This month's municipal elections will mark the first mayoral race in the Town of Bonnyville in seven years, with current Mayor Ernie Isley facing two challengers in current council member Gene Sobolewski and local businessman Brent Boulrice.
Since assuming office in March 2006, Isley has faced little competition through the past two municipal elections, returning to office by acclamation in both 2007 and 2010, but said he is set for his first mayoral race.
Having officially signaled his intent to run for a third full term in office late last month, Isley said his reason for running came down to a number of pressing issues the town is dealing with and that he feels he has a responsibility to see them through.
“There are probably four or five key reasons for me running again. Now that we've finally got the regional waterline underway, I want to see (that through,)” Isley said. “I still have strong concerns over the North East Regional Lab and the government's efforts to centralize its services into a larger facility. I'm hoping to see some movement (with regards to) special infrastructure support from the province, and then finally I'd like to see some of the projects this current council has worked hard on through to completion.”
Isley pointed to the development of the Eastgate development project, construction of Phase 2 of Bonnylodge and added residential development as other key factors in his decision to run again.
He foresees the next four years being an important time in the future growth of Bonnyville and that he hoped he would be in office to help sustain and aid that growth.
Current councilor Gene Sobolewski said he almost put his name on the ballot in 2010 after being encouraged to do so by many residents in town, but he feels now is the right time to get involved and help Bonnyville get “back on track.”
“I think the main reason I'm running in this election is because a lot of the local electorates asked me to do so, and the reason they asked me is because they're tired of the leadership and direction our current mayor has been taking,” Sobolewski explained. “People are frustrated that in the last five years under his leadership we've (lost a lot of things.) Our relationship with our neighbours (in Cold Lake) has disintegrated, our relationship particularly with the provincial government has disintegrated to the point that we're a laughing stock. We're not seen as credible and quite frankly we're seen as a joke.”
He said the “lack of vision” displayed by Isley over the past five years caused him to step up to run for mayor, saying he feels the town needs a leader that is willing to make changes and come to a compromise when required.
“Over the course of the last term we haven't mended things, our leader hasn't shown that change is imminent and he seems to be more content on fighting with the (province) and I'm not content with that. I firmly believe that has got to stop and the only way to stop it is with a new individual sitting in the mayor's chair.”
Sobolewski said should he be elected he would develop a number of priorities for the town and attempt to rebuild a relationship with the province and the City of Cold Lake and continue working with the MD to find an acceptable resolution for a number of prevalent issues in town.
“Right now in Bonnyville we're experiencing a housing crunch, and we've got serious problems with regards to affordable housing. We need to come up with a plan to address that. We've also got a parking problem on our hands, (infrastructure issues,) health care is still right on the front burner and we need to ensure we can convince the province to start looking at different ways to put more of a focus on regional health centres, not less.”
Brent Boulrice, who currently works as the general manager at Casino Dene said he too had identified several issues in Bonnyville that he feels need addressing, adding that more needs to be done for the town and its residents.
“I've lived in Bonnyville now for a few years and I love the town, I love the services and I've noticed there is a real potential for growth in our community moving forward and that's something I definitely want to be a part of,” Boulrice said. “My whole platform centres around the idea of change. I'd like to see new attractions and services come to Bonnyville, but I also realize that housing and more specifically affordable housing is a key issue right now,” Boulrice explained. “More needs to be done in that regard to try and help people as much as we can – not everyone works on the oil patch and earns an oil patch wage, so we need to support people like that.”
Having worked in the business world for a number of years, Boulrice said he would be bringing that approach and acumen with him to council should he be elected Oct. 21.
“Like any town, I'm sure the town of Bonnyville is pretty much run like a business and since that's where my background is, I think I'd be a good fit. I'm personable and like to get involved (in the community). I've also noticed the lack of a relationship Bonnyville council currently has with the province and I'd really like to rebuild that. This is an (exciting time) for Bonnyville, over the course of the next term and the term after that I think we can expect to see close to 10,000 people living within town limits, which would make Bonnyville a city, so we really need to start laying the foundations for that.”