A Foothills councillor hopes to continue fighting for affordable housing and regional fairness for another term.
Alan Alger has decided to run for a second term in Div. 5, where he first won a seat on Foothills County council in 2017.
“I still love the job,” said Alger, who had spent a full year attending council meetings prior to running, to assess whether he thought the position was right for him.
“I believe the last four years I have answered those questions to myself, personally, and I think to my residents.”
He said he was further inspired by two late local politicians in the region – Larry Spilak and Bill Robertson.
“Their passion and dedication to our communities should be an inspiration to all of us,” said Alger.
The past term has been has been a busy one for Foothills County, he said, and he wants the opportunity to continue seeing some projects and issues through.
One of the most pertinent items is the County’s disapproval of the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board, he said. That includes the regional growth plan, which is currently in the hands of the municipal affairs minister Ric McIver.
“We continue to fight the unfairness of this other level of government being forced upon us,” said Alger. “That will be an ongoing issue into the next couple of years, depending on the outcome of what the minister comes up with.”
Another major undertaking Alger wants to continue working on is establishing affordable housing units in Okotoks and Foothills County as part of the Westwinds Communities board.
The board has been proactively seeking ways to develop affordable housing in the region and made headway this year with a commitment from the Town of Okotoks in its D’Arcy neighbourhood, he said.
“I’m extremely proud of my involvement with Westwinds Communities,” said Alger. “Our work with seniors and affordable housing is absolutely one of my favourites.”
Council has been busy reducing red tape, making changes to its land-use bylaw, implementing secondary suites and backyard hens programs, he said.
There has been some movement made on agri-tourism, which Alger said he would like to advocate for in a second term.
The regional water pipeline partnership with the Town of Okotoks is another significant ongoing project, he said.
“Our continued work on the joint water project with the Town of Okotoks is a very important factor that’s going to come to fruition, I’m positive, in the next couple of years, which is going to help the Town out and help us out with our Aldersyde corridor, getting water to our Aldersyde corridor,” said Alger.
One of the hottest topics at the beginning of council’s term was the issue of rural crime, which he said County councillors have worked hard to address.
Between implementing the enhanced policing program to seeing the total restructuring of the three RCMP detachments within the Foothills region to allow for a team of officers dedicated strictly to rural crime, he said some ground was gained on that over the past two years.
“That came with quite a price tag to the RCMP, but we’ve managed to handle that and do it without a tax increase to the residents, so I think we’ve done a good job of that,” said Alger.
With everything on the go and lot more coming down the line, he said he’s eager to take on another term as Div. 5’s representative.
There is still a lot of knowledge to gain, he said.
“They say it takes a full term to become a good councillor, and I think no truer words have been spoken,” said Alger. “On this job you never stop learning – and there’s a lot to learn – and you have to be committed to this job.
“I just learn so much every day.”
Some of that learning comes from reading through council packages or government documents, and some from building relationships with residents and learning the ins and outs of the Div. 5 community, he said.
“I think going forward, I’m the guy with the experience and the passion, and from the chats I get from the residents they’re happy with the position and they’re happy with the County, and I think we’ve got a good group of councillors,” said Alger.
