Division 5 incumbent Anthony Heinrich is putting his name in the hat for another term as Brazeau County councillor. With 27 years of experience on county council Heinrich is planning to run for the same reasons that first got him elected nearly three decades ago.
“I originally ran to try to represent people in a different way. I have two ears and one mouth. I spend more time listening than talking. I feel that when people have issues they call me. They can bring me their questions and concerns and I feel I can help them,” he says.
Making it easier for ratepayers to live and work in Brazeau County has been a priority for Heinrich. Over the years he has sat on every board available to council and through these conduits he has worked to address issues such as the working relationship between town and county, municipal planning, and division specific issues like access to water for fire services. Although he feels he has been effective in this capacity, he says there is still work to be done.
“In terms of fiscal responsibility I feel that sometimes we tend to not walk the talk in some of those areas where we suggest that we are cutting red tape and really when we look back we have added layers of bureaucracy and red tape. It doesn’t matter which level of government you look at. This is something we need to work at more diligently to not put more layers of paper work in front of projects and people,” he says.
As well as making it easier for the ratepayer to live and do business in Brazeau County Heinrich is looking for a cohesive and structured approach to long term planning within the municipality. For him that means taking a long term view to addressing the concerns of the county as a whole.
“Every year it is challenging to see, especially as we haven’t followed a 5-10 year program as closely as I’d like to see. It is important for each councillor to get things for their areas. But, if we are looking at longer terms we may be able to get more quality projects completed in the divisions [over several years] rather than each division getting all they want in one year,” says Heinrich.
Heinrich’s track record in council is a long one. He is now one of the most experienced municipal politicians in the province.
“I don’t know if I’ve missed any council meetings in my full term of council of 27 years. Even when I had a bone broken in my foot I still went with my foot up on a chair. Once I was set for surgery and I had budget meetings at the same time. I said to the doctor ‘If this ain’t an emergency then we can book around my budget meetings’ and guess what…I got the call and they booked my surgery around budget meetings,” says Heinrich.
A stickler for details, Heinrich aims to attend every meeting prepared and read up on the agenda.
“I always read the agenda a few days ahead of time – if I read them on Sundays that still gives me Monday to field questions to staff as well as give them an opportunity to prepare for some of the questions I might ask,” says Heinrich.
Preparedness and organizational history are just two strengths that Heinrich feels he brings to the table.
“There are at least two council positions that will have new people in them and it is an important time in a changing government climate to have people on council that know the history of the organization. I feel that over the 27 years I’ve tried to accomplish my original commitment to represent the people and I am hoping if they have suggestions to improve that they would communicate that to me and help me build that additional capacity to that representation,” says Heinrich. “I appreciate the support I’ve gotten in the past and would appreciate it for the next four years.”
