For Jim Uffelmann, the decision to run for council this October did not come easily.
“The person who runs (for council) and the person who gets elected are two different people,” Uffelmann contends.
Spurred by issues surrounding the off-leash dog park, the Open Spaces Master Plan and transit, the eight-year Cochrane resident is eager for the town to better its commitment to public openness, and to move away from an agenda-driven council and become more engagement driven.
“The current council has not stopped talking long enough to listen,” said Uffelmann, who admits that if elected, he would do what was best for Cochrane and not himself. “I see myself voting for things that I don’t necessarily agree with, but know the community needs.
Chiming a theme of ‘community communication and common sense,’ Uffelmann said council needs people like himself, who think outside the box and look at issues with a different perspective.
In addition to involving residents more in council decisions, Uffelmann aims to manage Cochrane’s growth by planning for the future, keeping taxes in-hand and making sure town administration growth is on pace with population growth.
When it comes to the hot-button issue of transit, Uffelmann said he is open-minded about the idea, but believes the community has spoken on the matter, and that Cochrane is not ready for a transit system. He adds that transit will be necessary in the future, and that more information on a user-based system and an operating budget is needed.
With regards to Cochrane’s speedy growth, Uffelmann feels the town should not ‘roll over to development,’ and should rather follow its own vision.
“We don’t need to be Calgary,” he said, “we need to be Cochrane.”
Uffelmann said the town should do what it can to lure more business – and in turn, jobs – to Cochrane; businesses like Dynastream Innovations and All Span Building Systems.
Uffelmann does not back down from voicing his feelings on Cochrane’s current mayor Truper McBride, someone he has not been a support of, and on mayoral candidate Ivan Brooker, who he hopes will be Cochrane’s next mayor.
“He is always willing to stand up for his independent view,” Uffelmann said of Brooker, “which seems to be the community’s view.”
Uffelmann also expressed displeasure with how Cochrane’s latest tax increase was, in his view, blamed on swelling costs for fire services, pointing to what he felt was the town’s lack of foresight into its financial responsibilities for RCMP services as one example.
“I would rather speak to a topic than speak around a topic,” Uffelmann said.
An outdoorsman, dog owner and avid cyclist, Uffelmann moved to Cochrane from Banff in 2005 and currently works maintenance at the Mount St. Francis Retreat Centre.
He has developed a Facebook page called ‘Cochrane Elections’ where residents have an open forum to discuss the candidates.
