In the run up to the 2017 election, we asked our readers and listeners what issues matter most to them. Every day, we ask candidates for their thoughts on healthcare, growth, traffic, city facilities, downtown, and the other issues important to their campaign. Today, Blaine Astra addresses your issues.

Candidate Blaine Astra hopes that after next week's election, he'll be Airdrie's new mayor.

When asked how he would address the burdens related to Airdrie's rapid growth, Astra said the main burden the city faces is traffic. Astra said Airdrie is hard to get around, and working on traffic issues is his number one priority. Intersections don't keep traffic moving, traffic signals are out of date and it is so hard to get from east to west that many people he's spoken to don't even bother crossing the highway.

Astra believes it is important to work on connectivity. As a commercial safety officer, he believes Airdrie's traffic issues can be addressed with a simple fix, but Astra did not discuss what that fix would entail.

"I do know that whatever is getting done these days, in our intersections and our traffic flow is not getting done right. It's an easy fix when you involve the right people."

Astra thinks some of the problems relating to traffic stem from having people that don't live in Airdrie coming in to design intersections, and he thinks that can't be allowed to go on.

Astra also spoke passionately about the need to take over waste services in Airdrie. He pointed out that currently, garbage collection and hauling is contracted to a third party. He thinks that if the City took over garbage collection, that would result in added jobs for residents.

"Airdrie, all they do is write the check. And I always feel that we can do that locally. In other words, when we do it locally, we provide employment locally. We pick up our own garbage, we drop our own garbage, we haul our own garbage."

Astra also wants to expand the recycling depot in Airdrie, explaining that would attract residents from surrounding communities to recycle in Airdrie which he thinks could generate revenue for the City.

On healthcare, Astra said he's heard from many residents that there is a need for a hospital. He does not think that that need will be met in the near future, so for the time being he said it will be necessary to lay the groundwork for some kind of stable medical facility. Overall, Astra is pleased with Airdrie's healthcare right now, citing good response times and trained staff. Even so, Astra thinks that while today's needs are being met, that will no longer be the case as Airdrie grows.

Astra said he thinks downtown is a dying area, and he is not happy with that. As development happens on the edge of town, it is drawing people away from the core. Astra thinks developing more multifamily dwellings downtown could bring more people back.

"I would love to see property development at a level of condos [and] apartments to bring that person back to the core and develop those areas into small business specialty shops."

When it comes to building additional facilities, Astra sees a need but doesn't rank it high on his list of priorities. Astra thinks Genesis Place is a wonderful facility, and hopes somewhere down the line a facility like it can be built on the west side. He said that is not an immediate priority for two reasons. First, building a facility like that will cost money, and that money has to come from somewhere, which could require a tax raise. He also thinks that getting a facility like that will take some time. While planning for a facility can be done now, he thinks it is unlikely that the facility will be built during the next mayoral term.

For the time being, Astra thinks the City needs to do a better job promoting Genesis Place. He thinks one way that could be done is by making the facility free for anyone up to 16 years old on the first Sunday of every month. Astra said that will draw customers to the facility, and hopefully start generating money as people return.

 

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