Ryan Parker is running for re-election in October's municipal vote. (Photo supplied by Ryan Parker)

By Justin Goulet

Ryan Parker running for re-election in October’s municipal election

Sep 19, 2021 | 6:00 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Ryan Parker wants to be a city councillor again.

He’s announced his candidacy for Lethbridge City Council in October’s municipal election. Parker told LNN he did a lot of “soul searching” over the last year, speaking with friends and family and members of the community to help inform his decision to run for re-election. This would be Parker’s eighth term as city councillor if elected.

“People were really giving me lots of thumbs up, a lot of support to really throw my name back in there.”

He realized he still has a passion for municipal politics and is excited at the prospect of taking on a council seat again.

“I still think I have that youth and enthusiasm but I think I have a lot of experience and historical knowledge of why we’ve done what we’ve done to date, so I really wanted to do it still and I’m glad the community still supports me.”

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Parker said he’s focusing on a variety of issues ahead of the October 18 vote.

They are policing, with Parker saying, “I want to make sure that our police service gets the support that they need.” He explained that means not only financial support, but also moral support from council and the entire community.

Parker remarked that collaboration with other levels of government is a key.

“We have to advocate both to the provincial and federal government for funds and for services to help out police service to address, you know, there is a crime issue in our community.”

He’s also putting a focus on parks and pathways in the city.

Parker told LNN, “I think this summer proved that we really need to probably invest money into our maintenance program. I think our staff do an amazing job, but we just have to make sure that we allocate the appropriate resources for the community to enjoy our parks.”

“People want things such as more options in parks, like off-leash dog parks. They’re cost-effective. You just need a chain-link fence, 100-metres by 100-metres and there you go, you can easily have a dog park. You could probably do five or six of those easily within the next year in this community in a cost-effective manner.”

He believes the city needs to “slow down on non-essential capital infrastructure,” adding there should be a point made of improving existing facilities instead of allocating funds for new projects, unless there is financial support from other levels of government. Parker used the idea of a third bridge as an example, noting that should not solely be built with local taxpayer dollars.

For transit, he believes there should be a review of the newly launched cityLINK program.

“I’ve been hearing loud and clear from users that it’s not very friendly. I think it has good intentions. I think we really need to go back to users, the people that use the bus each and every day to find out what’s the most appropriate way to serve them, but also in a way that’s affordable.”

Parker’s final point of focus is economic development. He said, “I think it’s important that we have economic incentives across the whole city for redevelopment within your business, commercial buildings.”

“Too often we put too much money into the downtown, which has been a success, but I think some of those programs could be expanded across the city.”

He concluded that this municipal election is going to be different than those of the past, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so doing things outside the box to garner voter support will be key.

General voting day in the municipal election is October 18.