Bernie Bakker says his expertise will help council make informed decisions about infrastructure. "There are bad decisions that have been made, and there will probably be some unpopular decisions. I'm OK with the unpopular ones. It's the bad ones I would hopefully help to negate."--NEWS PHOTO ZOE MASON
zmason@medicinehatnews.com
Bernie Bakker spent 37 years working for the Town of Redcliff in the public works department. After retiring from there, he started working for the Bow Island public works department, where he still works today.
“I just like what I do,” he said.
Bakker describes himself as an expert on the town’s infrastructure, and as such, he hasn’t always been satisfied with the decisions of the previous council.
“I want to see a little better stewardship of the money that they’re spending. With my experience with infrastructure, I’ve seen some misguided infrastructure projects in this town,” he said.
He cites the recent resurfacing of Broadway Avenue as one example.
“Broadway is probably one of our best roads. It got ripped up and repaved. I’m not sure of the reasons why. Council didn’t really publicize this, or explain why.”
Bakker says other roads should have taken higher priority. One example he cited is the portion of the Trans-Canada Highway that connects town to the landfill, which Redcliff inherited from Cypress County a couple of years ago.
“From our side of the fence, as the purveyors of the purse, I can definitely contribute to wise infrastructure spending and avoid these frivolous ones,” he said.
Projects that Bakker would like to bring to council if elected include a walking path on Mitchell Street and irrigating the dog park and campground.
Bakker, who has lived in Redcliff all his life, knows the other candidates well. But he describes himself as a practical, direct person and unafraid to point out where he thinks they’ve gone wrong.
“Because they’re incumbents, and I’m new, I’ve got to poke holes,” he said.
That said, he also admires some of the things the previous council has accomplished, especially in the area of recreation.
“They’ve done a really good job on the hockey rink, the swimming pool, those facilities – we need to encourage that. Keep on doing things that are wanting to draw families into our community.”
Bakker has long held aspirations of running for council, but as a city employee was barred from candidacy. He harbours ambitions of someday running for mayor, but says he has lots to learn about the workings of council first. He hopes if he is elected in October, it can be the start of a new chapter in his long career with the township.
“Being on council is a serious job and I am going to put in serious effort to win people’s endorsement,” he said.
He’s started his campaign efforts by hand-painting signs, and he hopes to continue by having one-on-one conversations with fellow residents.
“Redcliff is an amazing little town,” he said. “Let’s keep a good thing going.”
