Bearspaw resident Samanntha Wright is no stranger to speaking up for the needs of her community.
“In municipal politics, it’s often the small things that are the most important,” said Wright, who is one of three candidates hoping to be elected as Rocky View County’s (RVC) Division 8 councillor on Nov. 16.
“Making sure there’s a speed bump outside of the school, dealing with the traffic that ignores the stop sign, rerouting the commercial trucks driving past your house – these are things the federal government doesn’t care about, but at the end of the day, really affects the environment where you live.”
According to Wright, protecting the interests of current Bearspaw residents is a priority – maintaining the “country residential” lifestyle that drew her and many others to the area. As the mother of six-year old twin boys and an eight-year old girl, Wright said she and her husband moved to Bearspaw nearly a decade ago because of the community’s proximity to the city and its “idyllic” country atmosphere.
“I am a city girl at heart, but that’s not where I want to raise my kids,” she said. “Of course, change and growth is inevitable, but we have to make sure how sustainable and viable any potential developments are. As a councillor, I think we need to work with administration – we have some really fabulous policy that seems to often get pushed aside.”
Armed with a political science degree and years of experience working in public relations and telecommunications, Wright said she can be “pretty outspoken,” and hopes to use this to the benefit of area residents. According to Wright, one of the things she said she appreciated about Division 8’s previous councillor Al Sacuta, who passed away in August, was his openness.
“We had a wonderful councillor, someone I spoke to frequently and admired,” she said. “This is something I’ve been interested in for a long time, and now that my kids are in school full time, the timing is right.”
One of Wright’s main concerns for Division 8 is development pressure, which she said has the potential to “erode” the area’s much-loved country residential style. RVC’s policies relating to the area identify the value of this lifestyle, Wright said, and she hopes to see council work closely with administration to ensure any potential development is what’s best for the entire community.
“Seemingly, there are bigger plans for this area by other organizations,” she said. “Moving forward, I’d like to see any amendments to policy be made to protect the people – so we don’t end up with massive tax hikes because of developments that we don’t necessarily want.”
Wright will be campaigning over the coming weeks, continuing what she said is an “aggressive” door-knocking campaign as well as distributing signs and flyers, and advertising in newspapers. She said she’s already heard from several residents, and looks forward to hearing from more.
“The people here are so passionate, which is an amazing thing to see,” she said. “I don’t have an agenda, and I’m not backed by any organization – I’m representing honesty and integrity, and I’m here for the people of this community.”
To find out more about Division 8 candidate Samanntha Wright, visit her website at wrightforbearspaw.com, or email [email protected]
