Longtime Chinook’s Edge School Division principal Rudy Durieux will be running for a seat on town council in the October election.
Longtime Chinook’s Edge School Division principal Rudy Durieux will be running for a seat on town council in the October election.
Durieux, who stepped down at the end of June after serving 16 years as principal at Reed Ranch School east of Olds, said he looks forward to hopefully continuing to serve the community in more of an official capacity on council.
Durieux is currently the vice-president of the Olds Golf Club and president of the Westview Co-operative Association.
He has been on the golf club board for two years and this is his first year as vice-president. He has been president of the Co-op for the past three years and has been on the board for eight. He and his wife Wendy also helped start the Olds Rapids Swim Club about 10 years ago and he has also served as an assistant coach with the Olds Spartans football team for about the last 10 years. Durieux will continue teaching part-time.
"I’ve been in the community for about 24 years now and we have found Olds to be a wonderful place to live," he said. "I just want to broaden my horizons a bit and see if I can’t help the town a little bit more. I just feel like I could be of help to people in the community and that’s really what my focus is."
Durieux said he thinks most people in town want to keep the small-town atmosphere and he hopes he can help preserve that.
"I know we’re growing a bit, but if we can work towards keeping our town safe and secure and a great place to work, live, shop, I think that’s what we need to focus on," he said.
Durieux also thinks it’s important for the town to maintain its partnerships with the college, Mountain View County and the Olds RCMP.
Durieux believes his experience as a principal and board member of several organizations makes him a good candidate for a council position. Through his wife Wendy’s involvement in the Kiwanis Music Festival, Durieux also has a lot of contact with people in the arts.
"We’re heavily involved with the fine arts programs. Here in town, when we’re doing the music festival, we get to meet and know a lot of people and that’s probably one of my assets too, is just being friendly to people and getting to know what people think and how would people like to see the town develop in the future," he said.
Mary Anne Overwater, a former banker and educator, announced her intention to run for council in mid-July.
So far, at least one current councillor, Arvin Bull, is not seeking re-election in the fall.
Municipal elections take place Oct. 21.
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