The Village of Clyde's two newest councillors are ready to be sworn in and get to work. Nat Dvernichuk and Neil Olson were acclaimed as councillors on Aug.
The Village of Clyde's two newest councillors are ready to be sworn in and get to work.
Nat Dvernichuk and Neil Olson were acclaimed as councillors on Aug. 2, when they were the only two candidates to submit the paperwork for a byelection to fill the two vacant seats on council. They are scheduled to be sworn in at the Aug. 21 meeting.
Both men are now retired, and both said that having the time to dedicate to the position played a big role in their decision to get involved in municipal politics.
"Quite a number of years ago, decades ago actually, I did run before," Dvernichuk said. "I just have some time on my hands now, being that I'm retired, and I thought for the betterment of the community and working with a council, there's always room for improvement."
Olson said while he has often considered running for the position, he never before felt like he had the time to dedicate to the village council to do the job right.
"I have the time to devote to it. There's really no issue that drove me to it, I just want to serve my community a little better," he said
The byelection came about after former councillors Diana Vosseler and Bob Gault tendered their resignations. Vosseler resigned June 1, saying she had to resign because she was moving out of the village.
Gault resigned at a special council meeting on June 26, saying he also intends to move out of the village and thought it would be best to have the byelection for both seats at the same time.
Neither of the two new councillors wanted to comment on specific changes they would like to see, but both said that bringing more business into the village would be a step in the right direction.
"As soon as we get some corporate tax, maybe the residential tax could move in a downward direction," Dvernichuk said. "The more money in the pot, the less has to be collected from ordinary people with homes here."
He added that trying to increase tourism would also have a net benefit for the village, helping to put it on the map and bringing in some extra income.
Olson said while more business in the village would obviously be a good thing, it's difficult to say what a council could specifically do to make that happen.
"I think it's tough because of our proximity to St. Albert and our proximity to Westlock to get any kind of business that will survive here," he said. "I think it will largely be a bedroom community, just because of our proximity to the other municipalities."
While neither men wanted to comment in detail on the workings of the village council, as they are not yet sworn in and have not yet begun their work, both spoke highly of the village and its residents.
"The people that live in the village, and the amount of volunteers in the village who will step up - whether the fire department, the ag society, the Parks & Play (committee), the seniors... everybody chips in to make the community a better place to live," Olson said.
Dvernichuk was more brief in his comments, but echoed the sentiment.
"It's a great community, but it definitely does need some business," he said.
