SUNDRE — An incumbent councillor who now has one term under his belt hopes voters will give him the opportunity to continue building on the momentum from the past four years.
“I just wanted to still keep things going forward. I want to see better things coming for Sundre,” said Todd Dalke, a family man and local business owner who runs the local Fountain Tire, in response to being asked why he decided to run for public office again.
Supportive comments from a range of people further compelled him to file nomination papers.
“I had positive feedback from not only committees but also community members, other politicians provincially and such, who thought I did just fine and appreciate my insight on certain things,” said Dalke.
“I’ll be more of a positive than not. And I do enjoy it,” he added.
Reflecting on accomplishments over the past four years — from the new upgrade that will expand the wastewater treatment facility’s capacity and improve the quality of effluent in less time, to the ongoing deployment of high speed fibre optic broadband internet as well as new commercial developments like the McDonald’s — Dalke wants to keep rolling that ball forward.
“I see better things going forward,” he said, hopeful to remain involved in contributing to the local decision-making process.
“My name is on no stamp, but I know I had some involvement” in helping to make some developments over the past term into a reality, he said, confident much more could have been done had it not been for the pandemic.
“COVID kicked us in the ass. It was hard to get everything done,” he said, expressing a desire to “finish up the projects and ideas and community expectations that we really fell short on in the last year and half to two years.
“We didn’t have promises that were made that went unfulfilled, but we really thought we could get more done,” he said.
As for what he considers top priorities or concerns, Dalke spoke candidly.
“I don’t have any. I am not on a mission to be on council to fix any one thing,” he said, adding if anything his only priority is to continue the work that has already started and address issues as they arise.
“Some people only run because they’re upset about a roadway,” he said.
But aspiring council members should have a broader approach.
“I hope that all candidates are here for the betterment of Sundre as a whole, and there’s no one particular issue they’re trying to go on,” he said .
Recognizing the need for lively debate and conversations around the council table, which is crucial to identifying problems and developing solutions, Dalke also hopes that whoever gets elected, will be able to work together to improve the community.
“I really hope that the council that gets elected will be able to work well as a team.”
