Candidate Mark Asham will focus on community and economic growth if he is elected as one of Medicine Hat's city councillors this fall.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
Mark Asham wants a seat on city council so he can focus on community growth paired with economic growth to build the city of Medicine Hat.
Asham and his family moved to Medicine Hat in 1997. He loved the city and raising his family here.
“I volunteered for many non-profit organizations and their boards since 1988,” said Asham. “I’ve been board chair many times. You learn a lot about fiscal responsibility, balancing budgets, vision casting, communication and strategic planning.”
Asham says throughout his career in sales and management, he tried to improve not only personally, but also corporately, with integrity and transparency, saying those characteristics define who he is.
“I have extensive experience in training and leadership, team building, conflict resolution, annual budgeting, cheques and balances and negotiation.”
The ‘Medicine Hat advantage’ is important to Asham.
“For me, the Medicine Hat advantage is not just economical, it’s also a lot of other things, like growing the city, both economically and physically.”
Asham says the city hasn’t experienced significant growth for many years. He is concerned about the number of young people moving away and wants to make Medicine Hat more attractive for young professionals in order to increase the tax base.
“I think re-branding is part of that, I feel the branding of ‘The Gas City’ is outdated,” said Asham. “I think that’s a detriment to the growth of the city because what company that is trying to be efficient and getting away from gas and oil stuff, is going to want to set up here?”
Asham says if elected he would spend time looking at why some decisions have been made.
“I think the first little bit needs to be taking a look at how we got to where we are … and then, is that still the direction we should be going or do we need to make a correction,” said Asham. “It’s all about strategic planning and that is one of my strengths.”
Asham says integrity through transparency has been key in his personal life and career and feels those values will transfer well to a seat on city council.
