Councillor Wayne Rempel wants to make Lacombe the greatest place to live in Canada.
Referencing a recent article where Lacombe was rated the eighth best place to live in Canada, Rempel said he is running for council once again and hopes to continue working towards making Lacombe “Bigger and better.”
“I’d like Lacombe to go from the eighth best place in Canada to live to the number one best place in Canada to live.”
Running for his third term, Rempel said he has experience with the workings of City council and he is past the learning stage that councillors face when first elected.
“The first term, I’ll be honest, you just have so much to learn.”
He added that it takes almost a full term to become adjusted to the position and it is in the second term when councillors can really start getting work done.
Rempel said he has a proven track record of making promises and delivering on them. He mentioned several of council’s achievements like the skate park, are projects he campaigned towards and accomplishing such goals is something he plans to continue doing.
Rempel also said he is accessible, honest, straightforward, listens with an open mind and will constantly strive to make decisions that are best for the community.
He first ran for City council in 2007 because he saw it as a way to give back to his community.
Rempel went on to say that, having children, he said it was important to him that Lacombe continue to be a vibrant community even with its small town feel. He added that belief became even more important to him after his children had families of their own and he became a grandfather.
Being involved in the community is important to Rempel and it is one of the things he enjoys about being on City council.
He said the decision making process, everything from researching City of Lacombe issues, discussing those issues with people and the ultimate decision made by that process is his favourite part of his involvement with council.
“Those are the things that really get me excited, being involved in the decision to make these things that we have bigger and better.”
This term, Rempel said he would like to focus on bringing more industrial and commercial business to Lacombe.
In addition to attracting more businesses, Rempel said he wants to help existing local businesses as well. He said he would like to see processes put in place to help local businesses succeed in whatever area they wish to excel, whether that be attracting more employees, extending trading area, increasing revenue or anything else.
“I would like the City to be more involved in helping out businesses whatever their needs are.”
Having owned a business in Lacombe for 14 years (Rempel formerly owned JP’s Pizza), he knows what problems the business community of Lacombe faces.
Rempel added his experience owning a business also taught him a great deal about dealing with people and about decision-making - tools he plans to bring to the table as a councillor as well.
He said as a business owner, he made decisions based on what was best for the business. As a councillor, he plans to do the same for Lacombe and will make decisions based on what is best for the community, even if those decisions aren’t the most popular ones.