Gareth Jones wants his seat back.
Defeated in the 2010 election after serving his first term on city council, the 73-year-old electrical equipment manager and founding member of the St. Albert Rugby Football Club says he wants another term on council.
“I think we are moving into a very exciting time period as far as the city is concerned,” Jones said. “I think we have tremendous opportunities but we are not embracing them.”
This will be Jones’ fifth election campaign. His third run in 2007 was his first successful bid for council. He, along with incumbent James Burrows, was defeated in 2010.
“I learned it takes a lot of time and hard work to do what you need to do,” Jones said of what he learned on his one term on council. “You definitely have to do your own research to make sure you have the full information available to make good decisions.”
Jones said there were two factors in his 2010 defeat. He cited the contentious Habitat for Humanity build – Aurora Place – and his support for it that factored into his defeat. He was also recovering from shoulder surgery and couldn’t campaign as much as he wanted.
Jones said his primary concern is building partnerships between the city and business, not-for-profit groups and neighbours such as Sturgeon County. When it comes to business, Jones pointed to his years of work experience said the city needs to streamline how it deals with developers.
“Building partnerships, from my perspective, is the way a good business is run. For the last 25 years that’s what I’ve been doing.”
Sturgeon County and St. Albert also need to patch up their differences, Jones said, as the two are growing towards one another’s boundaries.
“As we grow, we grow towards them. It’s important we have a relationship.”
And the city needs to form better partnerships with the non-profit groups in St. Albert. While he wouldn’t give specifics, Jones said those partnerships need to be more effective than they traditionally have been.
“One of the elements is the way not-for-profit organizations have built and developed facilities throughout the city. You can see the sense of ownership in there but I don’t think there’s been really strong partnerships and relationships in the way that they should be,” Jones said.
Jones pointed to his experience and work ethic as reasons why he would make a good councillor.
“Most of the people I know know I’m not afraid of applying my time to the job,” Jones said. “I know from my business background I can help to develop those relationships and partnerships I’ve been talking about.”
Only Ted Durham has announced to date he will run for council.
Nomination papers must be filed Sept. 23. Election day is Oct. 21.
