The most recent candidate to enter the race for one of six positions as Sylvan Lake councillor is Charlie Everest.
A 13-year resident of Sylvan Lake, he’s been general manager of Wild Rapids Waterslide Park for the past 10 years and he and his wife, Alison, have managed the 130 unit Rainbow Park condominium corporation for the past five years. They have two sons, Liam, 8, and Rowan 5.
“My platform is fiscal responsibility essentially,” he said during an interview after filing his nomination papers Monday. “Watching spending, capital projects and making sure money is being spent wisely.
“I think we’ve had some pretty lavish projects in the last few years. I see they look very good but I’m not sure if there was a bit of overkill. On any future projects, I’d like to make sure money is being spent wisely and responsibly.”
He believes his business experience will be an asset. During the past 10 years, he’s also gotten to know a lot of local businesspeople, contractors and residents.
Another concern of his is to find out why the downtown core is dying.
“The 781 intersection was a fiasco. It contributed greatly to traffic coming into downtown.”
Stating he realizes it wasn’t totally the town’s decision, he said, “I think there could have been more lobbying, better decision making.”
Everest is a strong supporter of the need for urgent care facilities in Sylvan Lake. An avid mountaineer, he had a heart attack last year while hiking at Banff and knows firsthand the need for rapid care. His young son has also recently been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.
The fire hall is a project which definitely needs to get done within the boundaries of the budget, Everest said.
He believes a spray park is a good idea for the community.
Before moving here, he and his wife researched a lot of communities in Central Alberta and “this was certainly the most attractive to fit our lifestyle”. He loves water skiing, all water sports, fishing, ice fishing, mountain biking, cycling and rollerblading.
Everest ran for a seat on town council in the 2007 election, but at that time his brother was dying from leukemia and his priorities had to change, he said.