Quite a few people have thrown their hats in the ring for spots on the Okotoks town council, with seven candidates currently listed on the town's website, six of whom registered just last month.

Among them is longtime Foothills resident Rodney Potrie.

Potrie called Nanton and High River home before moving to Okotoks about 15 years ago, even serving a single term on Nanton's town council.

His experience in municipal affairs includes a master's in urban and regional planning from the University of Calgary, as well as having worked in city planning for private consulting over a 23-year span.

"I've dealt with a lot of councils and municipal districts and counties all across Alberta and beyond, B.C., and eastern provinces as well," says Potrie

He says, if elected, he'd advocate for an immediate focus on dealing with the fallout of COVID-19.

"I think we need to focus on post-pandemic recovery. I think there's a lot of hurting people out there privately and publicly. I think that's got to be a bit of an urgent priority."

Beyond that, Potrie would like to see some diversification within the tax base.

"Obviously, we're attracting residential, but I think if we can diversify and get some more commercial, industrial, and retail into Okotoks, we'll be less of a bedroom community and more of a standalone community."

He describes his overall vision as one of fiscal responsibility while aiming to see continued "planned and responsible growth."

In that regard, he aligns himself with much of what the current council has been doing.

"Our past council and mayor have been fiscally responsible, and I think they've made some wise financial decisions. I think I'm solidly behind those decisions. I think you need to be frugal but prudent with the spending, so I think there'd be a bit of status quo there."

Potrie feels his experience will be an asset during his run for council and would continue to serve him well if elected.

"I'm not a rookie starting out from scratch. I think I bring a wealth of information to the table, and I think I could be a good addition to council."

 

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