By Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Hoffarth running for city council to make the voices of residents heard

Sep 16, 2017 | 10:30 AM

LETHBRIDGE – When it comes to his outlook on city business, Raymond Hoffarth believes there must be more consultation with Lethbridge residents going forward.

It’s that belief that is fueling the non-ideologue, who says he’s running for city council with an “Alt Centre” platform.

“I think Alt Centre speaks for itself, I don’t come from any particular political stripe. I’m not here to represent anything other than the people of Lethbridge, I want to take ideas that are the consensus of consultations with residents, and move the city in that direction,” Hoffarth said. “I think there needs to be open public consultation going forward, the role of a councillor is to make sure the electorate is well informed on what’s happening. The centre really means coming together, because there’s a lot of ideas out there and we need to be working towards the ideas our residents believe in.”

Hoffarth was born and raised in Lethbridge, and has lived most of his life in the city with his wife of 33 years, Vigirnia. He also has two sons, Kyle and Devin.

Hoffarth has worked with people with learning, and behaviour problems for more than 15 years, and as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst where he works as a private consultant.

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He’s been involved with Inclusion Lethbridge (formerly Lethbridge Association for Community Living) and he plans to continue working towards creating an inclusive community that provides individuals and families with the services and resources needed to live good lives.

But, that doesn’t mean that government should be making decisions for it’s citizens, because Hoffarth believes the city needs to be responsive to innovative ways to provide services.

“I present an Alt Centre platform that represents the forgotten and silent citizenry not committed to some political ideal. I am running because we need to change the dynamic of how the city functions. Too much of city business is done behind closed doors,” Hoffarth continued. “If elected as a city councillor, I will guard against the inclination for the system and bureaucrats to operate in secret and without any public consultation.”

One part of his platform pitch is exploring offering a city-wide comprehensive WiFi network that is equipped to deal with the internet traffic he expects the city to see in the coming years.

Hoffarth says Lethbridge can be a place where anyone and everyone can participate, work and do business at the speed of light. It’s that kind of forward thinking approach he believes will help make the city attractive to globally connected businesses and business people who like to work and stay connected.

Hoffarth is a bit of a political wonk and says that’s one of the reasons he got into this.

“So many people I know have said to me, you know Ray you have so many good ideas and you have an opinion about these things, so you should go ahead. So here am I,” he added.

Hoffarth also dropped incumbent city councillor Joe Mauro as someone he chums around, and talks with from time to time.

“I don’t agree with Joe on lots of things, I don’t think we’d ever see eye to eye on issues. But I respect Joe, even when he votes no on something I might’ve thought about voting yes on. I think he’s one of the main reasons behind my run because he’s told me a lot of the same things, so it’s almost a bit of a challenge,” Hoffarth stated.

Hoffarth says he wants to work with councillors that believe there needs to be a change to the dynamics of how business is done in the city currently.

“Administration needs to be help to account, too much business is done behind closed doors during in-camera meetings. Sometimes it seems like decisions have been made, and it’s only after much of the work has been done that we’re handed with this Fait Accompli and then asked to vote yay or nay on it,” Hoffarth said.

Every politician that runs for any kind of office always talks about the need for transparency with the public, but Hoffarth says if you don’t ever show that transparency it’s just empty talk.

“I’d like to see the public brought in on consultation much sooner, and I’m sure that is problematic for an administration that’s used to doing business the same old way they have for a long time. From my perspective it’s really simple, I want to be able to work with other councillors and ask tough questions of any proposal that comes in front of council,” Hoffarth continued.

“I have no problems with decisions being made, as long as I have all the information. Even with people I may disagree with, as long as we all understand what it is we’re voting on and what the end result will be. It’s about being transparent during all discussions that affect people’s lives, being above board and clear,” Hoffarth finished by saying.