By Ponoka Mayor Rick Bonnett
The Ponoka News recently invited me to write a bi-monthly column on behalf of Ponoka town council.
After giving this some thought and discussing it with council, I agreed to accept this invitation as an opportunity to offer insight on the work we, as members of council, do from week to week as we deal with a wide array of issues and concerns on behalf of our citizens.
It is a privilege to be mayor of this great town, and as mayor, I will endeavor to speak on behalf of council as a whole when writing this column, rather than just presenting my own opinions.
While some people might think that mayors have immense power once elected to this role, rest assured that is not the case. I am just one voice among seven people whose opinions vary at times.
At the end of the day we need to all come together to do what we believe is the best course of action and in the best interest of all of our citizens.
In this column, I will try to enlighten and inform readers on some of the issues and decisions that come before council throughout the year, and on some of the committee work each of us takes on.
I will also try to offer some insight on why we choose to take on the responsibility and time commitment of serving on town council.
Most of us juggle families and full time jobs in addition to serving in our role on council. This often means dedicating any spare time we have and using our holidays to take time away from our regular jobs to attend to council business.
I can tell you, if you would have told me 15 years ago that I would one day be mayor of our fine town, I probably would have told you that you were out to lunch.
Today, as I serve my second term as mayor and my third term on council, I can tell you this is not an easy job, but it is rewarding to be able to work together with my fellow council members and the citizens of this town to make Ponoka a great place to live, work and play.
I think the hardest part of doing this job is the time it can sometimes take for our thoughts and ideas to become reality, due to the scope and complexity of some of the projects and initiatives we wish to achieve.
Over the coming months, I hope you enjoy my bi-monthly ramblings and hopefully even get inspired to become involved through some of the committees you will read about in this column.
Better yet, maybe you’ll even be motivated to run for mayor or council in the next municipal election in October 2021.