Bringing business to Morinville will be Wayne Gatza’s top priority if he’s elected to town council this fall, says the real estate agent.
Gatza, 47, is a retired Canadian Forces medical assistant with 1 Field Ambulance and a realtor with ReMax in Morinville. He’s lived in Morinville since 1996, and entered the race for town council last week.
Gatza said he didn’t want to be one of those people who sit around and complain instead of helping out.
“I want Morinville to be the best community it can be in Alberta.”
And that means beefing up its economy. Morinville and Spruce Grove were about the same size 20 years ago, he said. Today Spruce Grove is almost three times bigger.
The difference is economic growth, Gatza said.
“They’ve been very aggressive in economic development and in bringing in businesses that serve the needs of the population. We need to be doing the same thing,” he said.
Morinville has had a hotel study on the books since 2009, Gatza said, yet it still doesn’t have a hotel.
“You want a case of beer in Morinville, you’ve got five to seven choices. If you want to buy an item of clothing, you have no choices.”
Morinville needs to aggressively pursue the businesses it wants, Gatza said, and give them good offers and possibly even tax incentives – such as the one given to Champion Petfoods – to come to town. Council also has to get onto implementing the 2009 hotel study.
The town also needs to upgrade its recreational facilities, Gatza said, particularly its arena. He also noted the long-standing need for an indoor pool and the 2009 parks study, which has yet to be implemented.
The town should pursue more business development to get tax dollars for parks, Gatza said, and look into sponsorship opportunities for new facilities.
As for an indoor pool, Gatza said he would be in favour of a tax increase – a small one, he emphasized – if it would help the town build and run such a facility.
“Residents understand that if we are going to have something of that magnitude, there’s going to be a cost associated with it.”
Gatza described himself as a people person whose time in the military and years of experience as a volunteer hockey and soccer coach made him a focused team player.
“You can’t drive a ship by yourself.”
Still, he said he faced a steep learning curve if he wants to be on council, and said he would pursue a certificate through the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association’s Elected Official Education Program to get the skills he needed for office.
The Gazette will profile other council candidates as they come forward.
