Mayor Rod Perkins (left) congratulates Rob Anderson on becoming a part of Kindersley town council.
Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
There will be no byelection to fill the vacant council seat created by the town’s former deputy mayor. Rob Anderson has been elected to council by acclamation.
Anderson was the only person to submit nomination papers by the deadline on March 7, so he was acclaimed to council. Anderson took the Oath of Office to be sworn in to the position by Bernie Morton, the town’s chief administrative officer, at a council meeting on March 12.
The town has abandoned the polls because there is no need for an election. The council seat was vacated after Ken Francis resigned to run in the recent byelection to become Kindersley MLA. Anderson will hold the seat until the next general election in 2020.
He was only a councillor-elect at the time of his interview, but Anderson said he is looking forward to serving on council. He noted that he plans to finish the current term and if he enjoys it, he might run for re-election.
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Anderson is a business owner and family man with three children. He noted that one of his children is in school while the other two children have joined the workforce. He has lived in Kindersley since 1995 and he has operated his business since 2002.
The town’s newest councillor said he was asked about the idea of running for council, so he gave it some thought. He said he does not have an abundance of free time at present, but he chose to run because he thought it would be better to learn about how decisions are made instead of complaining about the decisions.
He noted that one of his children also encouraged him to run for council. Anderson joins several other business owners on council, and he said he plans to take a business-like approach to his role as a councillor.
“I always think the town should be run like a business,” he said, recognizing that money is always flowing into and out of the town’s coffers and he believes the municipality has to be run with a similar mind set to that of a business owner.
Anderson said the main difference between the town and a private business is the town has to balance its budget. A municipality is not allowed to plan for a deficit, so the idea is to set a budget and spend those funds that are at the town’s disposal for the year, he added.[/emember_protected]
