Once the editor of a local newspaper, Lisa Joy now wishes to serve the citizens of Lacombe in a more direct manner.
Joy covered the activities of Lacombe council for several years as editor of the Lacombe Globe.
Now no longer with the Globe, Joy wishes to continue serving the people of Lacombe as a councillor.
“It was a privilege and an honour,” said Joy of her time covering Lacombe council.
“And I would like to continue that, continue serving the people of Lacombe.”
Joy said that because of her experience covering City council, she is already up to date on the goings on of council and has an understanding of how council works.
“I know the issues,” said Joy. She added that, through covering council meetings, she developed a passion for local politics and that is another factor that led her to run for council herself.
The people of Lacombe also care about local politics, said Joy. She added that, because the decisions made by City councillors affect people more directly than other levels of government, they matter most to the people in the community.
“Nothing impacts people more than what happens locally.”
She said that people are more inclined to speak out about what happens in their own community than about issues at the provincial or federal level.
Joy also gave the example of Lacombe’s Solid Waste Roadmap and the massive public feedback around that issue as an example of how much people care about their own community.
“There are more (people) interested in local issues because it affects them directly,” said Joy. “It’s their community.”
Also passionate about Lacombe and its people, Joy said her love for the community is another trait that would serve her well as a councillor.
She said that Lacombe is her home and she wants to do what is best for it.
“I know the issues, I know the people and I know the community. And I care about them.”
As a reporter, Joy spent a lot of her time listening to people and telling their stories.
She said this would translate well in the political world, where she would listen to people and then represent their interests.
Fiscal responsibility and transparent government are issues that Joy would strive for as a councillor. She said that Lacombe’s councillors have made a lot of headway in this area and she would like to be part of that so she could see them continue to do so.
Education is also important to Joy.
She said that, if elected, she would work towards having Red Deer College set up a satellite campus in Lacombe so that students from Lacombe attending the College would not need to commute.
Joy said that she knows money is tight for a lot of students and that they can’t afford to drive back and forth between the two cities.