Mayor Steve Christie, who is running for a second term as Lacombe’s mayor, said he believes he can take a great City and make it even better. He said he has been working toward that belief ever since he was first elected to council in 2004.
“My motto, ever since 2004, has always been, ‘building on the past for a brighter future,’” said Christie. “I was always taught to leave things in better shape than I found them and that’s exactly what I want to do for Lacombe.”
This is Christie’s third term on council and his first as mayor of Lacombe. In total, he has served nine years on council.
As a long-serving member of council, Steve said he has a proven track record that Lacombians can trust and have trusted in the past. He said he has also proven that he has Lacombe’s best interest at heart Lacombians can count on him to continue doing so.
Christie said one of the things he enjoys most about his work as mayor is being able to take some of Lacombe’s weaknesses and turn them into strengths. He added that this is something he believes the current council has done a lot of. “There is nothing better than turning a negative into a positive. There is no better feeling to me than that.”
Christie said he first got involved with local politics after being inspired by some young volunteers. While attending an FCSS volunteer appreciation evening in 2004, Christie saw young students, elementary and high school aged, being recognized and it made him think he could be doing more for his community himself. As that year was a municipal election year, Christie decided to run for council. He was elected and has never stopped enjoying it, he said.
It was that enjoyment that led Christie to run for mayor during the last municipal election. He said that he has held many positions in jobs and when he hits a plateau, he starts looking for his next challenge.
“Taking on that challenge as mayor was very intriguing.”
In order to prepare himself for becoming mayor and get a feel for the time commitment, Christie took on more responsibilities than usual during his last year as a councillor. However, he added that his plan was not all that successful.
“It didn’t hold a candle to the real deal. It was a learning experience for me. It’s been exciting. It’s been frustrating. It’s been happy, sad. It’s been all things.”
In any case, one term as mayor has not deterred Christie any from running again. He said he has learned a lot in the past three years and wants to continue to see some of the initiatives this council has put in motion come at least a little closer to fruition.
“When I look back over the last three years I am amazed at what this council has got done and where we are going,” said Christie. He added this council has created a momentum that he would like to keep up with as mayor.
Christie added when he and the rest of council were elected and sworn in in October of 2010, they had a lot of “cleaning up” to do and many things to take care of from past councils. With that done, this council moved on to start their own projects and Christie would like to be able to see some of those projects through to the end.