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Lambert seeks council seat in Crossfield

Jo Lambert, a candidate in the Town of Crossfield's Oct. 19 byelection, said her platform focuses on open and transparent decision-making and effective communication with town residents and businesses.

Jo Lambert, a candidate in the Town of Crossfield's Oct. 19 byelection, said her platform focuses on open and transparent decision-making and effective communication with town residents and businesses.

“Because of my accounting background, [I feel it’s important] to make the financial decisions in a fiscally responsible manner…and to listen to the concerns of residents,” she said.

Before moving to Crossfield a little more than four years ago, Lambert and her husband owned and operated a bed and breakfast in Beiseker for eight years. Prior to that, she said she spent three decades working as a chief administrative officer and chief financial officer for five rural municipalities in Alberta, including Beiseker, Irricana, Thorsby, Nobleford and Irvine.

“When we retired from our bed and breakfast business, we wanted to find a new home, so we looked around at all the different communities in this area, and for my husband and me, Crossfield ticked all the boxes,” Lambert said. “We’re not big city people – we’re small-town people.”

Lambert said she was motivated to run in the byelection because it would provide the opportunity to “give back” to her new community. She added her education and experience working in local government will be an asset to council.

The greatest issue facing Crossfield, in Lambert’s view, is the financial impact of the ongoing recession in Alberta and the severity of the projected deficits of the provincial and federal governments brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and slumping oil prices.

“Money is going to be a challenge, with the money being spent by the provincial and federal governments,” she said. “We already know the provincial government is going to be cutting grants, so it’s going to be a challenge to keep up infrastructure, to keep up the maintenance and replacement for water, sewer lines and lagoons.

“Municipalities are going to have to get creative in ways to keep all those things up, with less money.”

Crossfield’s byelection is taking place a year before the next municipal elections, which will be held province-wide in October 2021. That means whoever is elected in the byelection will have just a year on council to make an impact before Crossfield voters return to the polls once again.

Even with a tight timeline, Lambert said candidates will need to be forward-thinking and focus on long-term goals.

“I know there are some things Crossfield Town council has been putting off until they get a full council again,” she said. “It’s kind of a long-term game plan on how to take care of those items. I’m sure there will be a lot of things that need to be done.

“Normally, the last year of a council is a productive one, because they don’t want to leave things undone for the next council. I don’t think there's going to be no work to do.”

Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19



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