If Susan Flowers is re-elected, she said she plans to create more community supports for Cochrane residents.
Flowers moved to town over 25 years ago, her kids grew up here and her 90-year-old mother also calls Cochrane home.
She said she is invested in supporting services for all ages, but added town council has some ground to make up after the last four-year term.
“I really want to see some more affordable housing projects come forward during this term," she said. "I’d really like to see the Town working together with Cochrane Society for Housing Options to get another project underway. We have a good partnership with them already in place, sharing a staff person and some of the expenses, but we need to get a new project going.”
Flowers said they had to reject or revamp many projects to save money over the last 19 months because of the COVID pandemic, which held up any affordable housing projects that might have gone ahead otherwise.
“We’re pretty resilient and concrete,” she said. “We recover from things pretty quickly. I want to be a part of that and supporting small businesses and non-profits and individuals that are recovering from the pandemic.”
Flowers worked for the Town of Cochrane as a manager of family and community support services for 22 years before serving on Town council the past term. She’s an experienced social worker, has a certificate in community economic development and has taken several leadership courses.
“I was very involved in the community,” she said. “I initiated a lot of support services that we have today like the homestead apartment building," she said. "I was one of the founding members on that, and the Boys and Girls Club, Cochrane Home Treasures and Home Rental Heaven. I helped somewhat with that. I’m happy to put it all to good use, I’d like to do another term just to keep using it [my experience] to finish some of these things that we got started.”
Flowers said that while they are good at finding grants, she would also like to see the Town balance its finances so that some of the big projects underway and on the way do not have to depend on growth for funding.
Flower said one of her greatest assets on council is her ability to recognize the needs of the community, tackle them with common sense and advocate for cost-effective solutions.
Planning needs to happen with future generations in mind, Flower said.
“We don’t need to go overboard and spend too much or get too big," she said. "I’ve got four generations living here, my grandson is 10 and my mom is 90. We have a sustainability plan but it’s getting old now, it was done in 2009, so we need to update the targets on that and make sure that we’re looking to the future and being responsible for our children and grandchildren for the future generations to live the quality of life we’re living.”
As chair of the committee that looked at the Tri-Site projects, Flowers said it has been exciting to be a part of the many developments that may be ahead for the community. The largest of the three Tri-Site vacant lots is a 15.3-acre site along Fifth Avenue at the rodeo grounds, Flowers said this is where they would like to see a new seniors Centre and Boys and Girls Club put up.
With new developments comes the potential for more growth, and while these projects are only in the planning stages, Flowers said Cochrane is always in an ongoing battle to retain its small-town feel.
“I think that our biggest strength is our location, the beauty of the community and the small-town feel," she said. "We are growing, so it’s a push-pull all the time. Others want to come here too because it’s so beautiful, but we’re trying to hang on to the small-town feel. So that’s always a blessing and a curse at the same time.”
Cochranites will head to the polls Oct. 18 to vote for who they would like to see on town council for the next four years. All six current councillors are running for re-election and 13 new candidates have put in their names.
