A practical, no nonsense approach and a unique knowledge of the area is what Councillor Greg Boehlke offers his constituents.
After two terms on council, Boehlke isn’t ready to quit. He announced his intention to run for re-election in Division 6.
“I don’t believe I have lost the common sense,” said Boehlke. “If it ain’t broke, leave it alone. If it is broke, you have to fix it.”
Boehlke was born and raised in Rocky View County. In fact, all but seven years of his life have been spent living within its borders.
As a teenager he participated in sports around the county. As an adult, he worked in the construction field, gaining an intimate knowledge of the diversity of Rocky View.
Currently, he lives in Crossfield.
“My community is Crossfield,” said Boehlke. “I have lived there for 25 years, I have raised my kids there. I don’t want to do anything that is detrimental to Crossfield or Langdon or Irricana or Beiseker.”
Boehlke serves a predominantly rural population, and loves the rural lifestyle.
One of his goals during his past term has been to help solve issues that are important to his constituents, and he says he has attempted to make himself available.
Boehlke invests many evening hours talking to people and answering emails and has logged many miles during his terms.
“I’m lucky, I have a predominantly rural division,” said Boehlke. “The people are great. If they have a problem, they call me and I try to help them. I have met so many good people.”
One of Boehlke’s greatest challenges is road maintenance within his division.
Most of the roads are gravel and deteriorate quickly.
Over the years, Boehlke has served on a number of boards and committees, including the Growth Management Committee, the Agricultural Services board, the Kneehill Water Commission, Infrastructure and Operations, the Airdrie Rocky View Intermunicipal Committee and various recreation boards, to name a few.
He treats his job as councillor as a full time occupation, attending three to five meetings a week.
Boehlke is proud of the relationships that this council has built with its municipal neighbours, including the cities of Airdrie and Calgary, and the counties of Foothills and Kneehill.
“We have a good relationship with our neighbours,” said Boehlke, adding that several long-standing issues with neighbours have been resolved, including annexations with the City of Calgary, Cochrane, Airdrie and Crossfield.
Recreational agreements have also been made with Rocky View’s municipal neighbours.
Boehlke said he is very proud of the steps council has made in the area of strategic, long--term planning.
Key to that planning has been the Growth Management Strategy, a document which attempts to envision and plan for Rocky View County 50 years into the future.
“Growth management is a huge step,” said Boehlke. “When I started, we were accused of dartboard development, even the Province said ‘you have no plan, we can’t trust you.’ Now we have a strategic plan, which is now going to be a plan for the future.”
Boehlke continues to support a plan to diversify the tax base within Rocky View.
Since he started, industrial and commercial taxes have grown from 20 per cent to 40 per cent of the total tax revenue.
“That is way more healthy,” said Boehlke. “We are not relying on residential so much.”
Despite an increased debt load, Boehlke is hopeful about Rocky View’s future, given its location along the Queen Elizabeth Highway and future growth projection.
“It is challenging and it is exciting,” said Boehlke. “It is inevitable when you are surrounding a city of a million plus, you are going to grow too.”
Although he acknowledges the inevitability of growth, Boehlke’s goal on council is to maintain agricultural land within the county.
“Historically settlements are built close to water ways,” he said. “It is inevitable to cover up the best soils. It is not about stopping growth, it is to manage it.”
According to Boehlke, this council has also made a commitment to the environment, something he is proud of.
He listed Jumping Pound Creek and the Nose Creek Water Shed as projects council has worked on over the past term.
The key, for Boehlke is the maintenance of the diverse nature of Rocky View, from farmland to small town to country residential.
“It is about community,” said Boehlke. “If you lose that complete community, then you have evolved into a place where people might not want to live.”
