After just one term on Rocky View County council, Division 1 Councillor Harvey Buckley won’t be running for re-election this fall.
Despite many accomplishments and a memorable experience, Buckley said it’s time he slowed down.
“I have to confess Father Time is catching up with me,” said Buckley. “I am just turning 78 and I have been really slowing down the past three years. I just can’t do it all, and it wouldn’t be fair to the ratepayers.”
Buckley said he started his role on council with three goals: to raise the bar on fiscal responsibility and sustainability in the county, to manage growth and to raise the governance level.
“I have nibbled at all those,” said Buckley. “I certainly haven’t made the progress that I think needs to be made. Rocky View is not able to adequately deal with challenges until we do.”
One of Buckley’s greatest accomplishments was helping to create a vision statement for his division.
“I was surprised at the enormous amount of support that was behind it,” he said.
Buckley said that addressing the water and wastewater situation in Bragg Creek was very important for the community.
“I know everybody wasn’t happy, but certainly there was no choice,” said Buckley.
Buckley cites other key accomplishments, such as the Elbow River Basin Water Management Plan, the Bragg Creek fire smart program and the construction of Banded Peak School, as sources of pride.
Buckley has a long history of farming in Rocky View, and is still involved in the family cow-calf operation, 19 kilometres south and west of Cochrane.
“I was born and raised in the Springbank area,” said Buckley. “I have been on this particular place for 53 years. I have a passion for agriculture.”
Buckley’s passion extends much further than the family farm. His work developing and administering Alberta farm policy earned him a place in the Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame in 1997.
He was chairperson of the Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council for 15 years and has been involved in numerous agriculture and community based organizations from the Cochrane Chamber of Commerce to numerous livestock organizations.
Over the years, he has been the recipient of many awards including the Alberta Achievement Award of Excellence in Agriculture and the Confederation of Canada 125th Anniversary Medal in 1992.
He said those experiences helped him adapt quickly to his role on council.
“With my previous experience, that council work was nothing new,” said Buckley. “I am used to it.”
Despite the successes of his term, Buckley experienced some disappointments as well.
He would have liked to see a more concrete implementation of the Growth Management Strategy and updated and better adhered to Area Structure Plans (ASP).
“The ASPs belong to the people,” said Buckley. “That is my one concern. In council, particularly with our policies and ASPs, we don’t always follow them.”
Buckley said long-term visioning is important to avoid mismanagement of the land and to maintain agricultural land. Buckley is concerned about the rate of development in the county.
“If the policy and the ASP doesn’t fit, change it,” said Buckley. “But you have to have consistency. There were people living on this land before we got here…and man are we ever butchering it up. There seems to be no limit to what development we can have.”
Buckley had also hoped to better deal with the needs of seniors during his tenure.
“I am an impatient fellow,” he said. “I would like to have seen progress made quicker than it did… it all takes time.”
Buckley hopes the next council will be up to the challenge of dealing with the global financial picture, which he says changes weekly. He said it is very important for the upcoming councillor in Division 1 to get to know the community and to strive to represent its interests.
Buckley encourages Rocky View residents to get as involved as possible in the County’s processes.
“It think it is very important for communities and people to get involved with their local government,” said Buckley. “I have been preaching that in Bragg Creek since I got elected. You have to give me direction. Unfortunately, we get the government we deserve because we don’t get involved.”
