Planner seeks seat on Okotoks town council

(The Okotoks Western Wheel will feature candidates for Okotoks town council and mayor leading up to the Oct. 18 election). 

A candidate for Okotoks town council has experience on both sides of the municipal table.  

Rod Potrie, who has lived in Okotoks for 3 ½ years and prior to that in Foothills County, is a professional planner and way back served as a councillor for a community 50km south of town.  He also lived in Okotoks in the mid 2000s.

“I’m a (municipal) planner, I have my own corporation in Calgary and I operate and do planning for developers all over the province and Canada,” Potrie said. “I have dealt with municipalities in my career for the past 25 years.”  

He has also done consultant work for municipalities in the past, including Black Diamond.  

“I have been the subdivision development officer for the Town of Strathmore and Black Diamond and many other communities over the years to fill in for staff when their staff wasn’t fully complemented,” Potrie said. “I have done that for many years.” 

He has previously lived in the Sheep River neighbourhood in Okotoks – an area he helped plan before it was developed.

He is also a former Nanton town councillor, having served in the late 1980s.  

Now he wants to bring that expertise to his current community. 

“It’s a way to give back,” Potrie said. “I have a bit of experience in the area and I have dealt with budgets, proposals for developments, proposals for water and sewer, construction and roads, pathways and stuff like that as well as municipal reserves and other things.” 

He said he has dealt with issues like annexation, area structure plans and others, but often from a different angle than a councillor. At present, as well as being a planner, he is the subdivision/development officer for the summer villages of Ghost Lake and Waiparous.  

“I think I have something to offer to the community of Okotoks,” Potrie said. “I’m a fiscally responsible guy, I think we need to look after the public purse and the budgetary concerns in a responsible way.” 

Potrie said he’s been keeping abreast of issues in Okotoks, and is not going in with an attitude to fix something that isn’t broken.  

“I know there have been big concerns regarding (a proposed) water pipeline, a new MDP and land-use bylaw. I like what I see,” Potrie said. “I think I can bring some good flavour to the table in those regards. 

“I would like to see Okotoks maintain its own independence and character.” 

He does not support Okotoks getting water from Calgary. 

“I am not a supporter of getting water from the City of Calgary, I know others have been,” he said. “I have seen how that happens and how Calgary controls Chestermere, Cochrane, Strathmore and Airdrie from that perspective. 

“Calgary controls what they do based on how much sewer and water they can serve. I would like to see Okotoks remain independent.” 

He would like to see Okotoks expand its sewage and water. 

He is fully supportive of a kind of community waterline from High River to Okotoks through the Foothills.  

“I think we can expand sewage and water, but slow as you go, do what you can afford,” he said.  

Dealing with a post-pandemic economy is high on his priority list. That can be done by diversification. 

“Part of my focus is post-pandemic recovery,” Potrie said. “I think we need to revitalize and try to get things up as soon as possible. Get people back on their feet again.  

“I think we need some diversification. We are very residential heavy for the tax base in Okotoks. I think we can get more industry, more commercial and more retail that will diversify the tax base and lesson the burden on the residential taxpayer.” 

Potrie is married to Susan and they have two children.  

The other candidates running in Okotoks as of Aug. 1 are Gord Lang, Oliver Hallmark, Jessica Maurice, James Lee, Syed Tassidq Hussain, Ryan Nix, Ashley Dreger and Shawna Lawson. 

Current councillors Matt Rockley, Florence Christophers and Ed Sands have indicated they will not run. Ken Heemeryck and Ray Watrin have not yet announced if they will run again.

Coun. Tanya Thorn is running for mayor. At present she is the lone candidate for mayor.