Mayoral candidate Mark Fisher says smarter spending of tax dollars would allow residents to save a little while also allowing for important expenditures such as more recreational infrastructure.--Submitted Photo
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
While he may not be a traditional politician, Mark Fisher still feels he can do some serious good as Medicine Hat’s potential next mayor.
Fisher is a third generation Hatter and says municipal politics is something he’s always been interested in. While he was initially planning to run for city council, he felt he would be able to offer strong leadership to whomever ends up elected after reviewing the number of strong candidates available.
“I’m born and raised here and I just feel the passion and love that I have for the city. I want my kids to be able to grow up here and stay here as well,” said Fisher. “Some things need to be changed, and, you know, I want to be a part of that change.”
Above all else, Fisher feels his ability to engage with people, resolve any conflicts that arise and get them working as a team – something he demonstrates with the younger generation as a kids’ hockey coach – is needed in council chambers for the coming term.
As far as goals, he has his sights on something close to his heart; better recreation infrastructure.
“My main priority, honestly, would be building an environment in sports,” said Fisher. “Multiplexes or multi-ice surfaces, to bring in more tournaments for youth. In doing something like that, it would add traffic to the hotels, to restaurants. It would just generally bring in some economic good for the community.”
Specifically, Fisher would like to work toward seeing a larger, more modern space akin to what is currently enjoyed at Big Marble, with multiple ice surfaces, a curling rink, a pool and other recreation amenities to allow for more sporting opportunities. He says one large facility would cut down on labour costs as opposed to multiple smaller facilities, making it a smarter investment.
Likewise, he supports replacing or modernizing aging infrastructure over continually repairing older buildings which are beginning to become costly to maintain.
“Stabilizing our spending, not increasing taxes and making sure that the city is utilizing the dollars correctly so we don’t have to keep increasing taxes, would obviously be a big second to me,” said Fisher. “Obviously, with building new infrastructure you do need tax dollars and money, but I feel there’s a smart way to do it.”
The two issues, says Fisher, go closely hand in hand to him, making a neat and intertwined campaign platform for what he hopes will be his time as mayor.
If elected, Fisher is committed to an open door policy, making himself as accessible and open to the public as he can possibly be and to hold himself accountable to any mistakes he may make during his term.
“I’m not a politician, I still work a normal job,” said Fisher. “I’m doing this to try to do better by the city. That’s it. I want my kids to have a beautiful place to grow up, play sports and hopefully one day raise a family of their own here.”
While his coaching does keep him busy, Fisher is doing his best to attend as many meet and greets and candidate events as he can. He encourages anyone interested in knowing more to reach out to him either via email or on his Facebook page.
