Six Turner Valley residents have thrown their hats in the ring for the April 8 municipal byelection.
Richard Brotherston, Kathryn McGuire, Greg Pyra, Brenda Smethurst, Jamie Wilkie and Randy Williamson each submitted nomination forms into the Turner Valley town office Feb. 25, looking to run for the vacant councillor chair.
The chair was vacated by Barry Crane who resigned to run for the mayor title following the resignation of former mayor Gary Rowntree. Crane will be sworn in as mayor at Turner Valley’s upcoming March 4 council meeting.
Richard Brotherston
Candidate Brotherston quickly developed an interest in politics after moving to Turner Valley from Calgary a year ago.
A neighbor of Brotherston’s, who has an interest in politics and regularly attends council meetings, inspired his own interest.
“Just watching the way Turner Valley was dealing with certain issues, that kind of spurred me to want to become involved,” he said. “If I’m going to be living here long-term I want to be involved in the community and this was a way for me to do that. It’s not something I always wanted to do, I just jumped into it spur of the moment.”
The Turner Valley Rate Payers Board member said he’ll spend the next few days preparing his campaign. Brotherston is semi-retired with a background in oil and gas, as well as the hospitality and tourism industry.
“I have a keen interest in hospitality and tourism in general,” he said. “I’ve always thought in retirement I would want to maybe get involved in tourism in some way.”
Brenda Smethurst
Candidate Smethurst has been a resident in Turner Valley since 1974 and said she’s running for council because she cares about her community. She ran in a previous election several years ago but was unsuccessful.
“I’m retired now and I have the time and effort to spend on issues,” she said. “I think we need to enhance what we have and not worry about getting more homes, more businesses.”
Smethurst said she’s a strong supporter of activities geared for youth, having been a child-care provider for more than 40 years. Two of her four grown children live in the community with their children.
“Most people know who I am,” she said. “My children all went to school here so I sat on several committees in the community and in the schools.”
Among the issues Smethurst would like to see addressed by council is the water situation.
“We’re in a drought and I don’t know how the reservoir is supposed to be able to sustain all the communities that are on it,” she said. “I don’t see it happening.”
Jamie Wilkie
Wilkie is not new to politics in Turner Valley. He moderated discussions on a political Facebook forum during the 2017 municipal election and now wants to take it to the next level.
“I did a bunch of work that started out as personal interest regarding taxes and financial accountability,” he said. “My biggest goal was to make sure people were backing up the information they were providing so there was accuracy involved in the discussion that was happening. That just carried over into an interest to evaluate the potential to run.”
Wilkie said he feels council has had some good accomplishments so far, and there’s potential to take that even further.
“Efficiencies are one thing, when you’re looking at service levels it’s another thing,” he said. “I’ve seen the passion in this town and I want to be a part of helping shape its future.”
Wilkie said he has a background in finances and wants to bring some of that experience to the council table. He moved to Turner Valley from Calgary with his young family in 2015.
Randy Williamson
Williamson is not new to municipal elections in Turner Valley, having run previously including in the 2017 municipal election.
“I’ve run a few times,” he said. “I’ve always missed by a few votes.”
Williamson, who’s lived in Turner Valley for 17 years, said he was confident that the citizens voted in a strong mayor and council in the 2017 election.
“Like everyone else I thought we were done so I moved on,” he said. “I thought we got a strong council in there, we’ve got a strong mayor in there we could just move on.”
Williamson, who has a background in technology and business, said he’s running in the byelection with hopes of adding a new voice to council.
“The more people who come out we have a better opportunity of getting fresher ideas and new opinions on things,” he said. “As long as you get everyone working together going in the same direction. At the end of the day they should be able to come up with a pretty solid plan.”
Greg Pyra
Also returning to the race is Pyra, who ran in the 2017 municipal election.
The retired teacher on a fixed income said he’s concerned about the rising costs of services in Turner Valley. He moved to town three years ago.
“I think I can contribute a positive attitude with great respect for other council members,” he said. “Barry is going to be a terrific mayor and I’m extremely happy he’s going to be our next mayor.”
Pyra said he’d like to see the Town’s finances under control by reviewing them in detail.
He would also like an annual public acknowledgement of the Turner Valley RCMP and to establish a dog park in the community.
“I do believe this is a beautiful town and we do not do enough to enhance, celebrate or publicize the natural beauty of this community,” he said.
Over the years, Pyra has worked on numerous committees from the Alberta Teachers Association to co-founding the Calgary and Area Fine Arts Council. He also ran for MLA while living in Hanna.
Kathryn McGuire
McGuire is running due to her love for Turner Valley.
“I care about my community,” she said. “I want to be more involved in it than I actually am.”
McGuire, who’s been involved with the local Girl Guides for a decade, moved to Turner Valley in 2001 and felt it was time to get involved on a political level.
“Quite often we hear stories about certain issues that are going on in town, like say the water issue,” she said. “I often think to myself, you have all this past knowledge that you could bring as input to council. You can only complain so much without actually stepping up to the plate.”
McGuire’s background in Girl Guides includes having been an area commissioner and district commissioner, which involved overseeing budgets.
“I think I could really help council from many years of training in Girl Guides,” she said.
McGuire currently sits on the SPCA board and formerly served on the parks and recreation board.
Candidate Brotherston was unable to be reached by press time.
The Turner Valley Rate Payers Board is hosting candidate forums at the Valley Neighbours Club March 11 and 28 at 7:30 p.m.
