwhile and encourages anyone thinking about running to reach out and speak with her to get more of the low down on just what's involved.

 

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