Nomination day is coming up quickly for the 2017 municipal election, and another candidate has come forward for City Council.

"I’ve had tremendous opportunity afforded to me in this community," said Al Jones. "I’ve raised my family here, prospered here and made a lot of friends with some incredible folks. I’ve always enjoyed being involved and now that my children are adults, I’m ready to take it a step further by advocating for our community needs in an official capacity”.

Jones said he was spurred to run because he thinks the City could benefit from a variety of new perspectives.

"I look at all the needs in this community, and I've come to realize that we need a tremendous amount more input. I'm not trying to take anything away from the Council that we have, I just think we need a lot more input, a lot more variety of ideas."

Jones has been a business owner in Airdrie for 21 years, alongside his wife Lois. He thinks that experience gives him a unique skill set that he can contribute to City council.

"We're seeing, as the city continues to grow, that maybe some of the things that made it easy for us to succeed 20 years ago, maybe it's time to bring some of those ideas back or expand on them, and I think I have some insight into that."

Jones has also sat on a number of community and not-for-profit boards, including a four year stint on the Airdrie Chamber of Commerce, four years with the Airdrie and Area Community Foundation and nineteen years with the City's Environmental Advisory Board.

Jones outlined some of his priorities in this election.

"Public engagement, a lot more of it. Working with the public, not just for the public. Economically speaking, moving forward in the business community, helping them to succeed, keeping in mind that they contribute significantly to our tax base. We're suffering some growing pains right now, so we have some infrastructure needs. They're not going to happen overnight, but I think planning needs to start immediately for some of them."

Jones said specifically, he sees a need in Airdrie for some sort of convention or events centre. He also proposed the idea of a combined library and museum complex that celebrates literacy and Airdrie's history while drawing tourism. Jones also believes the role of government is to facilitate opportunities for local art to succeed, something he's committed to.

 

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